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.

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.

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

Cheers!

Of course I am still reading up on my beer news on Christmas Eve.  What else would/should I be doing?  I think I may actually even do a bit of brewing before the day is over!  For those of you checking in on this before going back for your second plate of food I thank you for your loyalty and dedication to the world of beer.

Time to get on with things so you can get back before your cousin takes the last slice of pie . . .

• Here is a last minute rundown on what beers to pair with your Christmas meal.  Of course your choices will likely be limited to what is in the coolers at the closest convenience store.

• One of the best breweries in the country is looking to ensure fresh beer overseas.  Sure I could have picked any of the articles that have mentioned this but I have a soft spot for the Pacific NW.

• Good things are coming with the 30^th anniversary of Sierra Nevada.  It is never to early to start looking forward to beers coming out next year!

• I might even be persuaded to go caroling if it was still done the way it was originally.  Here is a rundown of a few wassails that might put you in the mood to belt out a few notes.

Hopefully you can get where you need to go! http://www.nytimes.com via the AP

Since next Thursday will be Christmas Eve and I suppose it will be too late to pass along any suggestions for beer related gifts for your friends or family, I made sure to include a few options in today’s beer news.  There seems to be an endless supply of articles with holiday beer suggestions, so I just selected a few of them to share.  Also included is some interesting and exciting news from a few New England breweries.  Enjoy!

- For those last minute (beer) shoppers among you:

• From San Diego

• Via Fort Worth

• And Richmond

• Finally from Rochester

- There are many stories about Allagash unveiling something exciting and here are a few:

• Start here first

• Then this one with many links for additional information

- Brewing with oysters.  Yes oysters!  See for yourself.

Barrels at Allagash via http://beernews.org