Besides ourselves who do we blame for bad draft beer service?

[OldWorld]

I frequently get bad beers from the big craft breweries poured at pubs. The beer often is poured from a line that has beer stone. Or the refrigeration was not cold enough and the beer began to spoil.

I get beer poured into a dirty glass. Big breweries like Stone, Lagunitas, Sierra Nevada are all using the term craft but once it leaves the door, there doesn't seem to be very good auditing of who pours the stuff.

I notice varying levels of CO2. The distributors do a great job of bringing the beer but the taverns,pubs,restaurants are not doing a good job of maintenance. So do we write our breweries like we do our congress and hope for something to be done?

Do we really deserve to pay 10$ for a flat glass of Chimay poured into a dirty pint glass?

 

[Airborneguy]

Why do you blame yourself?

 

[seanybubbles]

I agree completely with oldworld and in a way blame myself, as we keep buying the product. Unfortunately, we keep buying the product as we want more craft beers on tap. For the most part, my issue is beer that is past it's prime. SNPA which is past it's prime is pretty nasty. I gave up going to pubs with bad lines long ago. It not worth the headache.

 

[SimonHucko]

you can vote with your wallet and never go back to said establishment. or if you're feeling kinder you can talk to the bartender and say something like "the beer tastes a little off to me" and tell them what you were expecting. if you have a knowledgeable 'tender they should be able to take your complaint to the owner. if they look at you blankly and go "uh, sorry..." well, at least you tried.

for a production brewery, especially the big guys, it's impossible to police every single draft account to make sure they're serving your beer properly. some distributors will take it upon themselves to do this, but most don't. if the owner of an establishment really cares about beer they'll have regular scheduled line cleaning and maintain their draft system well. if not... time to find a new bar.

 

[mesa4234]

Most places around me serve beers rather properly. However, I did get a chimay in a pint glass once, I actually had to ask the bartender if he gave me the right beer since I had never been served it in a pint glass..

 

[baldilocks]

Along the same lines is beers out of season. Some establishments here in Texas will try to have a decent variety of craft beer. They have seasonal beers from the big "craft" breweries like Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada. Unfortunately, they won't bring in the next seasonal until the previous is gone. Last year, my regular loaction had Sierra Nevada's Summer ale when it came out. Unfortunately, it wasn't very popular and the ONE keg they received didn't end until December. Lucky for me, they got a keg of Celebration. But it lasted well into the summer and thus I missed out on Tumbler and Ruthless Rye, two of my favorites.

It wouldn't take much effort to sell the rest of an old keg if the establishment cared for other beers than their own.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Really depends on the system of your location.

In OKC, distributors are often made responsible for system cleaning and rarely do it well or often. there are a few places that go the distance on their own. But, not many.

 

[Grannyknot]

true pubs, ie places that have a large bar, and a few surrounding tables that are serviced by the bar staff, never seem to have this problem to me.
Its the "brew-pubs" & "mega bar restaurants" that are causing the issue in my opinion.
They all seem to have flat beers, dirty lines, & servers with little-to-no product knowledge.

If I am there to drink, I sit at the bar, ask questions about the beer, and make an informed decision. Usually bartenders aren't afraid to tell you what kegs are fresh, and what to stay away from. They give tips, we give tips.
If I sit down at the bar and don't have any luck getting questions asked or heaven forbid, my order taken, I leave. Pints are too expensive these days to waste time with questionable products.

 

[cheezydemon3]

you can vote with your wallet......

The problem there is the doodybags that be say "peoples isn't buying this pansy craft beer after all. Told you, I did!"

That is a HORRIBLE problem.

I find tap beer here to be consistently good.

 

[mcbaumannerb]

If I'm at a brewhouse pub or a bar that caters to "craft beer" and got served a flat beer in the wrong glass I'd send it back - they should know better.

But when I'm out at a small family restaurant I frequent and get served a DIPA in a chilled pint glass I just let it warm up a bit and drink it because I know they don't do enough business with the craft beers (yet) to warrant all the specialty glassware. I have talked to the owner though about what the proper glasses are should they get more volume (and she now knows that a red wine glass is better for the Chimay than the cold pint glass.)

But anytime I'm served a flat beer or a beer in a dirty glass it will go back. Never an excuse for that.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I usually only drink away from the house at beer bars or I drink liquor, so I don't see a lot of that problem but I do every once in a while. I don't see how it's my fault some chain restaurant can't serve a beer properly or why I have to fix it for them.

 

[daksin]

I gave a local "gastropub" a few chances recently but won't be going back, which is too bad because the food was pretty decent and I love the location/outdoor seating.

I'm a pretty snobby dude but I'd never be rude about it or correct some bartender's pour in a dive, but if you advertise that you're a craft beer bar and have 20 taps of various crafts, it only takes fifteen minutes to train your barstaff to pull a pint properly. I have never ever had a beer come out dirty or infected or incorrectly carbonated, actually I've never even been given a dirty glass, but when I pay six bucks for a half pint of ruination, I expect more than a couple of ounces and a tulip full of foam. When I mentioned it to the bartender, he got huffy and said "It's not bud lite- you want it to have some head." A different bartender at the same place pulled a nitro pint directly into the glass like you would a Bud and handed it to me without so much as a second on the bar.

I might be a snob, but there are plenty of craft beer bars in San Diego- if I ask a bartender what style of beer something ON THEIR BOARD that night is, I don't need them to read the name back to me and tell me it's a Dogfish style beer.