We ’ve all been there : a fresh beer bar opens up down the auction block , boasting multiple rotate crafts on draft , an interminable feeding bottle pick , and maybe even a menu of stomach - warmingpub foodfit for some epic Sunday sessions . But is this bar doom to become your new favorite knack ? Or is this joint just another clueless industriousness entrepreneur ’s attempt to cash in on the foxiness beer godsend ? Abide by this ready to hand checklist and you ’ll have no trouble secernate the best beer bar from thefake 1 .

Quality trumps quantity

Experienced toper would take a handful of well - curated draft over a massive 100 - tap inclination any day of the week . With that number of selection , computer menu get overly complicated , keeping things clean becomes practically impossible , and kegs take eternally to kick , mash the inflammation of constant rotation and upping the chance of a stale pour . Who needs 25 differentWest Coast - style IPAs , anyhow ?

The draft lines are super clean

draught lines , those all - important little moldable tubes that connect keg to cup , can play a vast part in the elbow room your beer tastes and pours – and they really should n’t . If lines are n’t flushed every two week , they can build up bacteria , resulting in tiptop - foamy beer or funky off - flavors like rotten orchis , acetum , or butter popcorn . Dirty line can even goad nasty infections in your catgut . Not a ripe feel . And not a good place to drink .

The temperature isn’t an afterthought

If a keg is hold back too warm , its beer is bubbly , flat , and has a greater fortune of spoiling . On the impudent side , beer poured too cold lacks feeling , dull your poor taste bud into submission . While each elan demands a more or less different serving temporary – lagers like it crisp , while stout sample well closer to 55 degrees – most good bars do their best to keep their walk - Hoosier State at a pleasant 38 . And some even accommodate multiple temps for optimum pours across styles .

Your beer’s got head

Good beer demand to breathe . Ample head allows carbonation to climb up and accumulate on the surface , relieving the beer below of supernumerary penchant bud - girdle bubbles and providing a platform for delicious perfume . What ’s more , modest or no head can show dirty glassware or improper keg temperature . So stop interest about being deprived of that last ounce of intoxicant and embrace the foam .

It thinks outside the grain

A good beer bar relies on a various strike lineup to charm imbiber of all kinds – even the gluten illiberal . If you walk into a taproom and find a dedicated cyder seam or spy some timber packaged pick on the shelf , you know you ’re in a top - notch joint .

The glassware game is on point

When it come to glassware , most American bar are pretty ambivalent . But , as seasoned beer geeks know , there ’s an integral inebriate mankind beyond the shaker pint . In beer - savvy places like Belgium , for instance , each brand of beer amount with its very own Methedrine , especially constructed to showcase its fussy appearance , aroma , taste , and mouthfeel . Here in the States , a great beer bar will offer a variety of glassware , with barkeeps well versify in which shapes and size good complement each dash .

It drinks local

Walk into your neighborhood taphouse and scan the rap listing . Were most of the options brew out of state ? peradventure even across the country ? Aside from specialty joints like Belgian or German beer halls , great bars should set aside at least a portion of their computer menu for local drafts . Not only does this drill abbreviate down on shipping ’s environmental impingement , it also guarantee that the beer you ’re about to sop up is of the utmost freshness . So make certain your bar supports the little bozo – what benefits the community of interests benefits your glass .

You can try before you buy

While I ’m in no way advocating for ice emollient shop - spirit level sample distribution , a quality beer bar will never shy away from offering its customers a piddling taste before they determine on a pint . Some places even put up flights for more indecisive clientele . In a mart as crowded as craft beer ’s has become , even the nerdiest of beer experts can get lose in the shuffle . There ’s no pity in asking for a sip – the good beertenders always respect didactics over expediency .

The bartenders know their stuff

The dudes man the sticks should be adept at speak shop class with any customer , from Stella - swigging freshman to over - saturated neckbeards and everyone in between . The last thing a great beer legal profession wants is to turn a potential foxiness exchange off with off-key information or a poorly trained faculty . So , if your barman ca n’t explain the difference between a ostiary and a pale , feel free to get the perdition out of dodge .

Beer isn’t paired with attitude

At the same clock time , nobody likes a wiseass . With all the different way , steel , and unfamiliar terms , craft beer bars can be super - daunting seat for newcomers , and facing off with a snobby staff is just another roadblock continue drinkers from making the transposition to craft . Even fancy - pants beer bar realize that beer should be approachable , interesting , and fun – it ’s only beer , after all . Everybody should be capable to get behind that .

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Meredith Heil is a author , juicer , and dad - joke enthusiast living in Brooklyn . For debauch late - night schoolbook , follow@beerdedladies & for ill - fated attempt at humour , see@mereditto .

beer taps

Sara Norris/Thrillist

Woman pouring beer

francesco de marco/Shutterstock

Beer glasses

Personal Creations

beer flights

Flickr/Jess J