Doug Alberhasky feels sorry for all you Bud Light drinkers.
“That beer has no soul,” the John’s Grocery store manager and resident “Bier Guy” said, sitting in his cluttered store office Tuesday. “I’ve spent half my life trying to educate people on what good beer is about.”
Indeed, over the last 20 years, he has amassed kegs of knowledge on different ales, lagers, hybrids, and all the subsets in between. Stocking roughly 2,767 beers from around 500 breweries from 35 countries, it’s Alberhasky’s job to know the history, “brewology,” and geographic origins to map out the intricacies of a beer for a customer overwhelmed with choices.
In 1989, Alberhasky left the UI and his pre-business track to work at John’s Grocery — owned since 1948 by grandparents John and Erma Alberhasky — and take classes at Kirkwood Community College on food-store management.
“That was at the peak of the microbrew revolution,” Alberhasky said, talking about the breweries that produce limited amounts of beer. “It was great because I was instantly able to apply it, and I got to try new things because I worked for my family.”
Father Bill Alberhasky isn’t complaining about the result.
“I turned it over to him, and he’s taken it and run way beyond where I was at.”
A lot centers on the store and beer for Doug Alberhasky, 40, who loves talking about the history of the place, like when ham salad sandwiches from the deli were 5 cents and how the store was home to the first refrigerator ever in Iowa City. He and wife Sabrina have two children, 8-year-old J.D. and 5-year-old Jessica, who have even starred in the most recent commercial for John’s Grocery.
Most of Alberhasky’s vast beer knowledge has come from visiting breweries and just talking to people, he said. It’s all amounted to a very specific knowledge of beer — like identifying the “beers of paradise, the beer you drank on the beach on your honeymoon,” for example.
Alberhasky can even flex his Bier-Guy muscles when people coming back from abroad are looking for that certain Belgian white they tried overseas.
“They want to continue to be able to have the great beers they enjoyed abroad here in Iowa City,” Alberhasky said. “The only place with a better Belgian selection is Belgium.”
Such a passion for beer earns Alberhasky some credibility.
“He knows what he’s talking about,” said employee Bill Heinrich in the store on Tuesday. “It’s nice to learn from him.”
Ultimately, Alberhasky’s affinity for microbrews won’t allow him to let macrobrew (major breweries such as Anheuser-Busch) lovers pass without taunting them.
“I take endless amounts of ribbing for being the ‘Miller Lite girl,’ ” said employee Roberta Schmidt as she manned the cash register.
But Alberhasky has spent his life leading people to good beers.
“Good beer has a history,” Alberhasky said. “Having a good beer is an experience.”
