Can a great restaurant serve mass-market beer?

No one is ignoring them but why limit your inventory to only small independent producers? Impossible to do. I try to stock as much Pappy Van Winkle as possible but it is always out of stock and has a price point that will put most consumers off the buy. Plus his stuff is being distilled by Buffalo Trace.

My point in this long discussion has been to have a mix of beers so that the consumer can get what they want. When a customer wants to order a Beer at my place my servers are trained to ask if they would like to try a BBC brand beer. Anyone who knows me or who has been to my place knows that I am huge supporter of local ingredients. I sell a ton of locally raised Buffalo meat. I think I was the third or fourth restaurant in town offering the meat. Now it is very widely utilized. Every tasting event or TV show I do I talk about Weisenberger grits or Finchville Farms country ham. Could I do better with my beer and wine program, sure? But a lot of it comes down to inventory. How much can I afford to keep on hand? This is all.

No one is ignoring them but why limit your inventory to only small independent producers? Impossible to do. I try to stock as much Pappy Van Winkle as possible but it is always out of stock and has a price point that will put most consumers off the buy. Plus his stuff is being distilled by Buffalo Trace.

My point in this long discussion has been to have a mix of beers so that the consumer can get what they want. When a customer wants to order a Beer at my place my servers are trained to ask if they would like to try a BBC brand beer. Anyone who knows me or who has been to my place knows that I am huge supporter of local ingredients. I sell a ton of locally raised Buffalo meat. I think I was the third or fourth restaurant in town offering the meat. Now it is very widely utilized. Every tasting event or TV show I do I talk about Weisenberger grits or Finchville Farms country ham. Could I do better with my beer and wine program, sure? But a lot of it comes down to inventory. How much can I afford to keep on hand? This is all.

a mix of beers is great, but why offer the lowest echelon of beer when you are offering the highest echelon of food
"giving the consumer what they want" is a myth
most consumers may not know what they want and are relying on us as owners/chefs/educators to guide them on their culinary journey

does the average consumer wake up and say "oh i want dunk confit today", doubtful
the consumer who does say that has been educated
i didn't wake up one day and want Belgian beers, through a imperfect process of experimentation and education i found my way to Belgian beer

why not offer a reasonable alternative to bud, coors, and the like
and educate your customers about good beer

i offer bud, coors, and miller at my pizza place
but i don't push them and i always give them a taste of a fine german lager first

Shawn,
Thanks for reiterating what I just said. I offer other options to bud and I try to lead them that way. Sounds like you do what I do. I do not offer draft so I do not offer samples. That is the only difference.

i offer bud, coors, and miller at my pizza place

After all this?

I find that a nice viognier goes very well with spicy food. The biggest limitation of pairing wine with food is asparagus and $$.

i offer bud, coors, and miller at my pizza place

After all this?

After all what?

I understand carbonated water is a big seller these days ("Mass market lager: It's cheaper than Perrier").

Not my taste, though ...

Corbett's draught selections are based on food pairings, both sweet and savory. In addition to food pairings, the craft ales and lagers were selected based upon seasonal offerings. In order from lightest to fullest body, the beers on tap are as follows: Tennent's Lager from Scotland, Stella Artois from Belgium, Schlafly American Pale Ale from Missouri, Kostritzer Schwarzbier Black Lager from Germany, Bluegrass Brewing Company's Porter from Louisville, Ky. Gulden Draak from Belgium.

The Gulden Draak pairs beautifully with the flourless chocolate torte topped with beet ice cream and walnut sauce. The Kostrizter was chosen specifically for its ability to pair with Sonoma Veal Ribeye with smoked sweet potato, chestnuts, brussels sprouts and truffled jus. humm, Kostritzer or Ann Gros Chambolle-Musigny, La Combe D' Orveu. Grapes or Malted barley. Hard choice.

Bottled beer selections from Macro Beer producers are Bud and Bud light
Bottled beer selections from Micro Craft ales and lagers are as follows:
Scrimshaw Pilsner from North Coast Brewery, California/ Hoegaarden White Ale, Belgium/ Bell's Two Hearted Ale, Michigan/ Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale, England/ North Coast Old Rasputin Imperial Stout, California/
Bell's Java Stout, Michigan/ Gouden Carolus Grand Cru Vintage 2000 750ml. We look forward to beer dinners in the future.

Carrie Crouch

Looks to me as if Corbett's has done an excellent job at trying to raise the scale of beer selections to the same level as their wine selction.

Are there any other 4-5 scale restaurants that have crafted this care into their beer selection?

hey Ron

unless your dining on grapes or sauces made from grapes
it is pretty difficult to echo the flavors from your meal with your wine

I completely respect your appreciation and knowledge of beer. But, this statement is inaccurate. About the only thing wine doesn't pair well with is very spicy food, and then is the time I will go for a beer. It is actually very easy to beautifully pair wine with food. Wine is a natural counterpart for food. One of the key aspects of wine that make it pair well with food is the acidity.

while i respect your knowledge of wine and food
i find it hard to believe that Wine's acidity is the key reason it pairs well with food
why, is wine a natural counterpart for food??

i provided several examples as to why beer is a "natural" counterpart to food

what about wine makes it bettereers

You keep trying to make this into a "show me why wine is better than beer" thing. That's not what I am saying. You said "unless your dining on grapes or sauces made from grapes it is pretty difficult to echo the flavors from your meal with your wine." I disagree. I said that ONE of the key aspects of why wine pairs well with food is its acidity. You may find that hard to believe, but it is true.

I simply disagree that wine is limited to pairing with grapes or sauces made from grapes. Wine pairs with almost all foods.

I agree with Ron and Shawn. I love wine and beer and my choice really depends on what I am eating. Both good beer and good wine compliment food very well and it is for different reasons.
In my opinion soft drinks and coffee dilute or mask the flavor of food rather than compliment it.

Hopefully we all agree that "forumites" are ready for our independent restaurants to raise the bar on beer offerings. Education is the key. For those with draft beer I would hope that offering tastings epecially specifically parred with signature items is appropriate. The same is true for wine, some are just more educated or seemingly so on wine at this time. We can always raise the bar here as well.

As for Will's comment on bourbon, let me know when the bourbon tasting is my brother, I am sure we will pack the house!

Tennent's Lager from Scotland, Stella Artois from Belgium, Schlafly American Pale Ale from Missouri, Kostritzer Schwarzbier Black Lager from Germany, Bluegrass Brewing Company's Porter from Louisville, Ky. Gulden Draak from Belgium.

Carrie Crouch

Whassup Carrie?

One question about the draft: Why Tennent's and Stella?

Otherwise, looking good on tap.

Wine pairs with almost all foods.

I can say exactly the same thing about beer, though I'm emphatically not saying one is better than the other.

The trick is having the opportunity to prove it in the absence of recognition that the two are equals, and that's the basis for this whole thread.

Wine pairs with almost all foods.

I can say exactly the same thing about beer, though I'm emphatically not saying one is better than the other.

The trick is having the opportunity to prove it in the absence of recognition that the two are equals, and that's the basis for this whole thread.

Once again, I am not saying that this fact is not true about beer. I was simply responding to Shawn's comment that wine only pairs with grapes or sauces made from grapes. This is not true.

For all I know beer may be the magical nectar of the gods that pairs with every flavor combination known to mankind. If so, good on it.

Bottled beer selections from Macro Beer producers are Bud and Bud light

Bottled beer selections from Micro Craft ales and lagers are as follows:
Scrimshaw Pilsner from North Coast Brewery, California/ Hoegaarden White Ale, Belgium/ Bell's Two Hearted Ale, Michigan/ Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale, England/ North Coast Old Rasputin Imperial Stout, California/
Bell's Java Stout, Michigan/ Gouden Carolus Grand Cru Vintage 2000 750ml. We look forward to beer dinners in the future.

Carrie Crouch

Quite nice, and largely in keeping with what I proposed earlier. Congratulations on an excellent start.

Having looked again at the food menu, there's a great opportunity to add a couple or three prime Belgian/French ales to the mix. They're just wonderful beers with a variety of foods.

For all I know beer may be the magical nectar of the gods that pairs with every flavor combination known to mankind. If so, good on it.

Ron, we're in perfect agreement here.

Just out of curiosity, why the "magical nectar" sarcasm?