Victory Brewing is dead to me.

[chrisdb]

I met this group at the brewery. I'd have to say they were definately NOT tailgating in the parking lot. Sure some folks brought a growler of a special brew to sample but the pours were 2 oz in a cup... much less than we were served on the tour itself.
And once on the tour, the employees- including one of our guides- were walking around sipping from pint glasses while on duty.
My impression was much like the original post. My wife who was drinking a cup of coffee from a convenience store paper cup was pointed out by an employee as and example of a person "walking around with a cup". She was/is my designated driver and it was obvious that she was not drinking alcholic beverages. As for the school bus, I have to say that it is evidence that the club that organised this outing was being sensible and responsible in keeping it's members and the general public safe from inebriated drivers. Kudos to the club for acting responsibly.
I've been to many wineries and breweries... including brew pubs and I have never been so disrespected by the proprietors as I had in this situation. My take is similar to the original poster who surmised that the PAID brew tour was being DENIED access was the factor that changed the managements mind. They weren't budging until that little fact was presented.
So much for their principles.
BTW- the main reason I wanted the tour was to see and hear about their decoction mash for Prima Pils. Unfortunately the tour guide was completely unprepared to answer questions from real brewers as she was not a brewer but in sales.
Sorry I missed the Iron Hill leg of the tour as Iron Hill as Iron Hill has had brewmasters come to address our club and have bent over backwards to support our club.
As for Victory I'm not the best judge. I know their Prima Pils is highly regarded but I'm not a big Pils fan. I think they caught the trend for highly hopped IPA style beers, but I find there beers lacking in the sublety found in European and really good craft brews. I'm not going to boycott their beer because we were treated poorly at their brewery, but I doubt I'll be buying Victory because it's just not good enough.
the best beer I had all day... 2 oz of german witbier on the bus.
It was all downhill from there.

 

[IffyG]

I met this group at the brewery. I'd have to say they were definately NOT tailgating in the parking lot. Sure some folks brought a growler of a special brew to sample but the pours were 2 oz in a cup... much less than we were served on the tour itself.

The amount poured is immaterial, they were drinking in the parking lot of a brewery which is frowned upon in most jurisdictions. This was enough to label the group troublemakers and the management acted as such for the duration of their visit.

 

[bryanjints]

Negative, at least in CA there must be a partition between the driver and main cabin. This is why it is legal in limos but not shuttle busses.

Good thing we didn't go to CA then.

 

[ericd]

Ugh, this is why I never go on these things.

I hate most people's idea of a "vacation": bull**** plane trip, bull**** hotel, bull**** relatives, bull**** food, bull**** itinerary, the list goes on....

Just give me a week at home with nothing to worry about and I'll be happy

 

[dwarven_stout]

The amount poured is immaterial, they were drinking in the parking lot of a brewery which is frowned upon in most jurisdictions

[citation needed]

 

[WhiskeyR]

Well damn. I do the Saint Arnold tour here in Houston all the time and they always let you drink first. In fact, their beer hall if half the facility! I didn't realize other tours were so different.

 

[emjay]

[citation needed]

Victory really has no idea how much people have had to drink, so of course it's immaterial.

Beyond that, it just seems like an extremely rude and immature thing to do. There's a time and a place for everything... I guess I just don't understand the apparent NEED to be sharing each other's brews in a brewery's parking lot.

 

[HolyFirkins]

of course management's story will not match up..they are the ones who have everything to lose from this ordeal. it IS a business in that sense, so of course they will say "this man needed to be kicked out and we handled it professionally". it was an utter joke. nobody was given an explanation for that. even when the club president approached the management calmly and in a professional manner, there were no answers. i hate to reiterate everything that was said, but seriously, TASTINGS of beer is by no means disorderly, and no one WAS disorderly. the parking lot incident happened IMMEDIATELY. there was no time to be "drinking" quantities of beer, he saw cups and was severely rude. rather than just say "guys we cant permit this. please stop tasting your beers and when we open in a half hour we will go from there"..this guy was a complete nazi, on a power trip. he looked like he was the head chef.

as far as "liabilities" for drinking before a tour, im not really a business man, but i have common sense. when the tour itself provides beer...MULTIPLE TASTINGS (totalling in 12oz)..IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TOUR..then what difference does it make if we sampled before? the "liability" you speak of in not wanting intoxicated people to be falling into equipment during the tour, that could very well happen if they are encouraging a group of people to drink DURING the tour. so RIDDLE ME THAT? a brewpub will serve multiple beers to people eating and drinking there every day, and then send them on their way to their cars to drive home. so how is THAT not a liability? the same thing is happening.

i have been on MANY tours in different environments. museums, aquariums, fenway park, and many breweries..even the free ones the people KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT. "Gift Shop" salesmen are not the ones doing it. It may not be one of the head honchos in charge, but it IS someone who is severely versed in the history and knowledge of the establishment. and when a homebrewers club PAYS for a BREWER'S TOUR, thats what they should get. this lady was not able to answer any questions whatsoever. she passed around a bowl of hop flowers, as most brewery tours do and i asked her "what kinda hops are these"..she rudely and snippishly (yeah thats a word) said "i dunno, whatever they were using last, they were probably swept off the floor"..i felt horrible, as if i were wrong for asking..her whole demeanor was negative.

i was thoroughly disappointed. what we paid for is not what we got. relations were very unprofessional, as even our officers tried to sensibly ask the reasoning for what went on and there were no answers. what victory has seemed to forget over time is that making good beer is a great thing, but the relationships/interactions/reputation is WAY more important. the bottom line is, Victory DOES make some pretty good beers, but so does about 50 breweries/brewpubs in our area alone, and hundreds all over our nation and hundreds imported (all at about 20 stores in our own town)..so we can get good beer anywhere. its the experience and the reputation of the establishment that i think is whats important. i'll have no problem replacing my fridge with beer from a better establishment.

To Victory: "Everyone in the room is now dumber because of your response, I award you no points..and may God have mercy on your soul" -Billy Madison

 

[mrduna01]

I second the comment that if the customer service was sub par, than shame on victory... And one or 30 lost customers is a big deal, or should be a big deal to any business. If not, than it's a crap business.

As for drinking on the bus, or sampling as I believe it was, so what. It's a brewery tour with a homebrew club who's members gather to drink and enjoy beer while learning about it. In my state it's completely legal to rent a bus and drive around while chugging 30 kegs if that's what you wish to do. Many people would do the same without a driver so kudos to them.

I would venture to say that most brewery and even winery tours serve alcohol, before during and after tours so I don't see the issue unless someone in the group was acting belligerent and we have two attendees from supposedly different groups now commenting that the group was acting responsible.

I'm on the clubs side here.

 

[mrduna01]

I'd also like to add that said red lobster (or any business for that matter wouldn't refuse you entry if you had a couple beers on the way and were acting reasonable.

 

[broadbill]

Well damn. I do the Saint Arnold tour here in Houston all the time and they always let you drink first. In fact, their beer hall if half the facility! I didn't realize other tours were so different.

Do they let you sit in the parking lot and drink?

That's the rub for me in this situation.

 

[Beezy]

Sometimes you have to separate these events from the product. I mean you can do what you want but if you like Victory beers then you should drink them. Its not about supporting their business it's about drinking good beer get me. I mean if you can just dump them like that then maybe you weren't into them in the first place. It is kinda like not letting someone that smells like beer into a bar. There is a place for everything and at least in PA a brewery is a place for drinking. My local brewery here, they make me drink tasters when I go in. Hell they will be having homebrew being served there this weekend. I dunno. Well sounds like I can skip that tour.

 

[HolyFirkins]

The "tail gating" (That's what we call drinking in a parking lot before X event around here) was WAY out of line IMO. You guys were going to a brewery and were going to be sampling the beer inside. Do you bring your own steak to Red Lobster? No...There is a time and place for "tastings and socials". I personally would have been insulted if you guys showed up at my brewery and were drinking homebrews in the parking lot BEFORE the tour...After the tour, no problems. If you felt the urge to pull a beer bong out and shotgun whiskey in it that would be up to you...IMO you guys were WAY in the wrong and your club needs to put some guidelines/rules in place for your club "road trips and brewery tours" even if it is on a per trip deal. My club sends emails out to everyone and talks about issues just like this for when it is right or wrong to bring/drink homebrews so no one is "out of line" or feels that way.

Step back and look at it from the manager's perspective not only are you guys being "yahoo's" one of you may be a potential liability. I am not sure what was said specifically but I can imagine the talk when they said no one that has been drinking or smells like they have can come in. All the "but, but, but what if we" would also not have been good to listen to...I am sure they fully understand you guys came a long ways, as a big group on a bus it was right there...and why on earth did you not put on clean clothes before you left on said trip? have you no self respect or respect for the other people on the bus that will be smelling your stench? yuck!

This is where I change to "your side" they should have not given you the gift store employee when you paid for something more. This and this alone is the only thing that is working in your favor, IMO.

So now the tour is over, and you are still being scrutinized against/watched because of what has happened before the tour. In the manager's mind(s) you guys are "trouble". I have no idea what your club member said or did. I would bet it was a snide comment or one that was interpreted that way by an already agitated manager. The instant removal of said drink and yelling to get this person to leave may have not been handled quite right but most people do not react well when "being asked nicely to leave" this is why there are "bouncers".

The last thing to add is you did not tip your food server well because why? you guys were mad at the brewery. That person busted there hump, tried to make you happy and you slap him in the face. That is uncalled for.

I do not drink much of this breweries beers and this does not effect me in either direction. I am sorry you felt you had a bad experience but IMO 95% of this could have been avoided with some basic rules from the club. I hope you try to learn from this and not have a chip on your shoulder.

you have NO IDEA what you are talking about. about 98.4% of what you said had nothing to do with anything! talking about beer-bonging whiskey and bringing steak to red lobster. these analogies do not apply whatsoever and quite frankly make no sense. beer bonging whiskey, if anyone would be so stupid to do that, is QUITE different than having a few sips of homebrew. be realistic bro. as far as the "tips" situation, you definitely misread that. we said he didnt get tipped as much as he would have if we had stayed the 3 hours more that we were going to. he got tipped perfectly for the time we were there, but coulda made WAY more money if all this BS didnt happen and we coulda stayed much longer. so before you go ripping on a homebrew club an call us names and judge us and such, i'd get your facts straight. which you cant because you werent there. our club, their management, and God are the only ones who know exactly what happened there, so dont label if you werent even there! the main thing is regardless of who did what, it could have VERY WELL been resolved, as our club president tried to. he approached management and asked for reasoning on certain things and they wouldnt give any..i'd say THAT is uncalled for..

 

[HolyFirkins]

In essence, you were asking the Victory manager(s) to literally put their careers on the line in order to let 30 or so people of questionable sobriety into their OSHA-approved facility. There is any number of ways this could have gone wrong....I'm with the Victory people on this one.

FYI OSHA does not have as much pull as you think. i've worked construction, and construction classroom in an educational setting, and have many friends who are lawyers. while there are "OSHA guidelines", they themselves cant really do anything to you. thats beside the point tho and really irrelevant. i still dont get how their "careers are on the line" if we had consumed alcohol (regardless of the amount) before the tour, but their careers are not on the line if we consume alcohol during the tour or while we are eating? makes no sense..

 

[HolyFirkins]

Do they let you sit in the parking lot and drink?

That's the rub for me in this situation.

again, wrong facts..no one was "drinking" in the parking lot..we had JUST got off the bus and were immediately greeted by the "so called" manager (he didnt identify himself at all). his exact words "...there were 3 people who just got off the bus who had cups" (one of which was a designated driver drinking a coffee from a LABELED COFFEE CUP). so how does that suggest "everyone was drinking/tailgating"?

 

[Yooper]

OK, I've had enough. I can't believe the arguments that ensured over this.

Remember the Golden Rule? Remember being kind to others?

Remember treating others the way you want to be treated?

No, apparently you do not.