Anyone Return Beer For A Refund?

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KillerIguana

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I recently bought a 6 pack of a locally brewed beer, and it was bad, as in old. It was just a glass of foam and smelled musty. I e-mailed the brewery and someone got back to me within a day, so that what good. I was told that I could bring the beer to the brewery for a fresh 6 pack or bring it back to where I bought it and they would replace it.

I've never returned beer, and I'm thinking, if I bring this beer back, the employees at the store will probably think I'm a real A-hole.

Anyone bring bad beer back to the store? And should I feel embarrassed for doing so?
 
You you return spoiled steaks that you bought?

I've exchanged a skunked Brooklyn Lager at a BW3s before. The waitress looked at me weird until I made her smell it. It's money you spent on a product that was bad. Return it like you would anything else.
 
i returned a draft back to a bartender last weekend. i said your lines are dirty or this keg is really old. he asked what else i wanted. got another draft. it tasted like trash.

i switched to bottles after that. and probably wont ever go back to that bar.
 
A couple of folks on here over the years have done what you've done and contacted the brewery instead of the store. I think it's a good thing to do because it lets them know with an issue usually of mishandling of the beer by either the distributor or (most usually) the store. No manufacturer wants a rep as having a bad product, not because of something they've done, but because of how it was handled after it left their control.

If a store is not properly handling their beer those at the brewery are going to want to know about it.
 
i returned a draft back to a bartender last weekend. i said your lines are dirty or this keg is really old. he asked what else i wanted. got another draft. it tasted like trash.

i switched to bottles after that. and probably wont ever go back to that bar.

I gotta start doing that. There is a local brewery that hasn't cleaned its taps in years. I have ordered two Pliny's there. And they both tasted horrible. I haven't been back.
 
I gotta start doing that. There is a local brewery that hasn't cleaned its taps in years. I have ordered two Pliny's there. And they both tasted horrible. I haven't been back.

There's nice restaurant nearby with a good tap selection, and about 10 years ago, I only had 3 beers, but the next morning I had the biggest headache and felt sick for about a day. It didn't a cure to me that it might be dirty beer lines until I was talking to a buddy who had the same experience at the place and we both decided it had to be dirty lines. I haven't been there since.
 
Trader Joe's has a no questions asked return policy, I've returned a single six pack of some weird seasonal years ago and they were fine with it.
 
I've emailed a brewery before and they were very grateful and apologetic. Hey, crap happens. Sent me some sweet swag as a make up for the bad batch. I was happy.
 
Regardless of the product, if it isn't up to the quality expected I will return it politely. I see no difference between an alarm clock and beer. As long as you aren't a jerk, I would hope you will have no issues returning it. If the employee treats you like an a-hole discuss it with his supervisor. However, if he's up for earning his wage he/she will WANT to make it right.
 
Regardless of the product, if it isn't up to the quality expected I will return it politely. I see no difference between an alarm clock and beer. As long as you aren't a jerk, I would hope you will have no issues returning it. If the employee treats you like an a-hole discuss it with his supervisor. However, if he's up for earning his wage he/she will WANT to make it right.

To clarify:

Alarm clock: thing that wakes up

Beer: Thing that doesn't wake you up.
 
I just had a bad case of beer from a local brewery. I emailed them to let them know. They pulled a beer from their library and had it taste tested. They didn't notice anything off with their beer, but they gave me a bunch of gear so I was happy. They thought it was either infected or mishandled. I've never tasted anything as bad as this beer it smelled and tasted like cat pee( what I imagine it would taste like). The beer is normally delicious.
 
I contract breweries about out of code beer - usually never hear a thing - its a huge problem in the craft industry - I now generally buy seasonal beer only
 
I thought about it with a growler I got from a local brewery. The beer tasted fine, but it was flat. It was an irish red ale, so I suppose somewhat light carbonation would be in order, but this was F-L-A-T. There was a tiny puff when I opened it (3 hours after purchase), the first glass had the tiniest hint of a few bubbles, but was totally flat by the time I took a couple sips. Subsequent glasses were flat from the start.

I considered taking it back, but decided just ot drink it. I'll let them know next time I go in... as it was, it was a very useful learning experience. The flavor was outstanding, and it was the first time I've tasted good uncarbonated beer. I figure it'll help judging my own beers before carbonation.
 
A couple of folks on here over the years have done what you've done and contacted the brewery instead of the store. I think it's a good thing to do because it lets them know with an issue usually of mishandling of the beer by either the distributor or (most usually) the store. No manufacturer wants a rep as having a bad product, not because of something they've done, but because of how it was handled after it left their control.

If a store is not properly handling their beer those at the brewery are going to want to know about it.

Revvy hit the nail on the head. Let's say you were someone new to craft brew and this was one of the first craft brews you ever tried, you may just assume that's how they all taste. Best to let them know so they can address it with the distributor and/or store.
 
I bought two six packs of canned beer at Grocery Outlet from an excellent brewery here. They were sour! Strong acetic acid smell and taste. I returned them with no problems and contacted the brewery. Their quality control manager emailed me back and seemed genuinely concerned and asked for the store name and location. I didn't hear anything after that but the beer was not out for sale the next time I went to that store. I would hate for someone that had never had that beer to think that was what it actually tasted like.
 
How the brewery handles a problem is a big factor. The responding e-mail I got from the brewery was very apologetic and thanked me for bringing it to his attention. He really wants to make good on this. Which is great. But, if this happens again, I won't be buying anymore. Who needs the hassle.
 
I didn't return to distributor but wrote to Sam Adams once about a bad case of beer. In about a month I received and apology and a check to cover the case. Very nice customer service.
 
i would take it to the brewery. they would prob give you a tour and some other swag to take home with you
 
I'm too old to accept subpar beer. :D

I've probably returned ~10 six packs over the last couple of years:

  • Heavily oxidized (liquid cardboard)
  • Skunked (UV light damage from sitting out too long)
  • Infected (only happened once that I can remember)
  • Leaking caps (local brewery had an issue with their bottling line)

The last time I returned a six pack to Spec's Liquor in Austin, the manager tried to give me crap.

*walk in store*
me: "I'd like to exchange this."
cashier: "Why is a bottle missing?"
me: "Because I drank one."
cashier: "Ah, ok. Let me get the manager."
manager: "What's wrong with the beer?"
me: "It's heavily oxidized and has diacetyl, aka butter."
manager: "Are you sure that's not how it's supposed to taste?"
me: "Positive. I encourage you to try one."
manager: "Oh, that's ok. We normally don't except returns on opened bottles."
me: "Also, the 'recommended by' date on the bottle was 3 months ago."
manager: "Oh, that's just a recommendation. Doesn't mean much."
me: "Ah, sure. Well, I'm going to pick out a replacement."
manager: "Ok"

My girlfriend had a similar experience when returning a bottle of wine that had a rotten cork (disintegrated upon extracting).
 
i wrote to smuttynose before because of inconsistent freshness dates on the bottles vs the box they came in. never got a reply. sam adams issued a recall several years ago because of the possibility of glass being in the bottles. sent a check to cover the case price.
 
i would take it to the brewery. they would prob give you a tour and some other swag to take home with you

With the three tier system in the states it has to go back to a distributor. That's why I just tossed my case so I wouldn't have to deal with the hassle.

The brewery wanted to test the beer to see what went wrong and I couldn't even give it back to them for free.
 
I'm too old to accept subpar beer. :D

I've probably returned ~10 six packs over the last couple of years:

  • Heavily oxidized (liquid cardboard)
  • Skunked (UV light damage from sitting out too long)
  • Infected (only happened once that I can remember)
  • Leaking caps (local brewery had an issue with their bottling line)

The last time I returned a six pack to Spec's Liquor in Austin, the manager tried to give me crap.

*walk in store*
me: "I'd like to exchange this."
cashier: "Why is a bottle missing?"
me: "Because I drank one."
cashier: "Ah, ok. Let me get the manager."
manager: "What's wrong with the beer?"
me: "It's heavily oxidized and has diacetyl, aka butter."
manager: "Are you sure that's not how it's supposed to taste?"
me: "Positive. I encourage you to try one."
manager: "Oh, that's ok. We normally don't except returns on opened bottles."
me: "Also, the 'recommended by' date on the bottle was 3 months ago."
manager: "Oh, that's just a recommendation. Doesn't mean much."
me: "Ah, sure. Well, I'm going to pick out a replacement."
manager: "Ok"

My girlfriend had a similar experience when returning a bottle of wine that had a rotten cork (disintegrated upon extracting).

Why didn't you check the "recommended by" date on the bottle when you purchased it?
 
i returned a draft back to a bartender last weekend. i said your lines are dirty or this keg is really old. he asked what else i wanted. got another draft. it tasted like trash.

i switched to bottles after that. and probably wont ever go back to that bar.

I find that it's not very uncommon, sadly. If you get one bad beer on draft, just switch to bottles. I had a place that was determined to serve me a draft beer I liked but all their taps were dirty and I'm highly sensitive to diacetyl... it was all quite disgusting. I think I had a water with my meal in the end.
 
i wrote to smuttynose before because of inconsistent freshness dates on the bottles vs the box they came in. never got a reply. sam adams issued a recall several years ago because of the possibility of glass being in the bottles. sent a check to cover the case price.

I wrote to smutty about why all their beers taste like pennies to me. There's a distinct metallic/copper flavor in (almost) all of their beers and it renders them unpalatable to me and at least two other people I know. It's a very distinct and strong flavor to me. They were very nice in the response of "we don't know what you're talking about, we taste it every day"... but it's still a problem for me.

Must be some weird water chemistry/my palate interaction.
 
Why was the store selling old beer in their coolers?

Do you check the date on every six-pack you purchase? ;)

Of course not, but I wouldn't use that argument against them either. The date is printed on there for both the seller and purchaser. Is it the seller's job to check the date on all perishable merchandise? It absolutely should be. But some responsibility must be taken by the purchaser as well. I just feel like if someone is willing enough to go back to the store to exchange or refund a 6 pack of beer based on off tastes, they'd be inclined to check the "brew on" or "best before" date prior to purchasing. I don't know, I guess it's just me.
 
A good liquor/beer store will accept the return. They would just return it to their distributor for a credit anyway.

I spent a few years working in a booze store. People returned bad kegs (usually their fault for how they tapped it and/or handled it, causing it to be highly carbed - but whatever) as well as returning wine when the wine was bad. It then sits in a return pile to give to the distributor for a credit. I never had beer returned, but this was a little prior to the big craft beer movement.

So if the store were to give you a hard time in returning it, let them know they are a bad store.

Also - +1 to returning beers at a bar. I do this whenever its blatantly obvious they don't clean their tap lines. I then switch to bottles.
 
I just feel like if someone is willing enough to go back to the store to exchange or refund a 6 pack of beer based on off tastes, they'd be inclined to check the "brew on" or "best before" date prior to purchasing. I don't know, I guess it's just me.

Are you suggesting I should have absorbed the loss because the store hadn't properly rotated it's stock and I neglected to check the "best by" date?

If so, I hope you're not a retailer. :)
 
Of course not, but I wouldn't use that argument against them either. The date is printed on there for both the seller and purchaser. Is it the seller's job to check the date on all perishable merchandise? It absolutely should be. But some responsibility must be taken by the purchaser as well.

Yes, the store should be rotating their stock. It's not a bad idea to check the date before you make a purchase, but it's not "using th[e] argument against them" to return an outdated product. It's just expecting them to take responsibility for not having done their job.

It's not the purchaser's responsibility until he gets it home. If you buy it, sit on it for two months, and find it's bad and past the "use by" date, then you'd be out of line returning it. But not in the situation described above.
 
xjmox14x said:
Of course not, but I wouldn't use that argument against them either. The date is printed on there for both the seller and purchaser. Is it the seller's job to check the date on all perishable merchandise? It absolutely should be. But some responsibility must be taken by the purchaser as well. I just feel like if someone is willing enough to go back to the store to exchange or refund a 6 pack of beer based on off tastes, they'd be inclined to check the "brew on" or "best before" date prior to purchasing. I don't know, I guess it's just me.

If a store sells outdated milk or meat, they are in trouble. Why should beer be different?
 
If a store sells outdated milk or meat, they are in trouble. Why should beer be different?

I worked at a supermarket deli counter when I was 17. They tried to make me use windex to remove the sell by date on packaged salami and re-stamp it. I refused. Between that and the fistfight in the produce section I didn't last all that long at that job.

I have gotten corked wine at both my local liquor store and local wineries ( I live on Long Island). The liquor store replaced my bottles, the wineries replaced the bottles and sent me extra bottles on top of it.

I would return your bad beer and request compensation.
 
If a store sells outdated milk or meat, they are in trouble. Why should beer be different?

That's a good way to look at it. So I wonder, is it up to the beer stores to send old beer back to the distributor, or is it up to the distributor to make sure the beer stores aren't selling old beer, or is it up to the breweries to check that the beer stores and distributors are pulling old beer?

And, how many breweries put dates on their beer?
 
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