The value of a good beer (or even a decent one) was heavy on my mind this weekend.  I admit that I obsessed over it for at least a short time.  Since I am wondering what other people have for expectations when ordering a beer in a restaurant, I will explain what started me down this path of thought.

Very often when I look at the draft list on a restaurant menu there are no prices along with it.  They likely know that if you want a beer, you want a beer.  Without much hesitation I ordered a draft Widmer Deadlift IPA at Restaurant A and soon after taking a sip of mine, The Wife also ordered one.  Understanding that it is an Imperial IPA, I thought maybe it would even be a smaller pour, though we were both given pints.

Fast forward to me looking at our check and I find out that each of those beers were 8 dollars.

Now at Restaurant B I did not even have a draft list to look at and I ordered a Brooklyn Lager after asking the waitress what my options were.  A very different beer style and again ordered without knowing the price.

The Wife grabs the check and points out to me that the beer cost me only 4 dollars this time.

I enjoyed each of those two beers pretty much equally, but after seeing what I paid for each I certainly would have one at Restaurant B again long before I would at Restaurant A.  Actually I could have 2 at Restaurant B.

5650636867 a236ae6d4c A Question of Value

Awesome sight

 

This all made me aware of my expectations when ordering draft beer, especially when it is something I can easily get at my local grocery store.  My expectations are that I will pay 5 or 6 dollars tops when there is no price listed and I would be thrilled at paying 4 dollars.  Paying 8 dollars is what I expect to do if sitting at a bar in an airport.

I work at a great beer bar and we have some less expensive options and some that are more pricey, but in every case the price is clearly shown next to the beer.  Now I am questioning what I should assume the price is for a beer when none is given.

So am I off in my expectations or am I simply a dope for not asking what the prices were for each beer on the list?

I like to think that I am not too far off.

Cheers!

 

Everyone reading this should know by now that I make lists to help me be at least somewhat productive with my time.  Initially I feel great when I cross a few things off the list and see that the number of yet-to-dos is getting smaller.  Then there is inevitably a point where I begin to add things to the bottom as fast or faster than I am crossing items off at the top.

Not all of the things I add to the bottom are all that important in the grand scheme of things, but they allow me an opportunity for a mental or physical break from what I really should be concentrating on.  Today I will provide an example of that.

Somewhere floating in the middle of my current list has been a generic task that simply asks that I do some work on the websites that I have control of.  There could be a completely separate list of simply the things I am behind on doing with just this site.  Though I had put much thought into it for a while, making more videos would really belong near the top of that one.

So that started me thinking again of the things that I would like to make videos about like beer styles, proper glassware, buying beer, storing beer, and just tasting beer in general.  Then I started to think about the format of the videos.  How serious should I be?  How long should the videos be?  Where should I shoot the videos?  How often should I do them?

That then lead me to looking at beer related videos like this one . . . .

Now I am looking for a little feedback.

What did you like about it and what did not work so well?  Was the length about right?  Was the mood and presentation style to your liking?  I think that format is fairly close to what might work well for me, but I am not sure.  Any input would be appreciated.

Cheers!

 

As mentioned on Tuesday, I am planning to dedicate the month of February to a favorite brewery of mine.  Though I am not ready to disclose exactly which one quite yet, I can say that it is located in Colorado and it just might be in Denver.  That should narrow down the list of possibilities until I make the formal announcement.  I also have to say thank you to The Wife for passing along a few of these stories, making this post quite a bit quicker to do.  Now on to the beer stories for today . . .

  • This is a story about a brewery in Central New York that is looking to help keep another in Buffalo afloat.  I hope it works out well for both.
  • Here is an interesting (and relatively short) video interview done with Mariah Calagione, which announces and gives the story behind a new Dogfish beer that will be available on draft in 2010.
  • There is a first for everything on this site and today will be the first link to an exercise article.  Of course it is an article about losing a beer gut without giving up beer though.
  • This one probably caught my eye since I recently won a growler kit (http://blogaboutbeer.com) and I am anxiously awaiting its arrival.  It’s a good thing to have if you have a local brewery that will fill it for you.
  • Since fast food chains are not typically in my diet, I will likely never actually visit this new BK in Miami, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t pass the news along to those who might.  I guess I am glad to see that they have decided to catch up with what they have been doing in Europe for a long time.
  • I am a sucker for a story of a brewery that started out of a garage (maybe keeping hope for me alive) and here is one from LA.
alg burger king beer Grab a Growler

Be sure to let me know how it is. (via http://www.nydailynews.com/)

Cheers!

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