Bar Hop 2 (Peter St)

[midlife crisis]

Jaysus, 145, really? I didn't realize that. Would have guessed maybe 60. 145 things I don't particularly want to drink, and no cask.

[Craig]

Ha, I'd hope you could find at least one passable option in 145!

[midlife crisis]

Yes, i was exagerrating slightly. Having said that, it's not a place i enjoy. The space and vibe are just not inviting. Loud and uncomfortable. Maybe I'm just a grumpy old man.

[Tapsucker]

Yes, i was exagerrating slightly. Having said that, it's not a place i enjoy. The space and vibe are just not inviting. Loud and uncomfortable. Maybe I'm just a grumpy old man.

Username checks out.

[Tapsucker]

Craft has 145 according to their website, plus 15 taps that aren't beer.

I don't have a particular threshold in mind, but from my limited travels in the US it seems common in cities there for there to be at least one or two places like that with like 100 taps. Seems less popular here, for whatever reason.

In my experience in the US, the big beer halls are generally dead. Like ghost town. The exception being the Yard House chain. Any time I've been to one over the last decade or so they have been busy, waiting line busy. I'm not sure if it's every location, but they must be doing something right. My take is they are not too loud, so you can actually go to socialize. Their food is pretty good too and reasonable value. Not just pub freezer-to-fryer stuff, but also not too pretentious.

Craft Vancouver is in a cool space (old salt house), so I sometime tolerate the noise levels, the stupid sports screens with the competing announcers all yelling at each other etc. When they do that in Toronto's banal space, it's *meh*, let's go somewhere nicer.

[northyorksammy]

young people are increasingly going for zero ABV beverages

[Craig]

Yes, i was exagerrating slightly. Having said that, it's not a place i enjoy. The space and vibe are just not inviting. Loud and uncomfortable. Maybe I'm just a grumpy old man.

I feel the same actually, though I haven't been in like 7 years. I found it hard to have conversations there, which is most of the reason I go out these days.

[Craig]

Craft has 145 according to their website, plus 15 taps that aren't beer.

I don't have a particular threshold in mind, but from my limited travels in the US it seems common in cities there for there to be at least one or two places like that with like 100 taps. Seems less popular here, for whatever reason.

In my experience in the US, the big beer halls are generally dead. Like ghost town. The exception being the Yard House chain. Any time I've been to one over the last decade or so they have been busy, waiting line busy. I'm not sure if it's every location, but they must be doing something right. My take is they are not too loud, so you can actually go to socialize. Their food is pretty good too and reasonable value. Not just pub freezer-to-fryer stuff, but also not too pretentious.

Craft Vancouver is in a cool space (old salt house), so I sometime tolerate the noise levels, the stupid sports screens with the competing announcers all yelling at each other etc. When they do that in Toronto's banal space, it's *meh*, let's go somewhere nicer.

I haven't travelled much since pre-covid, so maybe this is a trend everywhere and not just Toronto.

[Cass]

In my experience in the US, the big beer halls are generally dead. Like ghost town. The exception being the Yard House chain.

I haven't travelled much since pre-covid, so maybe this is a trend everywhere and not just Toronto.

I think it's a fairly accepted fact that large multi-taps are fading away. When I was in Chicago for FOBAB in November, I took a day to tour around and I didn't want to do brewery taprooms, as they tend to have a certain same-ness. What's left was lots of bars, and they tend to have a few craft beers alongside macros, but no longer a 20-30-40+ tap list. There's a few exceptions like HopLeaf, but most spots have about a dozen beers.

I actually really enjoyed the tour as the bars have way more character and personality (esp. in Chicago) than taprooms. And I don't miss having to leaf through a 50 beer tap list hoping to find something that's fresh.

[beerstodiscover]

I went by on Thursday for a final few pints. It seems the lease was up on Peter St and the landlord wanted to hike the rent beyond what was feasible for Bar Hop. They are giving away some "customer appreciation" glassware if anyone is interested in popping in.