I'm becoming convinced that the average craft beer drinker is really not that discerning. The average homebrewer, however...
THIS right here. I've been thinking this for quite some time. So many of the "craft beer" bars have nothing but IPAs and Imperial stouts on tap, nothing but super high abv stuff. It's annoying. There's a place called El Bait Shop in Des Moines that has over 100 taps and I looked at the menu for 10 minutes, like Eric, couldn't find a damn thing I wanted. The IPA and stout list was HUGE, there were no lagers, no wheat beers, a few sours (which I don't drink). It was ridiculous. Plus, if they had something like Chimay it would be like $9 a pour. Screw that.
I mean, seriously, how much IPA can one take? There's more to beer than hops.
A different time, a different perspective. There have been times I was not impressed by other places with high ratings.
El Bait Shop was a standout on a road trip to CO/UT/AZ/NM. We had a hotel in walking distance, had beer and bar food, and were saying that gee it was affordable. We were just in Chicago last weekend, that was sticker shock. We were happy with the selection at El Bait Shop, found what we wanted, and tried new beers from the center of the nation that we don't get, and I think I started with a lager. Just looked at the online list, there seems to be enough lagers on the list that I could drink my fill in a night. Heck, I would drink all 4 of the Schell's Bocks. The lines were all clean, and the server was knowledgable and helpful. For that many beers we are impressed.
The other standout was the stop at Le Cumbre in Duke City. They are know for the IPAs and Stouts. We had the taproom only Pilsner and Helles, which were darned good. Did buy some IPA and Stout to go.