What to Order at a Craft Beer Bar When You Don't Know Your Ales
TC
Tom Callahan
5 min read
A craft beer tap list with forty options is either the most exciting thing in the world or completely paralysing — depending entirely on your experience. Our craft beer editor has been staring down intimidating tap lists since before most of these breweries existed. Here is a practical system for ordering well at any craft beer bar, even if the only beer you can reliably identify is a Guinness.
How to Read a Tap List Without Knowing the Jargon
Most tap lists give you more information than you know how to use. Each entry typically includes the brewery name, the beer name, the style (IPA, Stout, Pale Ale, Saison, etc.), the ABV (alcohol by volume), and occasionally the IBU (international bitterness units). The style and ABV are the only two numbers that matter for making a first decision. Everything else is context.
RULE 01
Start With ABV to Calibrate Pace
Navigation RuleWorks for EveryoneApplies to: All Styles
ABV tells you how fast a beer will affect you, which in turn tells you how many you'll be having. A 3.8% session ale is designed to be drunk in quantity over an evening. A 10.5% Imperial Stout is a dessert beer — one is usually enough, and anything more requires planning. If you're sitting down for three or four hours and want to be in reasonable shape throughout, stay below 6% on your first two rounds. If you're there to drink something serious and don't mind feeling it, find the strongest thing on the list that still sounds interesting.
Rule of thumb: Session beers (2.5–4.5%): drinking pint. Standard (4.5–7%): a full round. Strong (7%+): half pint or one and done.
RULE 02
Ask for a Taster of Anything Unfamiliar
Ordering StrategyAlways AcceptableWorks at: All Craft Beer Bars
Every good craft beer bar will give you a small pour of anything on tap before you commit to a pint. This is standard practice and requires no explanation or apology. "Can I try the pale ale and the saison before I decide?" is a completely normal request, and any bar worth its name will accommodate it. Use tasters strategically: if you see something unusual or a style you haven't tried before, ask for a taster. This is how you expand your palate without the risk of a full pint of something you end up not liking. Our craft beer guides cover the bars where this kind of exploration is most rewarded.
Maximum tasters per visit: Two to three is reasonable. Asking to try everything on tap before ordering is pushing it.
RULE 03
Order the Local Brewery First
Ordering StrategyWorks in Any CitySuccess Rate: Very High
When you're in an unfamiliar city, order whatever is brewed closest to where you're sitting. A craft beer bar in Portland will have beers from Portland breweries on tap. A bar in New York will have Brooklyn, Queens, and upstate New York beers. A bar in London will carry Bermondsey and East London breweries. Local beer is almost always at its best and freshest at local bars, and ordering local is a shorthand way of understanding what a city's brewing culture actually tastes like. It also tends to be the best value per pint — local distribution costs are lower, and the quality-to-price ratio is usually unbeatable.
How to identify local beers: Ask "what are you pouring from local breweries right now?" — it's the most useful question you can ask at any craft beer bar.
The best craft beer bars by city
Our craft beer guides cover the bars with the deepest tap lists and the most knowledgeable staff in each city.
You don't need to memorise every beer style. You need to know enough to point yourself at something you'll enjoy. The following is a deliberately simplified map of the styles you're most likely to encounter and what each one actually tastes like.
STYLE GUIDE 01
IPA (India Pale Ale): Bitter, Hoppy, Often Citrus or Piney
Most Common StyleABV: 5.5–8%Bitterness: High
The most popular craft beer style of the last two decades. A good IPA is aromatic, bitter, and hoppy — the flavour varies enormously depending on the type of hops used. West Coast IPAs are drier and more bitter; New England IPAs (often called Hazy IPAs or NEIPAs) are softer, juicier, and less bitter, with a hazy appearance. If you like bitter, go West Coast. If you prefer fruity and approachable, try a Hazy or New England IPA first. If you don't like bitterness at all, avoid IPAs entirely and try a Pale Ale or Saison instead.
Who it's for: People who like their drinks dry and flavourful, with a long bitter finish.
STYLE GUIDE 02
Stout and Porter: Dark, Roasted, Coffee or Chocolate Notes
Dark AlesABV: 4–12%Bitterness: Low to Medium
Stouts and porters get their dark colour and roasted flavour from malted barley that's been kilned until it's nearly black. Despite the colour, they don't taste heavy — a 4.2% dry stout (the Guinness family) is lighter and drier than many pale ales. Milk stouts add lactose for sweetness and creaminess. Imperial stouts take the roasted character to extreme intensities, with ABVs that can hit 12% or more. If you usually drink coffee or dark chocolate, you'll almost certainly enjoy this style. The best stout you've never had is probably being poured on cask somewhere in Dublin or London right now.
Who it's for: Coffee and chocolate drinkers, people who think beer is too thin, anyone who's only ever had a Guinness and wants to explore further.
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STYLE GUIDE 03
Saison and Farmhouse: Dry, Spicy, Effervescent
Belgian-Derived StylesABV: 5–8%Bitterness: Low to Medium
Saisons are the most food-friendly beers on any tap list. Originally brewed in Belgian farmhouses, they're dry, effervescent, with a characteristic spiciness from the yeast (often described as pepper or clove). They pair well with almost anything and are among the most interesting beers on any tap list, though they're often overlooked in favour of IPAs. If you're bored of IPAs and want something more European in character, a saison is the first place to turn. The best examples come from Belgian-inspired US breweries and — increasingly — from small independent breweries in the UK.
Who it's for: Wine drinkers who want to try beer; anyone who finds IPAs too bitter; people eating food at the bar.
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The bars with the most considered tap lists in the city — from session lagers to barrel-aged Imperial stouts.
The only wrong order at a good craft beer bar is the order you make without any information. Ask questions, use tasters, and let the bartender guide you. The people staffing serious craft beer bars genuinely enjoy this conversation — they're there because they love beer, and your curiosity is an invitation for them to talk about something they care about. Start local, keep the ABV sensible until you know what you're dealing with, and let yourself be surprised. The best beer you've ever had is probably something you won't recognise the name of until you've already ordered it.
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