Controversy around Samuel Smith

[motobrewer]

apparently, they're a bunch of jerks:

http://beernews.org/2012/01/years-o...e+(Beernews.org+»+The+Craft+Beer+News+Leader)

 

[BrewDocND]

dude sounds like a real jerk.

What's with the brewery owning the pubs and making decisions about how they're run? I've heard about that system before and it always struck me as odd and stifling to competition.

 

[motobrewer]

really don't know how it works. maybe it's like the tied houses we used to have?

this was the one that really irked me:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-st...rving-pints-too-full-of-beer-115875-23724558/

 

[wailingguitar]

There is a serving line on English pints, the space above the line is, literally, headspace. If there is liquid above the line, there is actually more than a pint (1/2 pint or whatever size). The ownership had a right to put a stop to the practice, they went about it in ENTIRELY the wrong way of course!

 

[ao125]

I'm curious what happens under British law, if you get caught over-serving a patron.

I know when I went there in 1997, all of the liquor bottles were metered (at least in the bars I went to)

That said, most breweries spill more beer in a day while transferring beer between tanks and putting it into kegs and bottles, than people would be over-served in a year.

 

[rico567]

Well, my understanding is that it's not at all unusual -and in fact may be the rule- that breweries own/control pubs. This was the case in the U.S. before prohibition, where the big brewers owned the saloons and beer gardens, and they were of course tied exclusively to their product (wouldn't expect a Chevy dealer to be allowed to sell Fords, now, wouldja?).

As for their methods, as far as I know it's not illegal to be a jerk in the U.K......yet..... and if there were anything against the law going on here, Samuel Smith's would have seen the inside of a courtroom ere this.

If they are in fact engaging in bad and unwise methods in dealing with their customers, then those practices should carry their own rewards (or, in this case, punishments).

 

[Whippy]

There are always two sides to the story, but I think I will stop buying their ale just in case. There are enough other good brewers/owners out there who don't reside in mansions whom I would rather financially support.

 

[Teromous]

There are always two sides to the story, but I think I will stop buying their ale just in case. There are enough other good brewers/owners out there who don't reside in mansions whom I would rather financially support.

Do you like their beers? I like their cider, but every beer I get from them has a metallic taste that I can't stand. I've tried a number of places but it's always the same. People always talk about their oatmeal stout and when I drink it I'm like...what the hell?!

As far as the story...it sucks, but there are people like that everywhere. Tons of people are let go from companies after working there for many years...some close to retirement. Also, there are different perspectives to a story. That family with the horse ranch wants to build a barn, but Smith is looking at maintaining the traditional appearance of the historical battlefield. I could spin the story the other way, and make the guy look like a philanthropist.

 

[GodsStepBrother]

Wow, love the beer. Will like to see how this all unfolds.

 

[maffewl]

Personally, I find the beers of theirs that I've tried to be "meh" at best. I won't be buying anymore of their beer.

 

[D_Ranged_Eskimo]

Never was a big fan of anything they had, and this just makes it easier to skip at the store.

 

[BrewMU]

They should fear competition - their beer is uniformly mediocre. American craft brewers brew every style they do, only much better. Homebrewers too for that matter.

 

[Whippy]

Do you like their beers? I like their cider, but every beer I get from them has a metallic taste that I can't stand. I've tried a number of places but it's always the same. People always talk about their oatmeal stout and when I drink it I'm like...what the hell?!

As far as the story...it sucks, but there are people like that everywhere. Tons of people are let go from companies after working there for many years...some close to retirement. Also, there are different perspectives to a story. That family with the horse ranch wants to build a barn, but Smith is looking at maintaining the traditional appearance of the historical battlefield. I could spin the story the other way, and make the guy look like a philanthropist.

Yeah, I like their Imperial Stout. I've had a few of their other brews and thy all tasted pretty much the same to me...it may be that taste you refer to. I do know just what you are talking about concerning the story, also, and I agree! I'm glad I quit watching tv.