bovineblitz
Well-Known Member
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.
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.