Beer Lists
Greetings,
If you were to walk into a restaurant in any North American city 30 years ago and asked for a beer list, they would have laughed at you. Back then, the wine list in many restaurants had only eight or ten items, a few reds and a few white wines, and always a sparkling "champagne". It was a much simpler time.
Today things are much different. It is almost impossible to guess the number of restaurants in North America that now have Beer Lists that exceed the extensive listings of the fanciest wine lists of the past. Even in non-urban restaurants, the number of taps available is sometimes remarkable.
The growth of the small brewing industry in North America over the last 30 years has caused all of this to happen. Young professional chefs grew up knowing about microbrews and the special beers from the small breweries. Many of them use this knowledge to enhance both their food menu and a beverage menu. Today there are many in the food service business, and in the beverage business particularly journalists who applaud this growth of Beer Lists. If you are to believe what you read in the media, the longer and larger the beer list the better. Choice rules!
I of course would like to differ with this perception. The large beer list and a number of taps available is not necessarily a good thing. If the restaurant is a small restaurant, and not in a large city, I would wonder if there were enough people to drink all that beer. Remember, it is most important that beer be served fresh and in beer clean glasses. Fresh beer is essential. If a restaurant has to keep a keg of beer online for more than a week, it is probably not the same beer coming out of that tap as went into that keg.
On the other hand, if it is a large restaurant, and it is in any urban area, the chances are they go through a lot of beer. This means that the beer is probably fresher. And that's the key.
Returning to the smaller restaurant scenario I would suggest that maybe only three or four taps the available. There should be one of each; blonde beer, red beer, black beer. The blonde beer should be a lager. The red beer should be the freshest amber style beer, obtainable. The "black" beer can either be a stout or Porter. These three "flavors" are essential to any good beer list.
In closing, when I visit a restaurant and asked for a beer list, I use the following criteria: if the list is long can the restaurant actually move that much beer? If the list is short, is a beer local? Of course, then it becomes a matter of preference do crave a lager, a hoppy ale, or a rich stout? What ever my choice, if it is fresh and well poured. I just might hang around for dinner.
Cheers!
Peter LaFrance
( http://www.beerbasics.com )
