As we stated yesterday, a fine fifty-nine Hoosier Beer Geek readers took the time to answer our first every whole-hog survey. Thanks again to those of you who took time out of your busy days to give us a little feedback on what we do.Because there was a lot of data to cover, we broke this up over two posts. Part one is available here.
6. How much beer do you drink?
A few every month: 3.4%
A couple a week: 39%
One a day: 33.9%
A couple a day: 16.9%
More than a couple a day: 6.8%
Interesting.
7. Have you ever bought a beer because of a Hoosier Beer Geek review?
Because we're not getting paid to do this, we hope that whatever influence we can have on breweries or distributors will lead to benefits we can somehow pass on to our readers. We've certainly seen the appreciation of breweries like Brugge (free beer for our New Year's Party), restaurants and bars like Deano's Vino, Hot Shotz, and Badaboomz, and distributors like World Class Beverages (beer for sampling at our Big Car Events) and Cavalier. We hope that whatever influence we can have continues to foster these relationships in a way that can be beneficial for anyone reading.
Having said all that, 49.2% (29 readers) said that they had bought a beer because of a Hoosier Beer Geek review, with twenty of you taking the time to relate that it was a good to great experience. That's pretty damn awesome.
Only one comment left was of a negative experience:
"Not well, I normally don't like IPA's but the raves that DFH 90 IPA got I thought maybe I had the wrong beer to try. Nope...I really don't like IPA's."
Sorry about that. We salute your efforts, anyway.
8. Have you ever visited a bar/restaurant/brewpub/liquor store because of a Hoosier Beer Geek review?
28.7% (17) of you responded that you have visited a beer location because of a Hoosier Beer Geek review. So how did it go for those folks?
"I can't remember"
"That belgium place. Great food, good beer."
"Awesome."
"I went to Hot Shotz because you are always talking about it. Great Place that I've been back to."
"BBC in Louisville. Kahn's on Keystone. If my business trip allows for it I'll go to the beer mapping site to look for something interesting to bring back home."
"Excellent, it is one of my favorite drinking holes. The Legend Cafe in Irvington."
"Thank you for introducing me to Hot Shotz."
"All of the places with good beers are always good experiences. Seriously."
"Great!"
"I think an option for Not Yet would be more appropriate. :)"
"We had never been to Deano's Vino and probably would not have gone without the HBG events there. Now that we have been, we will definitely come back. The atmosphere was great and it's very impressive that craft beer stays on all 3 of their taps and the regular prices are very fair, not to mention the pitcher specials!"
"Very well, although it was just the beer dinner at L'ex. Most of the other places we had been to before."
For those of you who've make the trips and had a good time, we've glad we could be of service.
"Not well. The Badaboomz downtown is a dump."
To be honest, we've heard varying reports on Badaboomz over the past few months. It strikes us as odd because short of a little confusion with the beer menu, none of us have every had a bad Badaboomz experience - and we all visit Badaboomz fairly regularly.
Apparently some changes are in the works for the downtown location - so keep an eye out for that. Hopefully the full beer menu stays - if nothing else they deserve kudos for the expansive selection.
9. Please rate these Hoosier Beer Geek features in order of how likely you are to read them.
The graphic is a little hard to read, but I think I can sum it up for you. As it turns out, everyone likes (at least a little bit) almost everything we do. There were very few negative responses.
It was good to know that our Roundtable reviews remain amongst the most popular of things we do - sometimes they get a little long-winded. We'd like to think that's what sets them apart from typical beer reviews.
10. Why do you read Hoosier Beer Geek?
Forty-nine responses for this one. Greatly appreciated.
Some highlights:
"The love of beer is something that has to be shared, whether in person or via the internet."
I couldn't agree more
"Along with a beer it helps put me to sleep.... just kidding."
I just want to point out that came from the oldest person responding.
"My husband and I just began homebrewing and we want to learn more about beer. We would also like to learn about events where we can meet other homebrewers in our area."
We certainly appreciate your readership and hope you'll stick around. We can we also recommend the Foam Blowers of Indiana.
"I like to hear about my beer. And Jason's a pretty cool guy."
Apparently Jason's mom is reading.
"I like beer, I like Hoosiers, I like geeks. I like Hoosiers who are geeky about beer. I like Hoosier geeks who talk about beer. I like beer that is enjoyed by geeky Hoosiers."
We like wordy comments.
"Beer, Soccer fans, throw in a good friend of mine... what's not to like? Once again, it's well written, the descriptions of the beers are excellent, it's free, and it shows up in my inbox randomly -- a literary present of sorts. If you want to reach out to your readers, and perhaps reach a few more at events, why not promote your ladies? Both men and women love them beer drinking females. The men perhaps for the wrong reasons..... especially those prone to stalking, but there are lots of women out there who just want to know that there are other female connoiseurs of beer. Then they might come out of their shell? Bring the husband or boyfriend? Just a thought."
A literary present? How many beers did Jim buy you? Thanks for the idea about promoting the ladies - we're working on a Ladies Only event.
"I like reading up on new beers to try and like that Indy has a group of people who don't consider specials on beer a $3 pitcher of Coors Lite. I drink to enjoy the beer, not because I'm looking to get sloshed--so while I haven't shown up yet to a local beer event, I think that my boyfriend and I may come to one eventually."
If he's not up for it, you're still welcome to show up.
"I like beer It makes me a jolly good fellow I like beer"
Is that a song? I can't find it on Itunes.
"You guys (and gals) do a great job and I like your witty writing and no-holds-barred approach to tastings - since I frequently go through Indiana on my way from wisconsin to Ohio, it's not abnormal to stop and pick up beer in Indiana and you do a good job of promoting the local beer scene. Good job!"
Your check is in the mail.
"You guys rock. It is really nice to see real reviews from true beer lovers. The my first beer story with the fishing trip was excellent.
A little love for a guest column! Nice.
"HBG is a great source of local beer news and is written with great personality. The reviews are very accessible and lacking in pretension. Overall just a great combination of current beer news in Indiana and good beer people.
We'd say the good beer people are our readers - Thanks everyone.
Just a comment regarding the Badaboomz negative reply. I haven't had a bad experience there and think it is a pretty nice place. But I live on the west side of town and a couple weeks ago tried to go to the Badaboomz with my family on a Friday evening. Turns out we couldn't get in the door because they allow smoking and my son is only approaching 4. Now I have no idea if the West-side Badaboomz is even remotely as well stocked as the downtown location, but I was sorely disappointed to see a bar and grill that had maybe 12 total patrons at 8:30 on a Friday night turn away 4 people just for smoking.
ReplyDeleteJust a personal rant of mine. I am an ex-smoker and am not sure who to be annoyed with on this. Either the owner of Badaboomz for making that decision, or the state of Indiana for forcing the issue. I found it curious that it seemed like the downtown location was smoke-free when I was there this past Monday.. is that true?
Badaboomz made the switch to smoking couple of months back, much to the chagrin of 100% of the Knights of the Beer Roundtable. As a former smoker myself, it immediately took the place down a peg. I can't stand the smell of smoke these days. I guess I'm one of those horrible self righteous ex-smokers. I'm ok with that.
ReplyDeleteUsually they segregate the smokers to the bar-side of the room divider, and that's usually sufficient in separating the odor. Although
To be honest, I suspect they made the switch because of the lack of business - being a place where people can smoke might be a draw for some.
I wish they hadn't switched back to smoking, though to be honest, I don't think it affects my decision to go there in the slightest. I used to smoke socially, but I agree Mike that I can't stand the smell of it anymore.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that ticks me off is that smokers tend to sit at the bar. I also like to sit at the bar -- I like to chat with the bartenders (a major source of the tips that I post) -- so the smoke can get a bit annoying. We usually make a snap judgment about the degree of smokiness when we go in and sometimes decide to sit elsewhere.
That's too bad, I didn't realize they actually changed to smoking. All I know is about 3 Fridays ago, the turned away what would have been close to a 25% increase in business at 8:30 on a Friday evening. Seemed like a bad call to me. And of course what it really means is I probably will never patronize the westside Badaboomz because I can't go there with my family. A couple years ago I would never have thought this.. but Illinois did it right. The banned smoking outright in all bars and restaurants, no exceptions. Going up there now to hang out with my dad is a much more pleasant experience. And knowing bar owners up there, the way they did it ensured nobody would be losing business to bars across a county line because it was statewide.
ReplyDeleteWay off topic.. so how bout that survey :-) Actually pretty interesting results and I am glad you guys shared it. Usually I take a survey and wonder if I just wasted my 5-10 minutes.
It will certainly keep me from returning. I hate getting great beer and then not be able to smell it. Badaboomz food was mediocre but I was willing to go for the great beer. now they are on my "no return list" like McNivens, the downtown Claddagh and the Noodle. I have asthma and the smoke really hurts me. I will spend my $$$ at Deano's, Brugge, Rock Bottom, Broadripple Brewpub, Ram and Oaken Barrel.
ReplyDeletePersonally I like Badaboomz downtown even though they do allow smoking. I have been there like 5 or six times, but never noticed it. I love there selection and the fact that there aren't very many people there when I usally go. They have recently had some great deals like the ncaa championship night where everything they served in a pint was on 1.75. I do agree that it sucks that they would turn customers away because they have smokers.
ReplyDeleteI know back when Mike converted BW3 to BadaBoomz, he was very certain he wanted to keep the new restaurant non-smoking so that his friends with children could patronize the bar. The BW3 had become 21+ after the new smoking law, which made sense due to its status as a sports bar.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that after the past 9 months or so in business, Mike finally came to terms with the unfortunate truth that you make more money selling beer in a bar atmosphere that allows smoking than you do in a family restaurant. The number of people who will not patronize BadaBoomz now that it is smoking is probably close to equal to the number that previously wouldn't go in because there were kids around. I agree that it was much nicer when you could enjoy a beer without smelling like an ashtray when you left, but I always questioned how long that would last. All this stupid law has done is concentrate the amount of smoke in bars since it's not allowed anywhere else.
Well, it wasn't a state law but a city ordinance. They were required to turn you away, generik, as silly as it seems.
ReplyDeleteSmoking is the exact reason I don't go to MacNiven's or Spencer's. I was very disappointed that Mike switched over, though because of the lack of customer's, it's not that prevalent, unlike the other two. I'm hoping with the newest switch, it will go back to non-smoking. I suspect that it will since the franchise is a bit more upscale.
As for Rodney's point about equal number of those now boycotting were equal to those who did prior because of kids, I have to disagree. Even when it first opened, I never saw children in there. The smokers manage in every other restaurant, so I don't see why they would be boycotting because kids were allowed.
Perhaps people wouldn't avoid BadaBoomz because it was family friendly, but I imagine if a group of 5 smokers were hitting up a bar on Friday night, they would tend to favor a smoking bar over a non-smoking one.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the kids thing goes, we have been in there a few times where there were a lot of families up in the dining room section and the bar was pretty dead except for us. We even saw some families in there right after it went smoking, which was surprising, but maybe some of the staff didn't know the ordinance.