4 ms·

I, for one, absolutely hate the craft beer revolution in the U.S.; a lot of restaurants are changing out their taps of beers that are universally liked for craf

I, for one, absolutely hate the craft beer revolution in the U.S.; a lot of restaurants are changing out their taps of beers that are universally liked for craft beers. It's basically impossible to get a Stella or Heineken on tap now, everything on tap is Bud Light and a ton of craft beers. There are a few places that haven't fallen into this, but it's a big problem. I hate it. I love Belgian and German beers and it has become almost impossible to get either of them on tap unless you go to a beer hall style bar. A few of the "craft" beers are owned by the major multinational corporations anyhow.

mylons 9y ago
i guess they weren't universally liked if they're getting changed out for craft brews.
- marpstar 9y ago
  you can charge more for craft beers.
- phaus 9y ago
  Since we've decided to be unnecessarily snarky to strangers, I guess you've never seen a business make a decision that doesn't necessarily have a positive impact on its customer base. That makes you essentially the only one in the known universe that hasn't noticed such a thing.
- partiallypro 9y ago
  Craft beers are cheaper for restaurants and have a higher profit margin, and there's the "community" factor of having local brews; and in some cases just some "good ole boy" attitude. There are a lot of incentives. It has not much to do with net sales, because it is offset by other incentives. Customers don't often complain, especially in bars that are for partying and generally just getting drunk. Who cares if this local brew tap doesn't get much requests? There is no feedback, and it just drives the people who like "imports" to buy bottles and the profit margin is even HIGHER there. It's a win/win for the restaurant/bar.
  - lotsofpulp 9y ago
    There is feedback, the fact that the business is making more money means they made the right decision.
    - partiallypro 9y ago
      That's not always the case, there may be a short term gain, but long term it may hurt sales as people go to different bars with more imports on tap. Here in Nashville there has been an influx of beer halls that serve German and Belgian beers, imo as a backlash to the localization of beers.
xzel 9y ago
I'm not sure where you're drinking but I've most bars will have a basic Pils on tap, most likely a Stella or Heineken at that. Any decent bar will have some random German or German style beer made by a more local brewery on tap. Regardless, your premise of bars changing out taps of universally liked is incredible subjective. Wouldn't they be pick beers that they think you be more liked by their public to increase sales? I do agree the purchasing of craft beer lines by conglomerates is something to be concerned about but I like to think of those beers just being consistently available. It normally doesn't change the taste. The taste of Goose Island Sofie and Matilda beers, for example, are still great, and Blue Moon is still terrible, in my opinion of course.
intrasight 9y ago
It's a free world. If you don't like their offerings you can take you business somewhere else. Or you can find a BYOB restaurant and have your choice and also pay less.
bmelton 9y ago
> a lot of restaurants are changing out their taps of beers that are universally liked for craft beers. I've noticed this too at a few of the bars I frequent, and there seem to be two commonly cited reasons for it: [1] People are boycotting Anheuser-Busch because they believe that the SuperBowl ad they aired in SBLI was anti-Trump, and [2] More commonly, people are boycotting Anheuser-Busch because of their attempts to buy up craft breweries that threaten their business, or anti-competitively strongarm the ones they can't buy by abusing the power they have through the three-tier distribution system. More rarely, I've heard cases in which Busch (or their distributors) attempted to strong arm bars who cleared out a couple taps to make room for craft brewers by threatening their supply of their more popular products, to which the bar owners just decided to quit carrying them altogether. [1] - http://fortune.com/2017/02/05/budweiser-super-bowl-commercial-immigration-boycott/ http://fortune.com/2017/02/05/budweiser-super-bowl-commercia... [2] - https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/05/09/budweiser-owner-accused-stifling-competition-with-giveaways-hundreds-bars-and-stores-massachusetts/ZK4GlD6BTUTSkpQwMuP4uN/story.html https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/05/09/budweiser-ow... Edit: s/immigration/Trump/
- maxerickson 9y ago
  People upset about the ad are upset because they think it is anti-Trump. It's overtly positive about immigration.
  - bmelton 9y ago
    100% correct. Edited.

mylons 9y ago

i guess they weren't universally liked if they're getting changed out for craft brews.

marpstar 9y ago
you can charge more for craft beers.
phaus 9y ago
Since we've decided to be unnecessarily snarky to strangers, I guess you've never seen a business make a decision that doesn't necessarily have a positive impact on its customer base. That makes you essentially the only one in the known universe that hasn't noticed such a thing.
partiallypro 9y ago
Craft beers are cheaper for restaurants and have a higher profit margin, and there's the "community" factor of having local brews; and in some cases just some "good ole boy" attitude. There are a lot of incentives. It has not much to do with net sales, because it is offset by other incentives. Customers don't often complain, especially in bars that are for partying and generally just getting drunk. Who cares if this local brew tap doesn't get much requests? There is no feedback, and it just drives the people who like "imports" to buy bottles and the profit margin is even HIGHER there. It's a win/win for the restaurant/bar.
- lotsofpulp 9y ago
  There is feedback, the fact that the business is making more money means they made the right decision.
  - partiallypro 9y ago
    That's not always the case, there may be a short term gain, but long term it may hurt sales as people go to different bars with more imports on tap. Here in Nashville there has been an influx of beer halls that serve German and Belgian beers, imo as a backlash to the localization of beers.

xzel 9y ago

I'm not sure where you're drinking but I've most bars will have a basic Pils on tap, most likely a Stella or Heineken at that. Any decent bar will have some random German or German style beer made by a more local brewery on tap. Regardless, your premise of bars changing out taps of universally liked is incredible subjective. Wouldn't they be pick beers that they think you be more liked by their public to increase sales? I do agree the purchasing of craft beer lines by conglomerates is something to be concerned about but I like to think of those beers just being consistently available. It normally doesn't change the taste. The taste of Goose Island Sofie and Matilda beers, for example, are still great, and Blue Moon is still terrible, in my opinion of course.

intrasight 9y ago

It's a free world. If you don't like their offerings you can take you business somewhere else. Or you can find a BYOB restaurant and have your choice and also pay less.

bmelton 9y ago

> a lot of restaurants are changing out their taps of beers that are universally liked for craft beers. I've noticed this too at a few of the bars I frequent, and there seem to be two commonly cited reasons for it: [1] People are boycotting Anheuser-Busch because they believe that the SuperBowl ad they aired in SBLI was anti-Trump, and [2] More commonly, people are boycotting Anheuser-Busch because of their attempts to buy up craft breweries that threaten their business, or anti-competitively strongarm the ones they can't buy by abusing the power they have through the three-tier distribution system. More rarely, I've heard cases in which Busch (or their distributors) attempted to strong arm bars who cleared out a couple taps to make room for craft brewers by threatening their supply of their more popular products, to which the bar owners just decided to quit carrying them altogether. [1] - http://fortune.com/2017/02/05/budweiser-super-bowl-commercial-immigration-boycott/ http://fortune.com/2017/02/05/budweiser-super-bowl-commercia... [2] - https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/05/09/budweiser-owner-accused-stifling-competition-with-giveaways-hundreds-bars-and-stores-massachusetts/ZK4GlD6BTUTSkpQwMuP4uN/story.html https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/05/09/budweiser-ow... Edit: s/immigration/Trump/

maxerickson 9y ago
People upset about the ad are upset because they think it is anti-Trump. It's overtly positive about immigration.
- bmelton 9y ago
  100% correct. Edited.