Of Buses, Bills, and Blame.

[Sunshine]

So do i. I usually only drink one mixed drink, and after soda....but i always tip!!

[Victory Sabre]

I always tip my bartender. ALWAYS.

Same here. Tonight on an $11 tab, I tipped $4. Tip the gods, treat them well, because they control the nectar of the gods.

[Jester]

Jeez, $6.50 for a Guinness? I guess I'm too used to Wisconsin podunk town prices. Guinness is only $4 at the single local bar with it on tap. Bottles of domestic are usually $2 each, and buck tappers aren't uncommon.

Which is all well and good, but Key West is not a podunk town, it is a tourist destination tropical island paradise. With that in mind, $6.50 for 20 oz. of draft Guinness hardly seems over the top, does it?

Haven't had it draft.

My condolences. You are most certainly missing out.

I respectfully beg to differ. I'd rather drink nothing at all than Miller lite, Coors lite, Bud lite and most American beers that are not craft beers. Yuck.

And we will disagree on that, because I would rather have bad, cheap, American swill beer than no beer at all.

[Canarr]

Canarr, yes, I have drank Miller Lite intentionally. Other lame beers as well. These things happen. Don't be shocked. My tastes and my bank account don't always see eye to eye. Also, sometimes better beers aren't available. And a cold Miller Lite is better than no beer at all.

Hm, I guess I can see your point there... though I still have to put my vote on Sapphire Silk's side of this (respectful) disagreement: I, too, would rather have no beer at all than some of that swill she listed.

But then again, I'd rather drink Guiness from a bottle than from the tap, so YMMV how much my opinion is worth...

[Racket_Man]

I respectfully beg to differ. I'd rather drink nothing at all than Miller lite, Coors lite, Bud lite and most American beers that are not craft beers. Yuck.

Try Shaffer or Stag. HMMMMMM YUUUUKKKKKKKK Yeah I will go with the "no beer" option.

The only good thing about Shaffer was it was DIRTY CHEAP as in (and this is years and years ago) $6 a 12 pack half the price of everything else.

[Jester]

This may shock a lot of you, but I drink Corona and Landshark on a fairly regular basis.

[Mel]

I don't know where in Canada they have been, but where I am, I rarely ever pay more than $4.50, not including tip, for beer, at a bar. Although, it's probably more in bigger cities.

[Jay 2K Winger]

I, too, would, on those occasions when I drink, prefer cheap beer to no beer.

Same here. Tonight on an $11 tab, I tipped $4. Tip the gods, treat them well, because they control the nectar of the gods.

Praise be to Grog-Boozith, From Whom All Nectar Flows.

[suburbandecay]

Sapphire, a "properly" poured draft Guinness involves filling up the glass 3/4 of the way, letting it settle, and then finishing it off. Of course, I've heard that a TRULY properly poured Guinness should take about 7 minutes, but Americans are not known for their patience, so that might be pushing it.

Normally, I am loathe to correct a bartender, but the time is around 2 minutes for the perfect pour. I've never been a big fan of Guinness, but I prefer it on draft and on the other side of the pond. For whatever reason, I don't think it weathers the trip over very well.

As for the tippers, I never understood taking out your failure to ask how much something cost on the bartender. He doesn't set the prices, he just pours.

[protege]

$6.50 for a Guinness isn't too bad. That's about what they seem to go for here. I too avoid the cheap American beer. I've had it and...DO NOT WANT. I'll have a Guinness, Yuengling, Old Speckled Hen...

[EvilEmpryss]

This may shock a lot of you, but I drink Corona and Landshark on a fairly regular basis.

This explains much.

[Willis]

I thought $6.50 was the standard for a 20 ounce draft Guinness. That's pretty much what it is here in LA. I've seen domestic beer go for that much, but a correctly poured Guinness? That's a bargain. Just for doing what you did given your circumstances, I'd have given you $20 for the two beers to get one for yourself.

[plan9au]

Guiness is anything from $5 (if its the beer of the month to $8 an imperial pint in my part of the world, luckily however the also serve the beer that god keeps for himself while letting the rest drink Guiness, Newcastle Brown. But as a south Aussie im spoiled for good domestic beers.

[Chromatix]

I don't know about Canada, but European countries are very fond of vice taxes for things like alcohol. It gets rolled into the price like VAT, so it just contributes to an overall higher price level than countries without such taxes.

However, I don't know what the price is here since I don't go into bars very often.

[Jester]

Normally, I am loathe to correct a bartender, but the time is around 2 minutes for the perfect pour.

Oh, by all means, feel free to correct me, as I am often wrong. And in this case, I did say that I heard the perfect pour took 7 minutes. Obviously, the people who told me this could have been very, very wrong.

I thought $6.50 was the standard for a 20 ounce draft Guinness. That's pretty much what it is here in LA.

I should point out, Willis, that what is standard in LA, NYC, Boston, or San Francisco (for example), are not standard in much of the rest of the country. And Key West seems to fall into the price levels of the aforementioned cities, give or take. Prices seem to me to be a touch lower in Phoenix and mainland Florida, and are probably markedly lower in other places. Hell, in northern Florida a couple years ago, $2 Buds were not that odd a thing, whereas you would only find them here in Key West on special or happy hour, for the most part. (I can't comment on craft beers or Guinnesses from that part of northern Florida, as such things did not appear to really exist in the area I was in.)