Beer snobbing

Tonight I went to a local place that is a "German" pub. Sadly I had to take them to task over the Oktoberfest they were serving. It was over carbonated and had some phenol flavors in it that seemed very out of place. When I told the server he looked at me like I was a space alien. Fifteen minutes later he came back and told me I was right and they changed out the keg.

Now I feel like the beer police.

Anyone else had this sort of thing happen?

Funny you should ask... Last year went to an out of the way marina and asked what they had on draft, bud bud light and miller light - I went with the miller and when she poured it and brought it over, it was flat and tasted like she'd wrung out a mop into a glass.
I brought it back to save anyone else from tasting it and said I didn't wantto comain, but the lines were dirty and I'd rather have a bottle. She immediately went and got the manager who ranted and raved and called me a fool and acted like I had gone in there with the intention of scamming them out of a mouthful of miller light ... Fair enough, I'll pay for the draft and this bottle and leave.. I could still hear him bitching as I walked away, when I got back to the table with my buddies, I saw him pour a glass and take a huge swig. He immediately spit it out into the drip tray and within 5 mins came over and told my table that he was wrong, and any beer or food we wanted was on the house.. It turned into quite a night, and I still stop in there from time to time ....

I've had a few bottles that had no carbonation, bottle cap rust, skunked, and drafts poured wrong. They always give me another beer if I mention it to them. People complain about beer in the US but I can tell you with certainty that it is far, far from the worst.

I went out once during SD Beer week to a pub that had a Ballast Point Tap Takeover. So good, Scupulin on Nitro, special sour ales, etc.

We left and headed to the gaslamp, and I ordered a Yellowtail Pale Ale, and when I got it, it tasted like stale Bud. I complained, and got a new pint, but it still tasted bad.

I wonder if it was the lines....

I host a beer tasting event at my house every friday. I've tasted some great and some not-so-great beers. However, twice out of the hundreds that I've tried, there have been bad batches. Once it was with Odell's Easy Street Wheat. I called the company and told them that it tasted very sour (like it had gone bad). In return, they apologized profusely and sent me a 6 pack of Easy Street, a mix 6 pack of some of their other beers, 2 t-shirts, and a bunch of stickers. To top it off, there was a handwritten letter of apology. I didn't even complain. I just asked if that was how it was supposed to taste (I had never had it before).

The other time, the same sort of thing happened with Firestone Walker's Solace Ale. However, the customer service wasn't AS good. I talked to the people that work in the brewing office and they wouldn't really listen to me. They kept saying "It's a very citrusy beer" over and over. I would say "yeah, I know, but it tastes like it went bad." and this went on for a while until I asked for their AZ rep's phone number. She, on the other hand, took the beer off the shelves and replaced it with new beer at the store and gave me a free 6 pack of solace.

The second time around on both of the beers was much much better.

Yeah I can't stand when bars run their taps all out of whack! I've had everything from flat beer, to stale beer, to what tasted like dirty lines, to simply the wrong beer - and that one pisses me off the most cause I almost always get attitude.

Most recent example:

I'm at a bar/restaurant and they have Ayinger Brau-Weisse on tap. I order one and it comes in a Blue Moon glass - I don't give a damn what glass it's in as long as it's a hefe style glass and they are so no problem there. So, I take a sip and it's actually BLUE MOON in the glass! So here's the conversation with the the waitress:

Me: "I'm sorry, but there's a mistake. This is Blue Moon and not Ayinger"
Waitress: "No, that's just the glass."
Me: "I know that, but the beer isn't Ayinger it's Blue Moon. I drink and know both very well and this is Blue Moon."
Waitress: "Well I saw him pour it."
Me: "Well then maybe the kegs are incorrectly tapped in the freezer, but this is NOT Ayinger. I've been beer connoisseuring for over 10 years and I know the difference."
Waitress: "OK, I'll take it back."

Waitress returns and NOW it's actually Ayinger. She asked if it's correct now and I said yes it is. I pointed out the completely noticeable difference in color, how Blue Moon is much more orange and the Ayinger lighter and more yellow. She then agreed.

I've had this happen several times in other various places. One I ordered my favorite beer Franziskaner and they served me a different brand of hefe. And they always get annoyed when you dispute it.


Rev.

i don't see how people can get guilty over disputing a beer. People have no problem doing the same thing with any other product/service, so what's different about beer. You are purchasing a known product. If it turns out to be in poor condition, you have every right to send it back. You wouldn't buy an ipod, then keep it once you found out it won't play music.

Don't be a ****** about it, but don't let an establishment rip you off either.

haha, this thread is great. I think there just aren't that many true beer snobs out there, when a server runs into one of us they don't know what hit them. I've asked about a particular beer at brewpubs and been given the ever descriptive "it's light" or "it's dark". Gee thanks..

Beer snobbery is not what this thread is about. It should have been called "Sent back beers" or something.

When you buy/order something food related and it is wrong, you have 2 choices: 1) Consume what was brought to you. 2) Send it back.

As a general rule of thumb, being a prick will land you in an odd place because the golden rule of drinking/dinning out "DO NOT PISS OFF THE PEOPLE THAT HANDLE YOUR FOOD." You hear horror stories about stuff happening to food. They have even made movies about it...

On the other side...

How many people ever grab a manager/ call one and tell them how great your food/time was at there place? I do it all the time when I get great food or something exceptional happens. I feel that if I have to complain, I should have to complement as well.

Zamial said:

Beer snobbery is not what this thread is about. It should have been called "Sent back beers" or something.

When you buy/order something food related and it is wrong, you have 2 choices: 1) Consume what was brought to you. 2) Send it back.

As a general rule of thumb, being a prick will land you in an odd place because the golden rule of drinking/dinning out "DO NOT PISS OFF THE PEOPLE THAT HANDLE YOUR FOOD." You hear horror stories about stuff happening to food. They have even made movies about it...

On the other side...

How many people ever grab a manager/ call one and tell them how great your food/time was at there place? I do it all the time when I get great food or something exceptional happens. I feel that if I have to complain, I should have to complement as well.

Click to expand...

That is a good policy. I recently stopped in a diner and for the first time in a year or so stopping at random diners the hash browns were cooked correctly (along with everything else). I went back and hollered at the cook so I could thank him, shake his hand and give him a five dollar tip. Nobody knows how to cook breakfast anymore. I felt I needed to encourage that kind of effort.

I treat service personnel very well. Thus, I don't mind making any problems known. It's always the manager that brings the bad attitude.

I was in my hometown about a week ago, it's a German town so there's a lot of "German" beer gardens. I went to one that used to be pretty good. I order myself a Czech Pils. It comes in ... get ready.... a frosty mug.

I told the waitress that a pilsner needs to be in room temp pilsner glass. She told me that I was just being difficult, and that if I wanted something a particular way I should have specified before hand, and that I would have to pay for the drink.

So I pulled up BA on my iPhone and showed her the proper serving glass. I don't know if it was just because I was being so difficult or because she actually believed me to be right.... but I got another one on the house.

I've been the "snob" a time-or-three. Around here, there seems to be a chronic problem with dirty lines, or excessive sanitizer in glasses. The local brewpub can't even serve their own beer right! It's always either chemically tangy, musty-cardboard flavored, or downright soured. Another local place serves their beer and it's usually very good. It's sad that they don't take care of their house brews. I go there to eat (food is really, really awesome), and always order a house beer, and always end up sending it back. I'm sure they think I just don't like "good" beer, but I don't care what they think. I'd rather drink a Bud from a bottle than a nasty-ass tap micro.

We also have an "Old Chicago" here. 101 beers (it's a chain). I've had a lot of musty-moldy tasting beer there on tap. The last time it was a Ranger IPA. I told the waiter that it tasted like dirty lines, and I ordered a SA Oktoberfest instead (someone else at the table had one and it tasted clean). The bartender brought the new beer over and said, "Who didn't like the Ranger?"

"That was me. I actually like Ranger, but that tasted off."
"The waiter said you thought it tasted like dirty limes. You might not be used to the aggressive hopping."
"Dirty lines. I've had it at the brewery, trust me I like it."

It was more amicable than it looks on paper, he left me to my beer. The waiter came back and just couldn't drop it. He says, "You know, we push all our beer off the Guinness tap. Nitrous [yes he said nitrous] adds a different flavor that you may not be used to." I didn't want to point out that the beer was obviously not served on Nitro, nor was I tasting the difference between CO2 and nitro, and that if they were doing that they were idiots. So I said, "That's probably it. The oktoberfest tastes pretty good with it!"

That was my main beer-snob moment.

This really gets to the point I was trying to make, although perhaps not clearly. The reaction I got from the server initially was that I was being a "beer snob." What this really illustrates is that places don't know what they are serving and that people in general don't seem to know what they were drinking.

I definitely agree that you should never piss off the staff. I've worked in kitchens before.

The whole situation left me with the sense that people in general just don't complain about beer. Chances are they just never drink something with the same name again. It saddens me to think how many people tried that Oktoberfest and thought to themselves "wow this is awful." Chances are those people will avoid anything that labels itself an Oktoberfest in the future.

Zamial said:

Beer snobbery is not what this thread is about. It should have been called "Sent back beers" or something.

When you buy/order something food related and it is wrong, you have 2 choices: 1) Consume what was brought to you. 2) Send it back.

As a general rule of thumb, being a prick will land you in an odd place because the golden rule of drinking/dinning out "DO NOT PISS OFF THE PEOPLE THAT HANDLE YOUR FOOD." You hear horror stories about stuff happening to food. They have even made movies about it...

On the other side...

How many people ever grab a manager/ call one and tell them how great your food/time was at there place? I do it all the time when I get great food or something exceptional happens. I feel that if I have to complain, I should have to complement as well.

Click to expand...

Zamial said:

On the other side...

How many people ever grab a manager/ call one and tell them how great your food/time was at there place? I do it all the time when I get great food or something exceptional happens. I feel that if I have to complain, I should have to complement as well.

Click to expand...

I do this as well. Having worked retail once in my life and now IT for the past 12 years I can tell you no one ever talks to the boss when they're happy, they only speak when they are upset and they make well sure to make it known to your boss. So now when I am pleased I send compliments to the chef, or ask for the manager and tell them how great an employee was etc. And, the wife and I are always excellent tippers when we're happy with service and product.


Rev.

I have to say I've sent back many a beer for various reasons. I think when establishments offer quality beers on tap they have a certain amount of responsibility to maintain that quality (i.e., clean lines, temps, no soapy/bleach glasses). Sending beer back should be no different from sending back a wine. There's always a nice way to do it, too (unless your server/bartender is an ass, of course).

Rev2010 said:

I do this as well. Having worked retail once in my life and now IT for the past 12 years I can tell you no one ever talks to the boss when they're happy, they only speak when they are upset and they make well sure to make it known to your boss. So now when I am pleased I send compliments to the chef, or ask for the manager and tell them how great an employee was etc. And, the wife and I are always excellent tippers when we're happy with service and product.


Rev.

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I agree too that if you do make a habit of complaining when stuff is bad that you should also compliment when it is great.
My wife once rang McDonalds to tell them that she just had the best Big Mac in her life, the manager was completely blow away and that her ringing to tell them that had made their day. I worked for KFC during highschool and nobody rings to say thanks, but can't count how many calls we got saying they got food poisoning (and admitting it was less than a hour since they had the food)!

About a month ago at our curling club I asked for a pint of something or the other (light ale or lager; they don't have much for selection), when they brought it out it had ZERO carbonation. So I took it back up to the bar and told the cougar bartender their beer was flat. She said "What do you mean?" I said "Well, beer is supposed to have bubbles in it, right? Do you see any bubbles here?" She retorted "Well, I haven't had any other complaints." So I pressed her: "But you agree beer is supposed to be carbonated? Just give me a bottle of (whatever it was) please." And she did.

It's getting to the point where the number of places out where I can have a pint is growing limited. Many places beer is being poured/served by people who have no idea about the importance of proper CO2, cleanliness of lines, etc. They turn the gas way down to make it easy to pour, but if you're not turning over enough volume, all of a sudden your beer is flat. And it's horrifying to think about the places that never, ever clean their lines. But if you say anything or send your beer back you're a problem customer. I've often thought in a big enough city you could have a nice business cleaning lines for places with beer on tap.

I went to a local brewpub several months ago. Beer #1 came out incredibly undercarbonated. We order beer#2 and same thing. So we tell the waitress and she says she will tell the bartender. She comes back and we ask to order beer #3. She says it's probably flat too because another table said it was flat earlier. Ok, so I asked her if anybody was aware they needed to increase the pressure or look for a leak in the system. She tells me the kegs come pressurized from the brewery and they just hook it up but she would let the manager know.

What bothered me about the whole situation is that they knew people were sending beer back because it was flat but they would send it out to other tables. WTF? Fix the problem before sending out any crap.

The manager was cool enough to stop by and give us a discount on our ticket so I didn't push the issue anymore. We went to another pub in the chain and their beers were great.

A few of my friends have been slightly offended when I would choose water over bud light. They would say "whats wrong with bud light?" but I kept my mouth shut.
When i would go to the flying saucer, an awesome beer bar chain throughout the south with a great selection, I would get a beer other than the one I ordered, luckily I have a decent palate and could tast the difference, I would just walk it back to the bar and avoid the waitress and have the bartender pour me the sample and notice the difference.

Usually my snobbiness just comes out in not drinking when theres not something I want, plus I usually dont feel like paying $5 when I could wait and have a couple 1$ far superior homebrews

Homebrewtastic said:

I told the waitress that a pilsner needs to be in room temp pilsner glass. She told me that I was just being difficult, and that if I wanted something a particular way I should have specified before hand, and that I would have to pay for the drink.

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I agree with the waitress

Homebrewtastic said:

I was in my hometown about a week ago, it's a German town so there's a lot of "German" beer gardens. I went to one that used to be pretty good. I order myself a Czech Pils. It comes in ... get ready.... a frosty mug.

I told the waitress that a pilsner needs to be in room temp pilsner glass. She told me that I was just being difficult, and that if I wanted something a particular way I should have specified before hand, and that I would have to pay for the drink.

So I pulled up BA on my iPhone and showed her the proper serving glass. I don't know if it was just because I was being so difficult or because she actually believed me to be right.... but I got another one on the house.

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You really did that? That's definitely beer snobbery (possibly Apple snobbery as well). I don't like frosty mugs either, though.

uh..yeah, complaining about a frosty glass is taking it to a new level. I draw the line at complaining about an actual problem with the beer (flat, wrong beer, dirty lines, etc). You could have just asked for a new glass and poured it yourself...

Homebrewtastic said:

I told the waitress that a pilsner needs to be in room temp pilsner glass. She told me that I was just being difficult, and that if I wanted something a particular way I should have specified before hand, and that I would have to pay for the drink.

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I agree with the waitress. And there's a difference between beer snobbery and just plain being a jerk.

osagedr said:

About a month ago at our curling club I asked for a pint of something or the other (light ale or lager; they don't have much for selection), when they brought it out it had ZERO carbonation. So I took it back up to the bar and told the cougar bartender their beer was flat. She said "What do you mean?" I said "Well, beer is supposed to have bubbles in it, right? Do you see any bubbles here?" She retorted "Well, I haven't had any other complaints." So I pressed her: "But you agree beer is supposed to be carbonated? Just give me a bottle of (whatever it was) please." And she did.

It's getting to the point where the number of places out where I can have a pint is growing limited. Many places beer is being poured/served by people who have no idea about the importance of proper CO2, cleanliness of lines, etc. They turn the gas way down to make it easy to pour, but if you're not turning over enough volume, all of a sudden your beer is flat. And it's horrifying to think about the places that never, ever clean their lines. But if you say anything or send your beer back you're a problem customer. I've often thought in a big enough city you could have a nice business cleaning lines for places with beer on tap.

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Most people that attend bars like that prefer flat beer because 1) more fits in the glass, and 2) it's easier to drink more.

Originally Posted by Homebrewtastic
I was in my hometown about a week ago, it's a German town so there's a lot of "German" beer gardens. I went to one that used to be pretty good. I order myself a Czech Pils. It comes in ... get ready.... a frosty mug.

Click to expand...

I think I was at the same place last Friday, in Fredricksburg? I ordered a Munich Dunkel and it came in a thick frozen mug. Someone else in my party tried it and liked it so I let her drink that one and I asked for one in a mug that wasn't frozen. They said that they put all the mugs in the Freezer but found one that hadn't been in long.

millsware said:

Most people that attend bars like that prefer flat beer because 1) more fits in the glass, and 2) it's easier to drink more.

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I hate getting foam in my glass! It waste that extra space that could be filled with more beer!

Ive had issues at a local brew pub where at least 3 of their 6 beers tasted like a belgian dubbel and one of them was supposed to be a bock. Since that happened I found out that the brewer was leaving that place and it was exposed that he was using the same strain they use in their abbey ale in all of their beers! I didnt say anything at the time we were there but I guess I should have. Oh well

Speaking of Dubbel...made one yesterday; it's happily bubbling away today...never had one so am looking forward to seeing what it's like! Used Wyeast 3739.

I had the last pint out of a cask the other day, I got about a third of the way through and was thinking about taking it back (it was ok but not the greatest pint) when the landlady put a fresh pint on the table and took the other one away. I was very pleased

I have complained about beers when they have very obviously had something wrong with them and to be honest I have never had any issues with bar staff disagreeing with me or whatever. And in the UK that is nothing short of miraculous given our reputation for service...

There's a big difference between complaining about a beer not tasting right and being served a beer in a frozen mug. I mean, I'll be honest: I've complained about both but the frozen mug can be rectified by just ordering a lager or light ale and a lot of people actually like their beer served this way. At any rate, I'm generally pretty easy going about this stuff; the one time I was not was at a restaurant run by a friend and the bartender served me a Guinness, fast and in a frosty mug. Now, at any other bar this would have been fine but I happened to know that my buddy, who's Irish had just given all the bartenders a lesson on how to correctly pour a Guinness. That was how he wanted it served at his place. I called foul, the bartender did the same thing. I drank it and talked to my buddy. Next thing you know, that bartender is looking for a new job. It wasn't about snobbery; it was about an employee not doing his job.

Not every place knows exactly what glass is appropriate for each beer. Not every place cares, or wants to have that much different glassware.

But somehow they all know that Blue Moon and Oberon is supposed to have a friggin orange! Last time I went to the local bar I ordered an Oberon and the lady grabs a frosty mug. Uh, ok, I can live with that I guess... But then she starts walking over to the cooler and I yell 3 times "NO ORANGE!" but I guess she can't hear me.

Well, it's not the way I prefer it, but it's not terrible.

It's my bad for forgetting that the rest of the world wants frozen orange infused Oberon.

Homercidal said:

Not every place knows exactly what glass is appropriate for each beer. Not every place cares, or wants to have that much different glassware.

But somehow they all know that Blue Moon and Oberon is supposed to have a friggin orange! Last time I went to the local bar I ordered an Oberon and the lady grabs a frosty mug. Uh, ok, I can live with that I guess... But then she starts walking over to the cooler and I yell 3 times "NO ORANGE!" but I guess she can't hear me.

Well, it's not the way I prefer it, but it's not terrible.

It's my bad for forgetting that the rest of the world wants frozen orange infused Oberon.

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That's funny stuff. Luckily, I don't mind the orange.

Well, one of my service pet peeves is when I'm pondering the beer selection, trying to decide what sounds good at the moment, and the server, noticing that I'm female and thus obviously dumb and wimpy about beer, tries to be helpful... "well, the (insert BMC or BMC clone here) is nice and light".

a guy at work was just tellingme this, he ordered a Blue Moon at some new restaurant called Upper Deck. first one was warm so they sent it back, second one they were out of orange so they put a lemon wedge in it. wtf?

they complained to the manager on the way out and he just said Sorry adn turned around and walked away.

i think alot of places don't know the difference between was is good, bad or ugly when it comes to beer nor do they have (or possibly even want) customers who are that discerning.

we are the minority but we are gaining on them!

marcycaulkins said:

Well, one of my service pet peeves is when I'm pondering the beer selection, trying to decide what sounds good at the moment, and the server, noticing that I'm female and thus obviously dumb and wimpy about beer, tries to be helpful... "well, the (insert BMC or BMC clone here) is nice and light".

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There's enough of that going on at these forums. "I want to brew a light, fruity beer for my wife."

redcoat_or_rebel said:

a guy at work was just tellingme this, he ordered a Blue Moon at some new restaurant called Upper Deck. first one was warm so they sent it back, second one they were out of orange so they put a lemon wedge in it. wtf?

they complained to the manager on the way out and he just said Sorry adn turned around and walked away.

i think alot of places don't know the difference between was is good, bad or ugly when it comes to beer nor do they have (or possibly even want) customers who are that discerning.

we are the minority but we are gaining on them!

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This is where I'm sympathetic with them. I don't know how warm the warm beer was, but I wouldn't want mine ice cold. And I never would've guessed an orange was proper but a lemon was wrong (I'd take either fruit and toss it aside).

marcycaulkins said:

Well, one of my service pet peeves is when I'm pondering the beer selection, trying to decide what sounds good at the moment, and the server, noticing that I'm female and thus obviously dumb and wimpy about beer, tries to be helpful... "well, the (insert BMC or BMC clone here) is nice and light".

Click to expand...

Classic.. Reminds me one when I was on a vacation with my wife in Munich. We ordered our beers, I had the hefe and she had the dunkel. When a different server came back with our beers he didn't ask, just put the dunkel in front of me and the hefe in front of my wife. Made me laugh, I didn't realize I'd ordered a woman's drink.

I go to this local Mexican place where only hot women take orders/serve bar and they like to put limes in all the Mexican beers. Dos Equis? Lime on the rim. Dos Equis Amber? Lime on the rim. Corona? Lime on the rim. Modelo Especial? Lime on the rim. It doesn't matter if you say no lime they still bring it out with the damn lime. Fortunately all of the air heads are out front and the people in the kitchen are ugly men who can cook.

SwampassJ said:

I go to this local Mexican place where only hot women take orders/serve bar and they like to put limes in all the Mexican beers. Dos Equis? Lime on the rim. Dos Equis Amber? Lime on the rim. Corona? Lime on the rim. Modelo Especial? Lime on the rim. It doesn't matter if you say no lime they still bring it out with the damn lime. Fortunately all of the air heads are out front and the people in the kitchen are ugly men who can cook.

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that's funny. in texas and and the "southwest" its same - anything that could even be confused as mexican will have a lime in it. my sister studied "abroad" (i use quotes because south texas might as well be mexico) in Mexico and they use lemon, not lime, in beer.

Maybe it just happens to me, but a lot of places locally switch up taps. The other day I ordered a Boston Lager (for the girlfriend) and out came noble pils, which was the tap beside it.
I get pints from time to time where I can tell the lines are dirty, and other times the beer is obviously skunked and even bartenders can't tell. That come with the territory of living in a place where there are three types of beer known to everyone...BMC.