Sending a beer back to the bar...

[danorocks17]

if i go to a bar i haven't been to and want something on tap, i usually ask to try a sample of it (pretending to never have had it before). maybe be kind of ****ty, but if i'm obliged i leave a good tip. if i get a funny feeling about a place, i'll get it in a bottle

 

[MBasile]

I agree, but I don't think it's because of entitlement. I think businesses have to earn business, and if they don't feel like or can't do what it takes to earn YOUR business, you shouldn't just give it to them.

Lots of people will drink bad beer in bad bars without any complaints. If you don't want bad beer, you are not their target customer, and there are other bars that do want you and your business that you should go to.

I tend to disagree. I'm of the mindset that they can't fix the problem if no one tells them it exists. Now, if you tell them it tastes off due to certain flavors being present and they tell you "Too bad, it's supposed to be like that." then yeah, take your money elsewhere if they don't want feedback.

 

[Skarekrough]

No, it's not sarcasm. I agree with you. If a beer has to be poured a certain way for someone to enjoy, then that person should only go to those places that do it right.

And this is the conclusion I came to a number of years ago.

I had some strange dietary sensitivities for a number of years. I couldn't drink beer out of cans and, for some reason, the bottom of kegs. It got to a point where I would sit down in a bar and order something and could tell the keg was about to kick by the taste. I could drink beer out of bottles all night but if you gave me something in a can I would end up retching within the hour.

Dining out became a crapshoot for me. I could get a beer and be fine or I could get one that I knew would end up making me sick and not be able to send it back because, well, how do you explain that to someone?

After awhile it just meant that I didn't drink anything from taps. This worked out well until those snapperheads at Guinness started doing the stupid widget in cans and every bar was carrying them rather than bottles. It seemed like overnight I couldn't get my fave beer anywhere. So alas that came off the menu for me.

 

[JetSmooth]

When Inbev bought AB one of the first things they did was sell off the theme parks. Busch Gardens in Tampa is now owned by the Blackstone Group and no longer has any basis in the beer industry.......

"On October 7, 2009 it was announced that InBev had sold all Busch Properties to The Blackstone Group for $2.7 billion. This sale includes all Busch Entertainment properties. One of the deals in the contract was that the Clydesdales at the parks be removed, as the breed of horse is associated with the Anheuser-Busch brand. In addition, the Busch Entertainment Company division that owned all of the Worlds of Discovery parks (including Busch Gardens) was renamed SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, officially marking the finalized purchase had succeeded on December 3, 2009."

Hmm, I musta missed that. I mean, they still sell primarily AB products. I guess their reputation was always built on the AB identity. No wonder the park feel different.

 

[mikeysab]

I worked with a guy whose friend worked for Stella. His job was to go to a list of bars and order a pint. Based on that pint, he would either talk to the manager or leave. If he left, it was a good sign. If he stayed, it was a problem. One day I asked him "isnt it expensive to pay someone to go around and drink beer for a living?" He said its much more expensive to lose customers because a bar doesn't know how to treat beer. If someone orders a beer and it comes from dirty lines or mistreated kegs, they think the beer comes from the brewery like that and wouldnt drink it anymore. Not everyone knows as much as some of us about keg lines and off flavors. Thumbs up to Stella for that level of quality control.

As for me, I have no problem sending a beer back, or making a comment about half a pint of foam. But if i'm in a place where the beer wench lights her nips on fire and lets you blow them out on your birthday, im usually drinking bottles, or cans. Hopefully theres some NYCers that know the place im talkin about.