Has this ever happened to you and am I a beer snob?

[HBRunner]

Whats nice is I was at Ruby Tuesdays for dinner last nite....Saw they had Dogfish Head 60 in bottle. So I ordered it, and the waitress came back and said they could not sell it in Alabama because the alcohol level was too high for an IPA. huh?????

never have heard that before. The bartender came over in a little bit and explained it to me the same way, that for an IPA it had to much alcohol to be sold. yeah, right......I can buy a 13% barleywine, or imperial stout, but Dogfishhead 60 has to much alcohol....

 

[Fletch78]

Alabamastan.

 

[SwampassJ]

Whats nice is I was at Ruby Tuesdays for dinner last nite....Saw they had Dogfish Head 60 in bottle. So I ordered it, and the waitress came back and said they could not sell it in Alabama because the alcohol level was too high for an IPA. huh?????

never have heard that before. The bartender came over in a little bit and explained it to me the same way, that for an IPA it had to much alcohol to be sold. yeah, right......I can buy a 13% barleywine, or imperial stout, but Dogfishhead 60 has to much alcohol....

Ruby Tuesdays down here will advertise Fat Tire, DFH 60, Flying Dog, Sierra Nevada and Abita on the drink pamphlet they put on the table. Ask any server and they never have any of them. SNPA gets boring after a while, but atleast they have it.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I've had a few bad experiences with getting beers in restaurants but you all get some really crazy stuff going on.

The worst I had was a brewpub chain that didn't have any of their kegs properly carbed. Everything was completely flat. I was pretty pissed because the bartender and server both should have at very least realized the stout was flat. What made it worse was when we complained to the server she told us other people had complained as well. Ok, well then why wasn't something done?? The manager came around later and told us he would check into the kegs. Apparently they just got the kegs shipped in and rather than pressurize them to the right serving pressure they just add a standard amount of pressure and assume they came adequately pressurized from the central brewery. Very strange.

 

[nobody]

i have to travel for my work. there is a reason we eat only at home when i am here. i make great beer and will not travel out to have seconds served to me!!! seconds on beer is the worst guys. stay at home and eat well and have great brews!!

 

[scrambledegg81]

I'll toss in my 2 centavos from a year plus Applebee's experience both on the floor and behind the bar:

Firstly, their food sucks. Microwaved, pre-cooked & slapped on the grill under a crusted, black skillet, fried in something that could, to the untrained eye, be called "cooking oil", etc. That said, the one I worked at in El Centro, CA actually had some of their eggs in a row when it came to beer. The manager was decently knowledgeable about beer and it's foibles, and the selection was always a bit on the "exotic" side (i.e. IIPA's, lambics, English stouts, etc). Hell, the guy even recommended pairings to some of his more loyal customer base!

The sad part is, he was wrong 50% of the time. From what I remember, Applebee's has a set rule to clean the beer lines every month, which was certainly not followed sometimes since it's a fairly damn complex operation running 12 taps (at least this is the managers' excuse). Orders often came back incorrect or sour, broken glass in the glass chiller was a common issue, and he tried much too hard to be the "educator" about all things beer. I recall him telling me one night, just prior to closing up, that he thought frosted glasses made beer taste better since he thought warm beer tasted "putrid", and he preached this idea to the customers. Straight from the dishwasher into the glass chiller. Frozen ice inside the mug? All the better! Kegs kept at about 36F? You betcha. It's a wonder the lines didn't freeze up during the winter.

Wish I knew then what I knew now, because the place eventually got nailed by the county health inspector and guess what they found?

Yup. Dirty beer lines.

Moral: educate when you can, but don't try to appear pushy or arrogant about it. Bartenders & bar managers deal with a load more crap from belligerent drunkards than any sane person should, and they often survive off of tips (which are split at Applebee's, by the way). If you see something wrong, bring it up to the bartenders' or managers' attention.

 

[abweatherley]

I've been in the restaurant industry for the better part of my professional life.i'm 26 and I'll probably never have a regular 9-5, I've worked in fine-dining establishments, nicer lunch places, delicatessen'/bistro type places. Those of you who have never worked in a restaurant, have not a clue what we deal with, whether it's a cook, bartender, Maitre'd, Server, cashier, Bus Boy/girl (it's probably bus person).

I am a homebrewer and I drink beer 90% of the time I go out and if it's not beer it's going to be scotch or red wine. I've complained and whined and got my own way with bartenders serving bad beer out of lines still with residue of BLC. In fact a recent experience led me to write this tirade. The Bar tender nearly threw up when I told her she should taste the beer after I told her it was nasty and she said there was nothing wrong with the beer lines.

The Customer for the most part is always right.

The staff in the establishment I work in now have no idea about the beer, or the wine we sell., I worked in a liquor store and went to shool to learn about the stuff. my bookshelf in my house is filled with books on subjects to do with booze. I educated myself because I wanted to do a better job. I watched someone sell a bottle of Viognier as Chardonnay, because we were out of chardonnay and "it's the same color they'll never tell the difference". IS that right No, but the staff aren't trained on the subject so how would they know what to sell, if a problem arises that we don't haev stock and we need to sell something similar.

 

[krisagon]

Yeah, when my friends host a football tailgate, or want to go somewhere that sells junky beer, I just have Pepsi.
I get more out of that than any BMC beers.

 

[RIT_Warrior]

Once I ordered a Sam Adams Light (at the time I had never had one before). Unfortunately, they brought me the correct beer. I wish they had got the lines mixed up.

 

[HerotBrewer]

I'm not a good customer in American restaurants. I get easily confused by the machine gun read-off of all the options........However, from my past experience in England I am a fricking expert at sending a beer back! There should be no argument, no debate. This is what I ordered, and this is what I expect. The end. :rockin:

I haven't read the whole 16 pages of this thread, but I agree with LGI. From my time in England, I can say their pint glasses are large enough to hold a full Imperial Pint of 20 oz. plus head, and usually have a line at 20 oz so you know whether there's too much head in the glass. If there is, asking for a top up is completely normal.

Which reminds me of a joke...
An Englishman, a Scotsman, and an Irishman are sitting in a bar. The Englishman finds a fly in his pint. "Landlord, I'd like a new pint. There is a fly in mine." The Scotsman too finds a fly in his pint. He calmly flicks it out with his finger and carries on drinking. The Irishman finds a fly in his pint as well. He picks it up by the wings, gives it a hearty shake, and says "Spit it oot!"

 

[Cpt_Kirks]

I was at an O'Charlies recently (it was next to the motel). I ordered a SA Boston Lager, because they usually have it on tap, and is reasonably drinkable.

They brought me a SA Winter Lager in a bottle, then realized their mistake and brought me a SA BL draft. Told me the Winter was free.

It appears their "bartender" did not know the difference, and thought "Sam Addams" was a type of beer, not a brand.

 

[Chenslee]

Alright, I gotta throw mine in too. There is ONE restaurant in my city that serves decent beer on tap. There are about 36 taps, and a corresponding menu. I noticed there was a summer seasonal on the list(it's winter), so I ask:
"Are there any beers on tap that are not on this list?"
"No, that's it."
"Ok I'll have a St Arnold's Amber"
The waiter comes back and says:
"We only have St Arnolds's Lager."
I completely lock up, because I had just spent my entire day AT the friggen St Arnold's brewery sniffing blowoff buckets and drinking beer. I know without a doubt that there is no such thing as a St. Arnold's Lager.

OMFG.

I say:
"I'm going to hit the taps and see what you have." and scootle off.
At the bar I see TWO St. Arnold's taps and I ask what one of them is.
"That's the Christmas ale"
So, my server is a double dolt, once for telling me the list was complete, and another for trying to sell me non-existent beer.
I ask, "What is the other one"
"That's regular St. Arnolds"
OMFGWTFBBQ
"Regular" I ask nicely, she had nice ****ies.
As she gets me a sample, she reads the tap, it's the friggen amber I was told wasn't available. Strike three on the waiter.
When I get back to my table, the waiter and my wife have figured out he meant Sam Adam's Boston Lager. Geeze.

I ended up getting the Christmas Ale (off the chain) and tipping 20%. Enjoy your $10 moron.