snowy

So I originally came to this piece via a blog I read called HopTalk (What if your bar didn’t have your beer? What would you do? | Hop Talk).

from: Where’s My !*#@$% Beer?

If you go to the link above, you can fill out the survey mentioned there.

Here are the survey questions:

What would you do? I'm not so interested in seeing numbers, but rather hearing responses.

Personally, I always ask for the next closest thing, or look at it as an opportunity to experiment. It takes me forever to choose a beer if something on tap doesn't speak to me right away. Just a couple weeks ago, I was out and I wanted a Vaporizer from Double Mountain. Alas, they had just run out of Vaporizer. I then spent about ten minutes staring at the choices (this bar has 30 taps) before finally deciding on the Super Goose IPA from Hales. I would have rather had the Vaporizer.

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Fotzlid

If the place is busy, I'll make a snap decision on another brand. If I don't like that particular choice, and I'll be there for more than two rounds, I'll pick another.
If the place is slow, I'll quiz the server to see which suits my tastes the best.

im2smrt4u

Most places I go to drink beer have enough options that if they are out, there is something else worth trying.

It only becomes an issue when we make special trips for specific beers, which isn't often, and when we do we make sure to get there as early as possible. One place we went to killed multiple (can't recall how many exactly...four? six?) half-barrel kegs of a beer in about three hours. It was a madhouse!

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amonkie

I am honestly not a huge beer drinker and don't frequent places where I really go there specifically for their beer. I have done that for Tusker beer, which is an African beer that my sister wanted when she was in town.

I've also called ahead if I want to be sure what I want is there. If its not, I usually am willing to try something new.

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Craven Morehead

I'll ask what is on tap and maybe try something different for a change. Otherwise, there are enough other beers that I like, I'll order one of those.

I seldom order the same beer every time I'm in a bar/restaurant. Depends on what I'm eating/mood/what sounds good at the time.

Wes Mantooth

I'm not usually very picky if I ask for something and they are out I just ask for something else. Its really not a big issue for me, I've spent many a night with a couple of cases of natty ice and hung around in plenty of bars with nothing better on tap then bud, its not THAT bad.

I like a good micro from time to time too but a buzz is a buzz and is only worth so much trouble.

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spindles

I like a beer and all, but I'm hardly going to let a particular empty keg get between and drinking something. I'll just pick something else (price itself isn't usually an issue - the difference in price between beers really isn't that great).

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Plan9

I detect a bit of beer snootiness in the OP and I realize that it is based on where the OP is located in the country.

You get beer snootiness around middle class white people that work in professional office jobs and drive sensible cars.

I was in the military and went to a middle class college. Bud Light, Coors Light, and Miller Lite were the flavors.

If they're out of one of those three? Yeah, well... we all know that's impossible. Nobody runs out of those.

Most of the guys that I know that drink beer drink it to get drunk, not because it actually tastes like anything.

...

When I go out for beer, I drink whatever mid-level crap is on tap. When I'm at home I drink either mid-level crap or fancy stuff.

You'll never catch a case of Beast or PBR or Keystone or Busch in my 'frige, but I don't like to spend $7 for a bottle on a regular basis.

One of my favorite beers is Rogue's Double Dead Guy. I'm also a fan of Sam Adams' high potency 4-packs like the Imperial White, etc.

If they sold those at the bars that I go to, I would pay the extra $$$ to drink them. But most bars around here? Blue Moon is considered premium.

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Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

The_Jazz

Once again, I have proof that the greatest bar in the world is Cody's. It's essentially all microbrews on tap. 9er will have to make a point to miss it if he makes a point to miss me when he's in Chicago.

But if you're going to a bar to drink a specific beer, that's actually a little sad, unless it's a special batch or something. In a world where there are new microbrews popping up every day (Chicago people, try Millennium Flywheel - it's the bomb), you should just try a different one. In other words, my opinion of the author of the quoted story is "sucks to be you" and that finding another tasty microbrew should be pretty easy.

Then there's 9er's point about guys drinking to get drunk. If that's the case, god bless Bud Light. Or Coors Light. We've all had those nights, and there's no point getting all shitty AND poor at the same time.

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Hektore

I look at the bartender and say "surprise me". No joke. His name is Eric (it's usually him) and he's very knowledgeable about his brews. He knows how to pick something similar enough to keep you happy, but different enough to surprise you. Try this sometime with a good bartender, in a good bar, on a slow night.

If you ever find yourself within a long drive of Erie, Pa I highly recommend you ask if the bar that you're in carries Railbender Ale, my favorite that I can afford. My actual favorite is a Belgian import that costs $11 a bottle at the bar....

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Baraka_Guru

I'm a beer slut. I never have trouble finding a beer I like. I first decide if I want ale, lager, or stout, and then I go from there. Toronto (and Ontario in general) produces some pretty good microbrew.

In most cases, I can decide on Mill Street or Creemore Springs and most bars here will have it and a lot of it.

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Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Jinn

Never had a beer I didn't like. I try to get a new one everytime I go to a restaurant or liquor store. That said, I have had beers I didn't want 6 of. I've made some bad picks at grocery stores.

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Xerxys

Geez! Snowy, you do realize, ALL beers taste the same right?

Plan9

You, sir, have a sophisticated palette. We're going to have to drink together sometime, Xerx.

We'll start with the Beast and work our way through to Sam Adams. Let's get on it.

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Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."