So I’m standing in a gas station in semi-rural Maine admiring three cooler doors wide of craft beers — mostly beers of the region — when a woman opens one of the doors and shakes her head.
“Did they get rid of all the regular beer for this specialty stuff?” she asks, apparently speaking to me.
I look on down the coolers and noticed beers like Corona, Bud Lime and Michelob Ultra. Then I look behind her. Two doors of there was Budweiser, Miller Lite, Coors Light, etc. I point to them, she smiles, grabs a bright red 12-pack of Bud and heads on her way.
No, I don’t see gas stations getting rid of “regular beer” any time soon.
Do you suppose she was just commenting out loud because she has reverse snobbery to craft beer? I see (and have gotten) that all the time in taverns.
It’s actually a sort of prejudice — be disdainful of something you don’t understand.
I’m surprised she didn’t grab some Narragansett, then you could have explained that they’re now a craft brewer. Sort of. 😉
haha welcome to my state. I see it all the time, despite the great selections you can find here, even in a regular ol’ gas station. Out of (personal) curiosity, where in Maine where you?
Heh…looks like Luke beat me to asking you where you were. He and I are both in Portland, and both members of the Maine Beer Writers Guild (www.mainebeerwriters.org). We’d love to meet you (and have a beer or two with you) if you’re headed to the Casco Bay region. If you’re still going to be in Maine next week, the Guild is planning a meeting and would love to have you as an honored guest.
Wait until you hear this one, “Do you guys serve domestic beer herd?” My response, “I make it all in that little room behind you. That’s as domestic as it comes!”
“That’s as domestic as it comes!”
Oh c’mon, don’t stop there — I imagine they have to have a response to that!!
Hah.
Matt, Jason – Thanks for the offer. Just left Allagash (only the 4th brewery stop of our travels) and stopped at Exit 17 to see the giant globe.
We are bound for Acadia National – and I’m not sure I’ll have Internet access rest of the week. From there east to Nova Scotia, but passing back through Maine in 10 days or two weeks.
Love to meet up with you, but we’ll have to work on logistics. Drop me an email (stan@ the website).
Either “Do you serve domestic,” or “I only drink American beers.”
A while back met with Dean Biersch at his new beer bar/restaurant, the Hopmonk Tavern. Huge selection on tap and in bottles. While we were chatting with his beer buyer he asked the bartender “Has anyone asked for a Budweiser yet?” The bartender, a pretty intimidating guy, didn’t take his eyes off his task of cleaning glasses and just shook his head. I really would like to see the first person who asked for a Bud.
Yeah, SteveH. There response is usually a bufuddled, “you know what I mean-like regular beers” and then end up being mad at me ‘cuz I made them feel stupid. Not good for business, but….
stan, enjoy acadia NP. I love that place. If you can, let us know what you find of Bar Harbor brewing co. I know that Atlantic Brewing co. is there and kicking out lots of beers-even to Chicago. But Bar Harbor (now I believe recently sold by Tod and Suzi Foster) was awesome. Their tiny “farmhouse” brewery in the basement of their house really was a catalyst in helping me jump into the world of craft brewing. I hope the beers are still in Bar Harbor and tasting good.
“Not good for business, but….”
If the shoe fits… I never understood why someone would visit a brew-pub and not expect to drink pub-brewed beer. It breaks my heart when I see brew-pubs selling the likes of Bud or Miller Lites because they feel they “have to.”
@SteveH
I worked at the first brewpub in Houston, and we would literally have people walk out since we didn’t have Bud (or whatever) rather than drink one of our beers. People are/can be, interesting.