Seriously. In the interest of appearing open-minded, some people claim industrial beer is actually good and that people who don't like it are imposing their peculiar tastes on others, but...come on. I guess McDonald's is just as good as Smith & Wollensky.The problem with serving beer at near freezing temps is that you can't really taste the beer. Taffer recommends low temps so that the bar can serve a higher percentage of the keg . . . less waste. It will certainly do that but it's at the customers expense. On the other hand, it might be a good thing when you consider the "popular" pedestrian beers being served in most bars.
There are differences no one can deny.
1. No one "graduates" from craft beer to industrial beer. No one ever drank Dogfish Head for 20 years and then realized Coor's was better. It's always the other way around.
2. No one ever complains about not being able to taste industrial beer because it's too cold, but people do complain about craft beer being too cold to taste. You have to serve industrial beer cold enough to kill what little flavor it has, or even people who love it will turn it down. This is why there are signs that say, "Ice Cold Beer." I think over-chilling is a substitute for hops, which industrial beer lacks.
3. Industrial beer uses cheaper ingredients and less of them. No one ever said, "I know this beer will taste better if I use cheaper ingredients and water it down."
I had an alcoholic buddy who drank Bud all day. He would open a bottle, drink half, and put it down. If it had warmed up much when he picked it back up, he poured it out and opened another one. He praised Bud all the time, but in reality, he couldn't stand it when he could actually taste it. Bud is proof that good advertising means a great deal more than a good product.