This week I have been observing my pub customers as usual.

Picture this funny situation that I saw the other night: a guy came in and asked the barmaid for a beer with milk. She said, of course, that they don’t serve beer like that, so the man ordered something normal. Just a few minutes later another customer entered the bar and asked for a beer for his girlfriend and a glass of milk for himself… they must all have been having some kind of a milk day.

And how about this one: a lady came over to the bar and ordered a flavoured beer, half and half with fruit juice. On hearing that she’s sadly not going to get such a thing, a reply followed that the bartender’s job "isn’t judging, just pouring", and she left the bar, sulking and grumbling (even though she got her beer and a glass of juice in a separate glass). Poor manners.

Now isn’t it true that you can tell something about people from their clothes, the food they eat, the music they listen to, the house they live in and even the type of car they drive?

Well, how much do you think I can I tell about my customers, just from their choice of beer?

Quite a bit when I started thinking about it...

1. Based on my observations, drinkers who always go for the same beer brand (even when over 100+ are available) seem to be fairly conservative, modest, reliable and practical. They tend to be emotionally stable, hard-working and I would imagine their loyalty extends beyond their beer choice to other things in life. They are not extroverts, but are courteous, polite and very easy to talk to once you get to know them.

2. Customers that opt for good lagers (rather than ales) tend to be more smartly dressed, think well of themselves and are generally young and attractive. These drinkers are often on their way to party and enjoy their friends company.

3. Then there is my favourite group of customers who are willing to try something different, no matter what style or country the beer comes from. These people are the most engaging and easiest for me to strike up a conversation with. They are usually open-minded and interesting. Most of my customers fall into this category. These customers are out-going, seek new pleasures and are very curious. A bit like me!

4. Then we have the beer geeks. These people are easy to spot, as they spend more time thinking and talking about beer than drinking it. They are very opinionated, demanding and are difficult to talk with. These people seem to thrive on being critical of others and critical of other people’s beers, should they not meet with their own expectations. They tend to regard themselves in high esteem, and have an inflated sense of self- importance. We occasionally get these characters in our bar, but I don’t find anything particularly charming or interesting about them.

5. We also have customers who fall (sometimes literally) into our bar (presumably by mistake) and insist on ordering a mainstream brand, without any appreciation of the beer paradise into which they have just entered. They will persist in rattling off a string of 5 or 6 similar mainstream brands, becoming more and more perplexed at each answer of "sorry, we only sell good beer here". This group has the ’stag’ mindset. Personality traits include a superiority complex and immodesty coupled with boisterous and arrogant behaviour. They tend to be unimaginative and follow their herd with everything from clothes, phones, cars through to beer.

Maybe you recognise yourself somewhere? Well whatever your choice of beer, please do visit me again, but just remember to try something different once in a while. You never know, you may discover something new about yourself. And for me.. ? Well variety of customers is like variety of beer, in that it makes life more interesting! And that’s why I love my job.

And on top of everything else – spring’s on its way!!! It’s fabulous outside, don’t you think? My buddy from Warsaw recommended a sport recently. Since I like cycling, and in order to prepare for the season, he said I should take up Spinning classes. We’ll see how it goes, I’m going later in the week.

Maybe you know this sport too?