I have to admit that I am now officially a spoiled beer snob. Last night I went out with some friends to a pub that heavily promotes their large beer selection. I spent a good 10 minutes going over their beer menu and was really rather disappointed. Ten or fifteen years ago a bar that offered 30 or more beers was generally a place that I'd go out of my way to visit just for the beer selection.
This bar had over 90 beers available, but the choices were primarily the flagship beers and IPA/Session IPA/Specialty IPA's from many big regional and national craft breweries. There were no sour beers, little to no presence from our up and coming local scene, and barely any imports. The only German lager was Warsteiner, they only had 2 English ales, and despite being called "The Abbey", the only trappist beer on the list was "Chimay" (your guess is as good as mine as to which Chimay it is). I normally get a sampler tray or two at a bar like this to try out all of my "want list" from their beer selection. Last night I struggled just to find two different beers that I wanted to drink.
The kicker for me was the sign for the Goose Island Tap Takeover in the men's room. I've come to the realization that "craft beer" is on its way to killing real craft beer.
All that said, the food was excellent and the beer was served properly and in good condition. I really enjoyed Old Speckled Hen on draft. I've only had it in clear bottles and nitro can in the past. On tap with the proper CO2 carbonation it is a really nice beer.