[quote]…however I think you’ll find most brewpubs don’t serve BMC’s and those that do are the minority…YMMV.
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Gotta say, I find the exact opposite of that. I can’t remember one that doesn’t have some BMC around and the reason I know that is because I look around at what people are drinking. Sure, I find it odd that you’ll turn down good craft beer for BMC, but I see it all the time.
Never forget that variety is the spice of life. Bottom line, if I ever owned a brewpub (and that will be never) my effort would be to please the masses and make money. I certainly wouldn’t be in business just to promote the craft beer industry. I’ll let others carry that flag.
Gordon Beirsch
BJ’s
Many of the McMenamins
Humperdinks
There’s a brewpub/casino in Vegas that does, but the name escapes me
I also believe that Wild River locations do and also Pelican as well, but I could be wrong here.
I’m not saying that ALL brewpubs sell BMC, but I’d bet that the majority do. Some of the ones I listed are chains, but lets face it, you don’t become a chain unless you are successful.
Appalachian Brewing Co, Big River Brewing Co, Russian River, Bear Republic, Blackstones, Boscos, Sedona, Moylans, Troegs… I can’t even begin to name them all - never saw a BMC there. You’d think if they were in a majority of brewpubs I would have seen at least one tap somewhere.
Now, I have been to a Gordon Birsch once or twice and they may have had one, not sure.
Anyway, a couple of points and then I’ll leave it all alone as well.
This idea that if you don’t serve BMC, you’re alienating 1% of your potential clientele is horse hockey. Maybe where you live, but I’ve never been anywhere that “People who will drink craft beer” outnumbered “People who will not drink craft beer” by 99 to one. On top of that, if you make the more reasonable assumption that we’re talking about what people would prefer, and what establishments they would correspondingly choose to frequent, the 1% assumption becomes even more preposterous. Face it, craft beer preference is in the minority. The 1% assumption is ridiculous.
Citing Gordon, Stone, Troegs, DFH, etc. as succesful examples is misleading at best. THose companies are primarily producing beer for distribution. That’s their bread and butter, not the brewpub. The brewpubs act more as marketing for the primary product. Not to say that the brewpub wasn’t what initially made them, but that those brewpubs are currently in a different business from independent brewpubs. Their brand management is far more critical than individual location success. If a location failed because it could not overcome local BMC preference, they would close up shop and try somewhere else. An independent proprietor doesn’t have this luxury.
well, maybe you are right. I just looked at their website and found out they were owned by Gordon Birsch. I didn’t know that. Pretty sure the one in Chattanooga doesn’t carry BMC because I have been in there several times but maybe I just didn’t notice.
Kitch = retro-chic. I think that is a good definition. Did I spell chic correctly? Maybe I am spelling kitch wrong. Oh its spelled kitsch,sorry
My brew pub would have a warm interior of hearty hardwoods and brick. There would be fire places and a long bar that was made of one solid piece of wood. Behind that through glass would be the small brew system. The taps and beer engines would be on that wall as if to come right from the brewery.
The dining room would be comfortable and casual but hearty. On the back wall visible to the diners would be the open hearth fire pit for grilling steaks and chops. Behind that a wood fired oven. There would be another kitchen line behind that in the next room.
The menu would be old world smoke house/steaks and chops., saur braten, micro batch sauerkraut. (Deep fried sauerkraut as a snack at the bar). Some hearty stews on the menu too like goulash. bigos, nice salads. Home made wood oven breads.
The place would smell like the stuff of dreams when you walk in.
There would be no BMC on tap, Maybe bottles.
If things dont work out. BMC on the taps and the brew equipment will be exchanged for a stripper pole.
Yeah, I won’t pretend I didn’t make up a complete menu and a half-hearted “business plan” for my brewpub. It was going to be British style bitters and other ales, with British (and colonial, ie., Indian etc.) food, meat pies, and such…catering to the expatriates, and “colonial” students at the local college (probably somewhere near 70% of my computer science fellow students were from South Asia, from my alma mater).
I would patronize Caps joint. All the alluded rustic heartiness sounds vaguely east european, so bring out the mezze platters with dried beef and cured sausages, ajvar, and slivovica, and I’m there…
