Beer-Conscious Adams Morgan Bars Stick It to the Man
We’ve noticed a trend in a handful of our neighborhood bars lately. It seems that staff who pride themselves in stocking high-quality, flavorful beers are figuring out ways to undermine their need to sell yellow water to the masses. And they’re speaking up about it.
The Black Squirrel, for example, has a section of their beer list dedicated to “lightly-hopped lagers” and describes them as “classic” and “mild,” the kind of beers that “whisper instead of scream.” A use of euphemism if we’ve ever seen one.
The Reef’s approach is even better. Their description of Miller Light states it’s from “somewhere in America” and reads, “The aroma of beer precedes a distinct beer taste. Finishes like beer.” Next to their thoughtful descriptions of the craft and imported beers they can always be trusted to have on draft, this is an obvious slight.
Bourbon is by far the best example, as you can see from the photo above. They boldly state how they feel on their board, as well as their beer menu, which has ”Something Light” listed where the fizzy yellow stuff should be. When we asked our server recently why they couldn’t bring themselves to write the B-u-d word anywhere in the bar, he said they didn’t like that stuff there and that it was a jab at the weekend clientèle who demand it.
We’ve heard some bar owners say it’s good to carry what your customers want and then nudge them along toward more flavorful styles. We’ve also heard beer directors with a “no-crap-on-tap” mentality say that the big beer companies make enough money without their help. We pose the question to you. Have you seen treatment like this anywhere and what do you think about it?
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6:56 pm
I think it depends on the bar. A place like Saphire in Bethesda caters to the Miller Lite crowd, and when I’m playing beer pong, drinking fizzy yellow water makes sense. For restaurants and establishments worthy of the name “public house”, I thoroughly approve of the “no crap on tap” motto, and I stick to hoppy, flavorful brews.
11:42 pm
I generally try to avoid the yellow stuff but when it’s offered at $3 after I’ve had a few it’s awfully tempting…
5:32 am
I think your reviews are extremely well done. An occasional bit of irony or an elegant twist in the phrase is a welcome relief. very interesting post it was…..
9:09 am
Can’t we just love all beers, and realize every beer has its place? A 20oz porterhouse steak is great, but sometimes you want a couple of sliders.
10:35 am
$6 for a Racer5? You can get pitcher of that bitter swill for that much at Zeitgeist in SF. DC snobbery at DC prices. Blech.
3:08 pm
Things cost different prices in different places? Weird. You’d think that they have to ship that stuff all the way across the country or something.
3:31 pm
This also has to do with busy bartenders trying to avoid this repetitive exchange “Gimme a Bud Light.” “We have Miller Lite.” “Yeah whatever’s lite.” In addition, you’ll have situations where problems with a distributer caused a change from say Bud to Miller as the house light and why bother reprinting menus and signs when the customers don’t really care anyway? We’re moving toward where ordering a light beer is like ordering a “Coke” at a restaurant, you might get Pepsi or more likely a generic Cola, but what do you care?
In the Reef and Black Squirrel’s cases, what do you do when you have a beer menu with tasting notes but you still want to include light beers? Snobby copy for swill beer is just ridiculous. Much better to inject a little humor with a clever way of saying “come on, you know what this tastes like.”
PS this is all coming from a guy who drinks little besides swill beer and cheap whiskey.
PPS @ Former Staffer. Of course Racer 5 is cheaper in CA. It’s local out there. That’s like saying “I can’t believe the prices Americans pay for German beer! It flows like water in Germany!”