I want to invent a new beer term, "beer punt". This is what happens when you're in a restaurant (Or any establishment) and realize that the beer selections are so poor that you decide a glass of wine is the better option.
Now you might say that some variety of industrial beer is better than no beer at all. I'm not one of those. I was on a recent business trip and I had my already done my necessary reconnaissance for this trip — I had the evening all planned out. The only problem was I didn't have the car. I also had learned that colleagues wanted to go to a chain steakhouse. That was not a good sign for a beer geek. But I didn't have a car and really did want to have a good meal with friends.
As I looked over the menu it was immediately apparent that this was beer from a single distributor with a focus on either industrial beer or some common almost-craft beers. I had to ask the waitress if they had any local beers on tap, and she said they had one IPA. Okay, I'll give it a try. When the beer came and it was very pale for an IPA. I tested the nose and there was no hops at all. One taste, the same. I later was able to try some other beers from this brewer and am convinced it was their golden ale and not the IPA — the waitress has gotten it wrong.
My filet mignon finally came. I ordered a big red wine to have with my beef meal. And thus, the beer punt was born.
