I love music almost as much as I love beer, so it saddens me that going to see a concert and drinking good beer seems to be mutually exclusive. The beer selection at the bar is usually on par with professional sporting events. You’re lucky if they have Sierra Nevada, but the standard “craft beer” tends to be Shock Top or New Castle. There are a few exceptions, but they are few and far between.
I don’t understand why it has to be this way. If the people at the venue have good enough taste to enjoy great music, they surely would also love to be enjoying good beer. The last show I went to was at the El Rey, where New Castle was by far the best beer to choose from. On a quick survey around the room, almost everyone drinking a beer had a New Castle. I would deduce that the room was not full of New Castle fanatics, but rather people grasping at straws, choosing the lesser of multiple evils. I am sure if they replaced one on the mass produced beers with a craft beer, they would be selling more of them. I would even be willing to pay a few bucks more to get a carefully crafted IPA then a Corona. The Wiltern is a fine example of this. They have Lagunitas beers to tap, which I greatly appreciate. Sure, they are a bit more expensive, but worth it for me to be able to enjoy a great beer while listening to some quality music.
So, all you beer reps out there hit the pavement and convince these music venues to sell your beer! Do us all a favor and get music venues and craft beer in bed together. It would be a beautiful thing.
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