House Brew for a Bar?

[JohnSand]

I know a bar owner, (okay, a few) but one who would like to have his own beer just for his bar. I know that he could have it contract brewed. There are a couple of restaurants in the area that have their own, and plenty of breweries here. But I'm just sort of looking for thoughts or experiences on style and production. It's a small bar, busy on weekends, especially in summer.

 

[Gonefishing]

Are you saying you would be brewing for him and he would pay you to do that? I may be wrong here, but I think you'd be afoul of the law at that point.

 

[Kerrbrewer]

There are licenses for that, in Texas anyway. Look into it.

 

[JohnSand]

No, not homebrew. We both know that's no good. Contract brewed at a brewery.

 

[kh54s10]

It all depends on everything else. A signature beer will not help a mediocre bar, but it can assist a successful one. Style would be something pretty light. You need to cater to the BMC drinkers. Production depends almost entirely on $$ and the contract brewer.

 

[Braufessor]

I would also consider the contract brewery itself..... If you have one in mind, I would sample a lot of the beers they brew. Most breweries have beers they are better at/and others that or sort of ordinary or mediocre in regard to that style. If the brewery you have in mind turns out 6 different "blah" hoppy beers, but great lagers/lighter beers..... I would hedge that direction (Or vice versa).

Personally, for a house beer, I would be thinking something 4-5.5% above. Easy drinking. Nothing heavy or overwhelming....

Ales generally have the benefit over lagers in terms of simplicity and ease of turning them around quickly. Less hoppy is cheaper and may or may not be easy to get quality hops for a contract brew.....

Ales: Kolsch, Blonde, Cream Ale, Pale Ale, Wheat Beer, NE Style IPA on the 5-6% level (hops might be a problem for that)
Lagers: Helles, Dortmunder Export, Pilsner (German or Americanized Version)

Other possible options...... Scottish or British Session beer.... these are not always super popular when going head to head with IPA's, Pilsners, etc.

Outside the box - Berliner Weiss - nice summer beer. Low ABV. Can add things like raspberry or other fruits to change it up from time to time.

 

[JohnSand]

Thanks. I am also thinking of something moderate. I think it would be good to fall between macro lagers and IPAs. This place has a small selection of craft on tap, maybe 8 taps. I think the BMC crowd will continue to drink their favorites. The IIPA guys have their favorites too, I wouldn't go there.
Good suggestions, thanks.

 

[seatazzz]

Also may want to consider that some people will select a beer based totally on its name...if the bar in question has a good 'tagline' or the name of the bar can be incorporated into the name of a 'catchy' beer name, it won't matter what style it is. People are going to try it because it appears to be the bar's "signature" brew.

 

[MaryB]

Simple English bitter... my house ale recipe is around 5.5% and comes in on the sweet side pleasing the BMC crowd.

 

[rhys333]

My instinct would be to go in the cream ale, blonde, kolsch category. Maybe a clean, blonde grain bill, brewed with a touch of citrus hop character. Throw in some dextrin malt or similar foam-inducing "creamy" ingredient and call it a cream ale (even though it's not really). An approachable beer with an interesting name that's just different enough from BMC.

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

I'm going to tell you a secret about contract brews. Typically (not always but... Usually) the beer that is contracted for a restaurant is just a relabeled version of the brewery's regular line up.
Confused? Let me give you an example.

Example 1:
I worked for a brewery in SC. Piggly Wiggly wanted a store brand only available at their stores. The brewery I worked at sent them a sample of their Amber Ale. Bing bang boom! Now every time they bottle the Amber Ale they do the first 100 cases with the Piggly Wiggly label. $7.99/6pk

Example 2:
Same beer except there is a local restaurant in town called The Lazy Goat. They wanted a beer branded specifically for them.
The brewery sent over a sample of the same Amber Ale. Bipody Bopidy Boo!
Now every time they bottle the Amber Ale the first 100 cases is piggly wiggle and the next 50 cases are Lazy Goat. The bottling line stops and they put the regular labels in the machine. The restaurant charges $6 per bottle.

Why does this matter? Because you said this bar owner wanted a beer that's for him that customers could not get anywhere else.
But more times than not, what I described above is going to be the case.
Again... Why does this matter? Because when the patrons find out who brews the beer, they will put 2 and 2 together and figure out that the beer that the bar owner is trying to sell for $5 or $6 a bottle is the same beer that the brewery sells for $7 or $8 for a 6 pack. And they'll just go to the store to get it.

 

[Gravity]

Sneaky brewery stuff aside, a bar should always have 4 main staples on tap. A pilsner/blonde, an amber (PA), a brown and a stout.

If the bar owner knows his clientele, he/she will know which of those will be hit. Most bars do the lighter beers as they are easier to drink and people buy more of them. Again, its up to the barkeep to know his customers.

 

[JohnSand]

All good input and information, thanks.
I was in the bar today, but did not see the owner. I will update if anything comes of this.