Pipe Dream 8 Tap Bar Idea

As many that know me are aware one of my dreams is to one day own a Brew Pub or a Beer Bar or a combination of both. Now I realize that this is only a dream and a lot of things would have to fall perfectly into place over the course of my life for something like this to happend...but a guy can dream.

I have always been a fan of a small, cozy, very personable place to drink and share stories. I began thinking the other day that if I were to own a bar with somewhere are 8 taps in a small town how I would utalize my taps. I think it becomes a necessity to survive that some domestic beer must be available in a small town atomsphere (at least at first). No matter how much I would like to serve only amazing beer and not fizzle, yellow swill I am aware that I would quickly loose my ass if I were to do this. I believe that this can be accomplished strictly through bottles so that I would never have to corrupt my beer lines with domestic beer, but patrons could still order a Budweiser or a Miller Lite (its triple hops brewed!!).

So what would I have on Tap? I would run 4 taps with year round selections and then rotate 4 taps based on season and/or availabilty.

4 Year Round Taps

The Goal here is to come up with four diverse, interesting selections that are still sessionable.

Founders Centennial IPA
*** You've got to start off with a solid IPA and Founders makes a good one....if there's one thing that I've found from drinking beer is that HOP HEADS are very nitchy and if you serve something hoppy....they will come***

Short's Bellaire Brown Ale

***Short's is one of my favorite breweries in the world and this is one of the most popular session beers at the pub....who doesn't love a rich and creamy brown ale***

Chimay Première (Red)

*** Straight from one of the only Trappist breweries in the world Chimay is to Belgian beer what Guinness is to stout. This beer was an eye opener for me when I was beginning to love good beer***

Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier
*** Call me crazy, but I am a sucker for a good German Wheat Bier and noone does it better than Weihestephaner***

Rotating Taps

I'm gonna list 4 beers for each season just to keep it interesting. I think that to make it work that the rotating list would have to change as often as possible.

Summer

Bell's 2 Hearted

Arcadia Witsun

The Livery Maillot Jaune
St. Bernardus Tripel

Fall

Chimay Grand Reserve (blue)

Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest-Märzen

Bell's Best Brown
Founder's Breakfast Stout

Winter

Short's Cuppa Joe Stout

Bell's HopSlam Ale
Gouden Carolus Noël

New Holland Dragon's Milk

Spring

Founders Red's Rye

Short's Huma-Lupa-Licious IPA

Allagash White
The Hideout Smuggler's Hazelnut Stout

These are just a few ideas for what I would do with a tap list....I'm interested to see what beers all of you would want to see on tap in a bar and at what time of year you would want to drink them.

Cheers!

Monk's Lederhosen voted favorite beer @ Oktoberfest

Well the polls have closed and I didn't get the great voting turnout that I had hoped for, but according to the 5 of you that voted 60% of you said Monk's Lederhosen was your favorite beer at Bashore BrewHaus Oktoberfest. This was one of our first attempts at a Belgian cross over beer and we were glad to see that the response to it was a good one.

Bashore BrewHaus Oktoberfest Recap

I just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone for coming out for Oktoberfest yesterday. A lot of beer was consumed and I hope everyone had a good time. Thanks to everyone that brought and/or made food for the party. Special thanks to Tom and Krista for the use of the tent and for saving our ass with some extra CO2.....you guys are amazing! Also, special thanks to Matt and Kate for use of the tables and chairs and for bring the picnic tap and the extra empty CO2 tank. It just goes to show you that with a little help from your friends great times can be shared by all, so to everyone the contributed we express our appreciation. Cheers!

On a sad note or at least some what disappointing. Today, when Irene and I were cleaning up the bar we noticed that someone from last night STOLE the money from the Beer Karma jar. Let me be clear when I say this....I haven't and will never ask for money from anyone for coming over and giving us the honor of your company and enjoying the beer I produce. I have always considered the things we do here at Bashore BrewHaus to be a collaboration of a community of friends sharing good times and good feelings. Irene and I are very hurt that some would steal from us as we believed that we were surrounded by nothing but friends yesterday. There is never a need to put money in the Beer Karma jar, it is merely a way of chipping in any way you can to take some of the financial burden off the beers we make. Beer Karma is exactly what it seems and to this person that decided that deserved the contents of the jar, I will say Karma will always bite you in the ass. The most concerning thing is that regardless of how things are spoken about this being a bar its still our home first and foremost and if someone can take a few dollars out of a jar...whats to stop them from taking anything of value to us. I would just ask anyone that comes over to be respectful of the people and the property of THE BASHORE HOUSE. This is all I will say on this topic for now, but if it becomes a constant issue with parties......they will stop!

I will be posting pics in the next day or two either here or on the facebook site or both. There are certainly some very funny and also adorable pics of everyone. We are looking forward to adding the final picture mural to the wall of party. Obviously, it will depend on circumstances and cash flow, but we are going to try and throw a get together for every season every year.

Plans are already in the works for Bashore BrewHaus' 2nd annual New Years Eve Party/ 2nd Anniversary. If anyone recalls, last year on New Years Eve was the first occasion in beer flowed from the taps of Bashore BrewHaus. Speaking on a personal note, this is my favorite event to brew for because I have complete freedom to brew whatever I want without any style restrictions. This years theme will be a Pimps N Hoes party...with a twist. It's reverse, all the boys are the hoes and the ladies are the PIMPS. More information will follow on this party but we hope people will join us in ringing in the New Year in Style.

Cheers!
Matt and Irene