Anyone Return Beer For A Refund?

fbold1 said:

If a store sells outdated milk or meat, they are in trouble.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

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Outdated beer can't kill you.

Never for a refund, but I once had to return a beer at a restaurant because it came in an ice coated (even on the inside) mug. I contacted Great Divide on twitter a couple months ago because I got a sample of one of their beers that was sour. It wasn't supposed to be.

The only beer I had ever sent back was a snifter of old ruffian that must have been from the very bottom of the cask. It had such a thick layer of yeast settle out to the bottom that it looked like a parfait.

fbold1 said:

If a store sells outdated milk or meat, they are in trouble.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

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Actually the date on food is simply there for your convenience. There are no federal laws on date coding for food products. There are a few states that have date laws for milk and baby formula is a federal law.

I returned six pack to the local market a couple years ago. Badly skunked. Since I had purchased it a few hours earlier, they gave me a replacement. Those were all fine.

KillerIguana said:

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?

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I got a couple of bombers of nut brown ale that were foamy & sour once. I called the brewery (semi-local) & asked if they'd changed their recipe, or if they actually brewed a sour brown & it was accidentally mislabeled; "no" on both counts.

I proceeded to explain the problem & the the guy was genuinely interested, asked questions, and was very concerned; and rightly so, there was a problem with a product he made & took personal pride in.

We talked for about 20 mins & I didn't think much more about it, other than to hope they figured out the problem & the solution quickly, cuz that's my favourite semi-local brew & my favourite nut brown ale.

About a week later I get a gift certificate in the mail from the brewery I called. $25.00 worth of anything in the brewpub. I never asked for anything, no money, no free beer, nothing. Now that's a guy who cares about his customers!

They must've figured out the problem too, cuz their nut brown is back to it's regular sweet, malty goodness again. These guys take some serious pride in what they do.

Just goes to show that you might not only get a refund or replacement beer, you might get more from an appreciative brewer who wants to solve/avoid problems, keep customers happy & brew really great beer.
Regards, GF.