Not a great photo for my #wp #365project #365project2013 #365photo project today but it does give me the opportunity to rant about something that gets on my nerves.
As most of my friends know I’m very partial to a #craftbeer , and this week had a glass of the fabulous Aurora Borealis from Bridge Road Brewing. 14.9% alcohol, aged in whiskey barrels, with a real dried fruit tang… just wonderful.
The problem with the growth of craft beer has been in bars that have little understanding about such drops using them as a marketing device. Later the same day I dropped into a local bar which professes to serve ’boutique beers’ and indeed ran a two page menu of beers on tap and as bottles.
Looking through the bar I could see two sets of half a dozen taps, but when I asked what was on tap the waiter replied “Sorry the taps aren’t working at the moment”.
Not to worry, I noticed that they had bottles of Feral Hop Hog, recently rated Australia’s top brew ( http://craftypint.com/news/post/hop-hog-is-hottest/ ) . Since I hadn’t tried it before I decided to give it a go. “Sorry” was the response, “Our supplies of Hop Hog haven’t come in”.
Deciding that I was going to have one and depart I settled on a Sierra Nevada Porter, not an Aussie brew but a nice drop never the less. Next thing the waiter is pouring a very light amber into a glass for me “That’s not a porter” I said. The waiter held the bottle up and said “so it isn’t, I must have picked up the wrong bottle. Not knowing the difference between and IPA and a Porter! That isn’t what I expect in a bar professing to have ’boutique beers’.
I’m afraid this is just one example of the way some outlets are attempting to get on the craft beer bandwagon without putting in the work to make it successful.
Rae has worked as a reporter on radio and TV, has managed radio stations and radio networks, and more recently managed and collaborated with small teams building and maintaining a collection of Australia's most informative local websites
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