Beer snobbing

[bovineblitz]

Recently I was at a local brewpub with SWMBO. I ordered a peppery saison and she ordered the low ABV IPA that she likes. I'd never had the saison before. The waiter brings us our beers, mine in a snifter and hers in a stemmed pint glass, and I sip mine and say out loud "wow, this is really bitter". It tasted like it had the bitterness levels of an IPA but still had some belgian notes so I figured maybe that's what they were going for. I wasn't thrilled but figured it's a decent beer, just not really a saison. SWMBO on the other hand found her beer to be terrible and wasn't pleased at all. I tasted hers and it was a little phenolic with some esters (which she hates), but also quite bitter. Holding both the beers up to the light, they were identical and tasted pretty much the same as well but they were both pretty bitter so I wasn't 100% sure they were the same (more like 70%).

I flagged down the waiter and told him that her beer was not correct, perhaps it was the belgian IPA that they also had on tap. He smelled her beer (which I found a little off putting) and said "oh no this is correct" presumably just because he smelled hops, then grabbed MY beer and smelled it and said that it was wrong and whisked himself away before I could say anything. We were left looking at each other confused as I was okay with my beer and she was not happy with hers at all. He came back and apologized for my beer and gave me the saison then quickly left before I could say anything. The saison was quite good and filled with notes of various peppercorns which was what I was going for so I was happier.

SWMBO though, was still not pleased but at this point she didn't want to complain. I'm not one to pay premium prices for something I don't want so I flagged down the waiter again and said that I seriously think her beer is wrong and mentioned that I tasted phenols and esters and that it was definitely made with a belgian yeast, perhaps the bartender's mind slipped a bit when he was pouring and he poured us both the same wrong beer but in the correct glassware. The waiter seemed annoyed and definitely didn't believe me. I guess since I used 'big beer words' though he took the beer away. SWMBO spotted him tasting it with a straw, then he came back with a new beer and apologized profusely saying I was right all along.

It was quite the hassle to get the beers we wanted but eventually we got the right ones, haha. It was so confusing though, especially since the glasses were different. I'd never had a problem there before and I'm not going to hold it against them, it's a great place and the beer is awesome. Everyone slips up sometimes, all I ask is that they fix it when I ask them to.

This was a great example of being a connoisseur seriously coming in handy.

 

[MoPhunk]

My buddy had his bachelor party on saturday and we went on a local brewery tour. We were at The Great River Brewery in Davenport,IA Great beer. I had the Farmer Brown and the Hoppapotomus. Both were delicious. The next place we stopped was **** in comparison. Their brown was real sweet on the front and had a twang on the back end. I tried to drink it but ended up just switching it for their basic pale ale. Even though I was disappointed in the beer the bartenders around here will always give you another beer even if it's because you just don't like the taste of teh beer.

 

[bovineblitz]

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".

That happens to my gf all the time. It's funny too cuz she often winds up ordering a RIS or IIPA.

 

[Zamial]

So far...I have seen 1 "maybe" beer snob post here...

Which brings me to the next point..."Beer snob". By just about every definition I can find or have seen used in common language has been "Someone that is VERY particular about their beer." Well, I hate to point at the bleeding obvious here folks but that describes 100% of all of my BMC drinking friends. I have 1 guy that has actually convinced himself that he is allergic to any other beer other than Bud Light. Talk about a whinny SOB when there is not any to be had and no other BMC crap will do...

I prefer to think of myself as "beer enlightened" or "Lupilin deficient" anything other than "snob"... I hate to also point out I will drink a greater varitey of beer than most of the BMC fanboys I know...and I am the snob?

I don't think so scooter.

:rockin:

 

[Hoodweisen]

my hometown in Missouri is a black hole for beer I wouldnt trade her for anything after having traveled the rest of the country for work but life is hard here we have two bars in town one sells mostly can beer and its everybody thats been ran out of the other bar the uptown bar only has bottles the owner tries he started carrying stuff like guiness and two new belgiums and boulevard wheat because he knows my bestman myself and the occasional tourists will drink them. But since i started homebrew i dont even drink "the weird beers" as the waitresses say anymore. Honestly, i get smashed at home have the wife drive me up to the bar and i sip on couple BMC to fit in because all of my friends know me and my strange habits by now and ive actually gotten several of them to come to the darkside in the last few months but theres always a different toothless cowboy thats gotta bring it up. Toothless cowboys are huge beer snobs. None of you have it as bad as me Im going to go drown my sorrows in homebrew now.

 

[Chuginator]

Recently at a trendy pub, a couple came in and sat in a booth behind me and my wife. The guy asked for something hoppy; the waitress ended up suggesting a relatively non-hoppy pale ale over an IPA. Made my ears burn and I wanted to turn around and throw my hand out and scream "NOOOOO!!!!!", but in hindsight, there were a couple of interesting things about this:

* The guy that ordered the beer was obviously a newbie, but somewhat interested in "real" beer because he knew enough to want something hoppy, but not knowledgeable enough to know which beers on tap were hoppy.

* Perhaps the relatively non-hoppy pale ale was hoppy to the waitress, but she was obviously not aware of what IPAs are. If someone asks for something hoppy, that's what you serve them. This wasn't a case where she didn't suggest the IPA because the lines (or limes! LOL) were dirty or because the keg had blown, as I was drinking one at the time and it was delicious.

* It made me contemplative. I find it a wonderful state of affairs that the word "hoppy" was even heard in public - the world of beer has come a long, long, long way in the past 40 years. I thank the beer gods every day that there are choices now other than "Bud" or "Coors." I'm the type that gets ecstatic when I see a beer on tap that I've never had before and order it instantly, regardless of style (unless it's a Belgian, then I need a sample first).

Am I being a beer snob here in the regards of thinking that the waitress should know what they're selling and study the beers at least to the point of knowing the difference between the major styles? The employer should make them pass a simple test!

I also have a friend that has the opposite type of "try anything new" mentality. He is a snob in that he refuses to drink anything but Miller or Keystone Light. While I drink a fair share of Keystone Light while working in my shop, I just don't understand this attitude. That's like saying "no, don't bring me that wonderful Italian pasta dish on the menu, I'd rather have SpaghettiO's." He's not even curious (frankly I think it's some kind of image problem - he'd never get caught drinking wine, for example), but I tell you what - I'm going to convert him, or at least try. I'm going to invite him over to watch me do an all-grain batch of a house pale ale and explain that this is the real McCoy (beer for real men) and see where it goes. Probably nowhere, but it's my duty to try!

 

[Scruffy1207]

Recently at a trendy pub, a couple came in and sat in a booth behind me and my wife. The guy asked for something hoppy; the waitress ended up suggesting a relatively non-hoppy pale ale over an IPA. Made my ears burn and I wanted to turn around and throw my hand out and scream "NOOOOO!!!!!", but in hindsight, there were a couple of interesting things about this:

* The guy that ordered the beer was obviously a newbie, but somewhat interested in "real" beer because he knew enough to want something hoppy, but not knowledgeable enough to know which beers on tap were hoppy.

* Perhaps the relatively non-hoppy pale ale was hoppy to the waitress, but she was obviously not aware of what IPAs are. If someone asks for something hoppy, that's what you serve them. This wasn't a case where she didn't suggest the IPA because the lines (or limes! LOL) were dirty or because the keg had blown, as I was drinking one at the time and it was delicious.

* It made me contemplative. I find it a wonderful state of affairs that the word "hoppy" was even heard in public - the world of beer has come a long, long, long way in the past 40 years. I thank the beer gods every day that there are choices now other than "Bud" or "Coors." I'm the type that gets ecstatic when I see a beer on tap that I've never had before and order it instantly, regardless of style (unless it's a Belgian, then I need a sample first).

Am I being a beer snob here in the regards of thinking that the waitress should know what they're selling and study the beers at least to the point of knowing the difference between the major styles? The employer should make them pass a simple test!

I also have a friend that has the opposite type of "try anything new" mentality. He is a snob in that he refuses to drink anything but Miller or Keystone Light. While I drink a fair share of Keystone Light while working in my shop, I just don't understand this attitude. That's like saying "no, don't bring me that wonderful Italian pasta dish on the menu, I'd rather have SpaghettiO's." He's not even curious (frankly I think it's some kind of image problem - he'd never get caught drinking wine, for example), but I tell you what - I'm going to convert him, or at least try. I'm going to invite him over to watch me do an all-grain batch of a house pale ale and explain that this is the real McCoy (beer for real men) and see where it goes. Probably nowhere, but it's my duty to try!

Well, thats how I started out, I had an IPA one day and thought it was terrible. A week went by and I wanted to take another crack at it. Drinking IPAs sparingly, and moving my way up from BMC to browns and now I can't touch BMCs unless I'm playing a game of BP or out camping. I used to ask for something hoppy. Now I find out what they have, and sometimes try (but mostly fail) at finding out the IBUs. As for the waitress, it's kind of her job to know what they sell. She couldn't get by serving a slightly spicy tomato bisque over an actually spicy jambalaya, just because it's beer doesn't make it okay. imo

 

[rico567]

If problems aren't brought to the attention of those running the establishment, the probability of those problems being resolved goes down drastically. The natural human tendency is "let someone else do it," but there are ways of bringing those things to people's attention (some good examples of which have been outlined in this thread) without being a prick.

 

[Chuginator]

Definitely so - I'm never a prick when it comes to this kind of thing- because when you bring it to their attention, they should consider it constructive feedback on what might be going astray.

Not beer related, but I did go to a restaurant a couple months back and had some absolutely terrible ribs - they were inedible. At the time, I paid my bill and left, but it stuck in my craw and I really started to feel like I got shafted. So I wrote them a very positive e-mail indicating what my experience was and let them know that I was just doing it because I was concerned about their business and the chance that others might have a bad experience too. They e-mailed back a $25 gift certificate and an apology. I can't get my wife to return after the experience, so I'll be stuck taking my BMC friends there to drink it up.

 

[Seamus]

I rarely have issues at bars but when I do I don't feel the need to get technical with the server and never had to prove why I wanted something sent back. He/She probably won't understand and doesn't care. I think it's definitely snobbery throwing around brewing terms.

I'd have to laugh if I saw someone lecturing a server on Maillard reaction when they got burnt toast.

 

[bovineblitz]

I rarely have issues at bars but when I do I don't feel the need to get technical with the server and never had to prove why I wanted something sent back. He/She probably won't understand and doesn't care. I think it's definitely snobbery throwing around brewing terms.

I'd have to laugh if I saw someone lecturing a server on Maillard reaction when they got burnt toast.

I normally wouldn't throw around brewing terms, but in the case of the story I posted I had to complain about the beer several times and the server didn't believe me and I was right. I didn't demonstrate my knowledge until I'd already complained a couple times, it seemed like it got his attention.

 

[scottland]

I've been brought the wrong beer more times than I can count. Sometimes, if it's something I like, I'll just drink it. If it's not, i'll send it back. Sometimes I get a funny look, but sorry, that's simply not what I ordered. If I order a turkey sandwich, and I'm brought a burger, unless a burger sounds really good at the moment, i'm sending it back.

It happens to me quite a bit here in Phoenix, as our big local brewery(Four Peaks) usually has 2-3 beers on tap at a lot of bars. Thankfully I love their beers, but often times I order their Pale Ale, and get their Scottish, or vise versa. It's as simple as the bartender pulling the wrong 'Four Peaks' tap handle, so i brush it off.

A couple times I've had glasses that just reek of soap, i've sent back a few beers because of that. I usually just ask the waitress to smell the beer, they instantly notice it smells like a bottle of Dawn, and take it back without question. If you're nice when these things happen, people usually understand.

 

[mattd2]

The guy asked for something hoppy; the waitress ended up suggesting a relatively non-hoppy pale ale over an IPA.

Just playing devils advocate here but, maybe the waitress knew more about beer than you gave her credit for and thought if she gave that "newb" a hop bomb that he would probably not like it and never order/return to the place again because of it. Now she might of thought that she would give him a more tha BMC hoppy beer to get him started down the road and if he orders another maybe then go for something with a bit more hops. As I said, maybe she did know about beer... but your version of the story is more likely

 

[BenjaminBier]

There's a brew pub in my town that is proud to offer Cask Ale. They up the ante on beer snobbery a bit saying that they have all their lines done very carefully, the brewer loves cask ale and always gives the cask beer special attention, always tries the most interesting recipes, etc.

Not a lot of people order the cask ale cause the beer is usually a specialty beer, not their popular flagship beers.

The first pint I get is always so stale like the beer's been sitting in the line forever. The first two times I ordered cask ale I would just deal with it, order a second pint, and enjoy it. The second pint is always fantastic.

So I started asking the server to have the bartender clear the line a bit before filling the pint. Absolutely wouldn't do it and treated me like I was telling them to throw away the best beer in the house.

I guess my point is that if bars want to appeal to 'snobs' they need to do it right :snob:

 

[adfirmus]

I can only think of one story related to this thread. Most of the bars around hear only serve BMC beer. Fine. It's a college town. I've actually had a bartender not know what "Draft" is.

Anyways, I decided to grab a beer from around the block at a bar that I havent been to before. Most of the time, locally, I'll just get BMC. It's the selection and It's cold and it's beer. I figured they would have more than BMC since it was a nicer pub-style bar that also served lunch. I ask "Can I get a Sierra Nevada pale ale?" Most bars around that serve food at least have SNPA, so I figured they would. Bartender goes "Sure thing," and heads to the bar. He looks around a couple of time. Then he turns to one of the regulars at the bar. "Hey Phil, do we have Sierra Nevada?" Phil shakes his head, "no." So I ordered a Yeungling draft. I guess he at least knew what draft was.

Basically, there is not much of a market here for bars to serve craft beer, but it's getting better. One establishment, with great food btw, used to try and have more crafty beers like Sierra Nevada, Leinie, and Sam Adams, actually stop carrying a lot of those beers. I guess they didn't sell well.

 

[Rev2010]

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.

Ha, the story of my my beer ordering life lol. The problem I definitely have with oranges and lemons come down to two things:

1. Pits in my beer!!! Or worse yet possibly getting stuck in my throat. And it's not like you can get them out.

2. The sourness left on the edge of the glass. I can't say how many times I've taken off the damn lemon that every bar sticks on any wheat based beer just to eventually land my lips on the sour area where the lemon was wedged. Now I try to keep drinking from the same side for the whole beer to avoid the nasty puckering taste.


Rev.

 

[RIT_Warrior]

Once I went to a bar that didn't have a great tap selection. Luckily, they had SNPA in bottles, so I got one of those.

They just opened the bottle and gave it to me. I wasn't mad, but I asked for a glass. Bartender looked slightly annoyed but gave me a frozen shaker glass which seemed to hold exactly 12 ounces of fluid. Didn't complain about the glass or the chilledness of it, but I did mention that SNPA is bottle conditioned and you probably don't want to drink it right out of the bottle. Bartender looked at me like I was talking a foreign language, but said she would bear that in mind from now on.

So it could have been worse. I don't mind too much, but I wish they gave me a 16 ouncer instead of one which couldn't hold all of my beer.

 

[mattd2]

Once I went to a bar that didn't have a great tap selection. Luckily, they had SNPA in bottles, so I got one of those.

They just opened the bottle and gave it to me. I wasn't mad, but I asked for a glass. Bartender looked slightly annoyed but gave me a frozen shaker glass which seemed to hold exactly 12 ounces of fluid. Didn't complain about the glass or the chilledness of it, but I did mention that SNPA is bottle conditioned and you probably don't want to drink it right out of the bottle. Bartender looked at me like I was talking a foreign language, but said she would bear that in mind from now on.

So it could have been worse. I don't mind too much, but I wish they gave me a 16 ouncer instead of one which couldn't hold all of my beer.

I'm confused, why did she give you a shaker glass? What were they using for pouring tap beers?

 

[MeatyPortion]

I ordered a Rochefort 6 at a bar in town and they just gave me the bottle. I asked for a glass and they gave me a shaker. I said no give me a goblet and they did. You want to call it snobbery? Fine. But I'm not paying 9 bucks for a beer if it's not to my liking, plus this place should know better.

 

[Homebrewtastic]

I just moved to San Antonio from Waco. Back in Waco there was a bar with tons of taps... like a ton. The problem was that the lines were almost always dirty and the girls working the bar had no knowledge about beer. As a result I didn't go there very often. But here's a great conversation I once heard.

Girl Bar - wench: Hi what can I get you?
Guy: Well I wanted to try something new. I don't like anything sweet. And my buddy keeps telling me to try something called an "IPA". Do you have one of those?
Girl Bar - wench: Yeah we do. But you probably won't like it. They're all REALLY sweet.

 

[RIT_Warrior]

I'm confused, why did she give you a shaker glass? What were they using for pouring tap beers?

They serve tap beers in room temperature 16 ounce shakers. Why they keep frozen 12 ounce shakers behind the bar is beyond me.

 

[shivalotus]

It is all a question of where you are. To use coffee as an analogy, if I went to Starbucks I am certainly not going to talk to them about the roast on the beans or the shot. They simply don't spend that much time on the coffee and they can't change it even if they want to. Now if I go to a local shop that roasts in house and I think there is something wrong with the espresso I certainly think they would take it in stride. Further I would expect the baristas to know what they are talking about. Coffee is their business and they should know it.

I don't expect beer knowledge in a dive bar, but I certainly expect it in a place that advertises itself based on its selection of German beers.

I rarely have issues at bars but when I do I don't feel the need to get technical with the server and never had to prove why I wanted something sent back. He/She probably won't understand and doesn't care. I think it's definitely snobbery throwing around brewing terms.

I'd have to laugh if I saw someone lecturing a server on Maillard reaction when they got burnt toast.

 

[Atvar]

Just today I went to Red Robin for a burger, and as the waitress seated us she mentioned it was happy hour, with beer prices being $2.50 domestic and $3.50 for premium beers. I normally don't bother getting beer there, but I decide to check what they have. The menu says: ask our servers about our wide selection of craft, domestic, and imported beers.

I can see they have on tap but ask anyway:
Bud Light
Miller Lite
Coors Light
Bass Ale
Sam Adams Noble Pils
Yuengling Lager
Guinness
Blue Moon

Me: What craft beers do you have?
Waitress: What is craft beer?
Me: Um... microbrews? What's your premium beer list?
Waitress: Oh. I've been waitressing for 15 years and never heard it called that before. *starts naming the Sam Adams, Blue Moon, Yuengling Lager*
Me: Wait Yuengling isn't considered domestic? (Note: we're in Pennsylvania)
Waitress: No, since that beer is a lager.
Me: I'll stick with my water. MOVING ON...

I remember now why I never get beer at Red Robin.

 

[bruin_ale]

Me: Wait Yuengling isn't considered domestic? (Note: we're in Pennsylvania)
Waitress: No, since that beer is a lager.
Me: I'll stick with my water. MOVING ON...

I remember now why I never get beer at Red Robin.

Around here it's the unspoken rule that BMC is the only "domestic". My go to beer at these types of places is SNPA. It's actually difficult to find somewhere that doesn't have it on tap.

 

[RIT_Warrior]

Once I ordered an Allagash Tripel off of a menu simply because it was described in the menu as a "Belgian Strong Dark Ale". I was planning on playing dumb with the waiter when he came back and ask why my "dark beer" was "yellow". Didn't pan out, though, the restaurant was a bit too busy.

No, since that beer is a lager.

Oh man. I'm probably the least argumentative person there is when I'm in a restaurant, and even I would have to put my foot down with that one. I do accept the domestic/[premium|import] split that bars and restaurants have (as it really refers to the price and not the location), although maybe naming it "regular" and "premium" would be better.

 

[Atvar]

Around here it's the unspoken rule that BMC is the only "domestic". My go to beer at these types of places is SNPA. It's actually difficult to find somewhere that doesn't have it on tap.

Here in PA, if you order a "lager" it's assumed you mean Yuengling lager. It costs the same as BMC at ~$17-18 a case, so why the heck would it be priced differently? Yuengling is by far the closest brewery of anything they offered, and 100% American owned and operated to boot.

 

[redcoat_or_rebel]

Just today I went to Red Robin for a burger, and as the waitress seated us she mentioned it was happy hour, with beer prices being $2.50 domestic and $3.50 for premium beers. I normally don't bother getting beer there, but I decide to check what they have. The menu says: ask our servers about our wide selection of craft, domestic, and imported beers.

I can see they have on tap but ask anyway:
Bud Light
Miller Lite
Coors Light
Bass Ale
Sam Adams Noble Pils
Yuengling Lager
Guinness
Blue Moon

Me: What craft beers do you have?
Waitress: What is craft beer?
Me: Um... microbrews? What's your premium beer list?
Waitress: Oh. I've been waitressing for 15 years and never heard it called that before. *starts naming the Sam Adams, Blue Moon, Yuengling Lager*
Me: Wait Yuengling isn't considered domestic? (Note: we're in Pennsylvania)
Waitress: No, since that beer is a lager.
Me: I'll stick with my water. MOVING ON...

I remember now why I never get beer at Red Robin.

this is one of my biggest pet peeves about bars in Texas. Shiner is ALWAYS priced as an import. I could drive 45 minutes and get it for free from the brewery and you want to charge me $6 ??

 

[rico567]

this is one of my biggest pet peeves about bars in Texas. Shiner is ALWAYS priced as an import. I could drive 45 minutes and get it for free from the brewery and you want to charge me $6 ??

It's priced at $6 because they can get $6.

"The price of an item in the market is exactly what it will fetch."

- Some chairman of some oil company

 

[D_Struct]

There was a "beer tasting" event at our local zoo last weekend. It was a neat little fundraiser in the zoo, with around 15 or so stations serving different styles of been one can find at our local grocery store.

I came upon the booth serving Blue Moon and Grolsch, and I overhear the guy pouring them say "This Blue Moon is a German Hefeweizen."

I politely waited for the previous participants to leave, and I leaned over and told him as politely, and quietly as I could that he was incorrect, that it was actually a Belgian-style witbier, as it was made with coriander and orange peel.

About an hour later, I walked by the same booth and overheard him tell another patron, "You'll like this Blue Moon. It's a German Hefeweizen."

 

[Chuginator]

That would piss me off!!!

 

[bknifefight]

That would piss me off!!!

To the point of bold, italics and multiple exclamation points?

 

[Dome555]

There was a "beer tasting" event at our local zoo last weekend. It was a neat little fundraiser in the zoo, with around 15 or so stations serving different styles of been one can find at our local grocery store.

I came upon the booth serving Blue Moon and Grolsch, and I overhear the guy pouring them say "This Blue Moon is a German Hefeweizen."

I politely waited for the previous participants to leave, and I leaned over and told him as politely, and quietly as I could that he was incorrect, that it was actually a Belgian-style witbier, as it was made with coriander and orange peel.

About an hour later, I walked by the same booth and overheard him tell another patron, "You'll like this Blue Moon. It's a German Hefeweizen."

Hey, you did your part to try to help the guy out. I'm sure the beer tasting event attracted enough beer folk that the general response to his advertisement was "Oh, so he's an idiot. But there's idiots everywhere, at least this one has the common decency to give me a beer."

It is that sort of stuff that gets to me in bars/restaurants though. An employee just tossing around words they read on a label somewhere in order to make them sound smart and the product sound attractive. It bothers me because they are the same employees who, after offering you let's say a German hefeweizen, will argue with you once you send back the blue moon because it's not what you were ordered.

 

[Chuginator]

To the point of bold, italics and multiple exclamation points?

LOL! Yes. At the time I forgot about the text resizing feature.

 

[weagle05]

From a hotel restaurant menu in Utah.

 

[Chuginator]

Overpriced and misinformed.

Gawd, I am a snob!

 

[JayWeezie]

I saw a specials board that had east coast vs west coast breweries. The last one on the east coast side was Stone Brewing. Which is in San Diego right? Right. Almost said something to the manager but I held my tongue.