A few barleywines? Damn bro, I love barleywines too, but I would never expect - or even want - multiple barleywines on tap.
Too many beers that every craft bar goer has already had. Not that any are bad, but none are currently in style and nothing really appeals to someone like me that isn't a ticker per se but prefers to try new beers when drinking draft at the pub. This list rings "same old, same old" and that's not good.
I wouldnt complain about it if I walked in there randomly one day, but I would tire of all the IPA's pretty fast. I think the list needs more balance.
I hate that list, but that's just my personal taste. If I saw that list, I'd have one beer and probably never come back. First, I'm not an IPA drinker (I know BA is dominated by IPA lovers, but I can't be the only one who doesn't care for the style), and they form almost HALF the list. So that brings it down to 11. From there, if I'm in a bar, I want session-able beers (ESPECIALLY if I have to drive home), but by my count you have only four beers that aren't IPAs that are below 7% ABV, and one is a rauchbier, a love-it-or-hate-it style. How about something around 5% ABV, like a witbier, English pale ale, ESB, APA, non-imperial stout or porter (one without coffee), pilsener, or something like that? Or maybe a cask of an English-style beer?
Sometimes, due to when you order beer or what kicks when, you may end up with a logjam of one or similar styles. While I play with 30 draft lines, maybe we can hide something like that better. We usually have 2 IPA and 2 IIPA, but seasonals and one-offs are sometimes hoppy beers too!! PS - we always have an American Craft Lager, Kolsch, Wit and a Hefe. That is important...
I am in the who cares category. The really local places remind me of the Blues Brothers.... Elwood - what kind of music do you usually have... Response - Oh we have both kinds....country AND western... Fortunately a twenty minute drive can cure that.
I'd like a little more range, but I'm not going to drink 19 beers on a visit. I'd be happy to drink a couple rounds there.
Throw them under the bus? Come on now! That tap list may not be perfect,and perfect is obviously subjective anyway,but there's no way that this list could be considered bad! Even mentioning "throwing under the bus" is insane. Because their tap list wasn't your idea of awesome? Ridiculous! BTW: I fully understand you said you weren't going to "throw them under the bus". My point is that the mere mention of it seems misguided to put it kindly.
Agreed. This bar is still awesome. And, as mentioned in my OP, they are the best bar in the state by a mile. I was just particularly caught off guard by the massive amount of IPA's being offered, and thus decided to post this list. I was curious as to whether this list was what "the people" wanted. The bar is Track 84 in Warwick RI (extremely close to the airport for those of you that travel to RI). Anyone that has the ability to go, should go.
It's pretty good, with enough IPAs I haven't had to get my attention. Plus it has Union Jack; like that beer quite a bit.
It's definitely IPA-heavy, but if I saw that list I'd just drink the Labyrinth 'til my legs stopped working.
Hmmm...this conversation seems familiar Every few days, I check out their tap list thinking that I'll swing by after work for a couple of pints. Now, I personally believe that it's disrespectful to go to a fine drinking establishment and have only one beer and I prefer steins to snifters. They gotta give me something I can drink a few pints of (in a relatively short period of time) and still make it home safely to the wife and kids.
My favorite beer bars always have a better list with more style variety. But If I didn't live where I do (San Diego County) then I'd be grateful for that taplist.
I'd be happy to drink there, but is it a smartly-curated list? Not really. My answer was "Other". It needs better balance, not just more of one style.
If I owned a bar, I wouldn't want this as my tap list... It is a solid list but there are TOO MANY IPAs... You have 9 IPAs out of 19 taps. You better hope people order IPAs because those aren't going to stay fresh like the high ABV Belgians and stouts. As a patron, it is a good list, however.
Definitely needs more porters & stouts. When it's cold and snowy out, I just want something robust and heavy. It would be nice to have a choice or two.
I don't do my drinking at a bar real often but if I walked in and saw this tap list, I'd think it was fantastic. There are7-8 that I would be happy to order and if the food was good, I'd come back to sample some more. Seems well varied to me. Even though it's skewed toward the Belgians and IPA's, there seems to be good variation within those styles and there's the Impy stout, porter and rauchbier too.
First off, 4 of those IPA's are seasonal/one offs. So, does a bar pass up on something they can only get at a certain time just because they have a few other IPA's already? Or do they get it anyway and not miss out? IPA is probably the most popular craft beer style and is always gaining popularity, so I don't think bars will ever hesitate to tap them. Not to mention, when you are working with only 19 taps, which, lets face it, isn't a whole lot really, it makes it hard to diversify THAT much. Those IPA's may just have been the next in line to be tapped, or they want to make sure they are at their freshest. You can only tap a beer if you have a free tap to put it on. What's really important is that you have a bar that taps QUALITY craft beer. I think too many people take that for granted. I would certainly be appreciative that I could go into a place and get a good beer.
Holy Moses! Now that's a tap list. I honestly haven't been to a place with a list that rich and varied. Is the food good there?
You'd better specify which kind of logs you will be using since each log imparts a different characteristic to the beer.
Track 84 always has good stuff on tap, but it is never a perfectly crafted and balanced tap list. Quite often they've got 5-6 kegs kicked with no replacements put on for the rest of the night, or you see oddball lineups like this with 9 IPA's, or something else strange. I think ultimately it's just cheap and no frills, not the pinnacle of well thought-out efficiency, so you get what you get and enjoy it. On the plus side their bottles are usually not much more expensive than what you'd pay in a store, so even if the taps don't float your boat, the bottles usually will.
As long as I could get some variety elsewhere, I wouldn't neccesarily have a problem if this list had 19 IPAs, but in fairness to all beer drinkers, there should be more variety or at least a representation of seasonal beers, i.e. Heavy/darker beers for the winter; Lighter beers for the summer. If this was the only beer bar for 50 miles, then yes, I would like to see some variety since I don't like interacting with fellow hopheads all of the time.
While it is important to maintain balance, you also have to keep in mind what your clientele likes. I buy beer for a craft beer bar in Washington DC. I try to be careful to find a balance between lagers/ipas/stouts and porters/belgian-styles etc. However, hoppy beers out sell any other style on my list by about 2:1. And big stouts just don't really move for me. I try to keep at least 6 or 7 of my 24 lines hoppy. Victory at Sea took forever to kick. Same with Evil Twin Lil B, Flying Dog Kujo, North Coast Old Rasputin, GI Night Stalker, Willamsburg Alewerks Cafe Royale, Bourbon County, Breakfast Stout, etc etc etc. So I don't put on as many as I'd personally like to. Always something to keep in mind when dissecting a place's draft list.
Thanks for the info. That's what I was wondering really. I know IPA is king, but I am unsure (or I was unsure) just how much they dominate.
