Framingham Beerworks WTF

Nothing worse than a bartender who immediately assumes you know nothing about beer and then gives his disapproval of what you order:

Me: "I'll have a Racer 5"

Him: "You know that's an IPA right?!"

Me: "Yes that's why I ordered it. I love IPAS."

Him (loudly): "Well I HATE IPAS! I can't stand them!"

Me (under my breath): "I don't care."

Then he proceeds to give a test tasting to a group at the other end of the bar before even pouring my beer. 5 minutes later I finally get my beer and pay for it. No change back.

Me: "Isn't it happy hour? How much is this beer?"

Him: "Yeah it's $3"

Me: "Can I have my change please?"

Him: "Oh I forgot."

What a ****. This bartender truly soured me on a great craft beer bar that's near my apartment. Every other bartender there is nice, but I don't want to go back just in case this guy is serving again.

 

My question: Did it taste good?


Yeah, that's weird. But, was it tasty at least?

 

This. Absolutely need to tell management.

 

Very amusing, if she had told me what she was going to do or even that the beer listed was going to be a mix I would have been down for it! Maybe she was just too busy or tired and figured you knew the deal already because she had just told the guy sitting next to you on the barstool not 5 minutes before and you were not paying attention - and it was the 30th time she had described the mix in the last hour.

It is rather funny that you got served that way, at least from your point of view (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042876/), and I wish you and the server both had had a laugh over it! This is not a worthy complaint to management, obviously it is a special seasonal promo and as I read the OP - this was at a brewery? A lot of those type grew up with dreams of being mad scientists with their chemistry sets as children - give them the benefit of the doubt on this one.

 

Yeah I was gonna say, at least this is one pumpkin spice beer where the spicing is REALLY subtle...

 

Really disagree with you here RockAZ. I expect to receive what I ordered or be told it's not on tap. I view this as fraud. Admittedly it's fraud on a minor scale, but fraudulent practices aren't funny in any case.

 

Saw something like this at a dive bar on the northside of Pittsburgh around ten years ago. Guy sitting next to me orders a bottle of bud, bartender pops the cap and gives it to him. The guy asks for a glass. The bartender taps his wedding ring against the bottle and says "it comes in a glass."

 

I do understand your point of view on it, but am sorry you were upset about it. It is unusual for a bar to come up with these "beer cocktails", and I have had many of them - BUT - I don't think I was ever given one without knowing that was what it was before being served! Still, - I think you gotta give the the busy server the benefit of the doubt on this one and hope you can enjoy it as a fun story to tell - it is an unusual situation, but nothing to get mad about IMHO,... Thanks for sharing your experience here, I will mention it to some of my usual wrecking crew to get their take on it - I think my friend Bruce would feel the same way you do.

 

You ARE not supposed to watch people pour your beer, bad shit can happen!

 

Yep, Bruce feels the same way you do! Anyway, thanks for the funny story.

 

THIS POST ACTUALLY MADE ME ANGRY. I HATE THAT PERSON VERY MUCH.

 

Agree it disagree. By the way, I'm not the OP. No anger on my part, as this was not my experience!

 

Sorry, I'm going to have to disagree. I think that having a server lie to you, and substitute your order without your permission is definitely something to get mad about. I'd love to see what it takes to get you mad though..

 

Hold up a sec. I just looked on the site at the tap menu.
I think the real cherry on top of this thing is that they're charging $8.50 for this beer...

EIGHT DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS

For something that wasnt even right, and that a bartender thought it was ok to pour you something without asking you. I would have asked for the manager first and asked him for the brewmaster and have them explain to me, anyone with me, and especially the bartender how its 1. OK to pour something without prior approval from the customer. 2. Insist that two beers of different variety make the same beer that was requested. 3. How the expect someone to pay that kinda price for that nonsense.

Ive had somewhat similar stupid situations but that is asinine.
An overwhelming feeling of pissed has overcome me while reading all this.

 

I almost had a WTF moment at one of my new favorite places. They were selling Harviestoun Ola Dubh bottles. I've heard of it, I've had their Engine Oil, so I wanted to try this one. The price was $21. I erroneously figured it was a bomber/750ml size. Now, I'm perfectly ok with paying that price for a good, limited release of something in that size. However, it was a 12 oz. bottle. When I looked up at the bartender, she was seconds away from cracking the cap. Luckily, I stopped her. I don't know if she is unfamiliar (a new recruit) with craft beer, not paying attention, or whether I had not read the board correctly. Regardless, I stopped her in time, as I was not keen at the point to pay $21 for 12 ounces of beer.

I did not let that almost-anger inducing moment stop me from having a good time, and I explained in a good-natured attitude that I was glad I stopped her in time. She didn't offer any apology, nor am I sure she should have provided one.

Now, to say that is was almost a WTF moment goes to show the my experiences at bars, restaurants and craft bars have been overwhelmingly positive. I feel fortunate that this is my experience.

So, my question is- should I have been cautioned/reminded of the price point/size of the bottle? Or do you feel it's more a caveat emptor scenario?

 

That's hilarious, especially accompanied with her comment, "It's pouring a little brown right now," trying to be sly.

I have had no WTF moments comparable to that, however, I was witness to a business associate from out of town order a "Dark Side of the Moon", which I'd never heard of, but it's apparently Guinness floated on Blue Moon original. As gross as that sounded to me already, they failed to execute the float, and he ended up with a blend of Blue Moon and Guinness, which I can't imagine was very good. Plus they came up with this cockamamie excuse about the beer densities or something making it impossible to float Guinness on Blue Moon, but I think they just f'd it up and were full of crap. "The 'Dark Sides' are pouring a little brown right now...is that ok?"

 

This is an interesting question. I feel that the error here lies in the menu construction. There are numerous people on this board that bitch about cashiers making remarks along the lines of "You are paying $X for that?!?!?!?!?!" and how terrible of an experience that is. Say the beer is $21 of 375ml Cantillon, and (s)he had reminded you that it was a small bottle. People would freak out that the staff had even suggested they were paying too much.

 

Absolute disagreement here. I think this is absolutely worthy of complaint to management. He ordered one beer, and was given something else completely, and was told it was correct, though he knew it wasn't. THe server/ bartender gave a line of crap, and tried to sell something that wasn;t - it's one thing if she said that they were out of it, no problem, order something else. But in this case, where he ordered it, and she tried to give him a mix instead? Wrong, wrong wrong.
This isn't your brand new, brewery, it is a new location for a chain of brewpubs that have been going for many years. The namesake of Jack's Abby came out of one of their other locations.

 

Even if it was the bartender, I am still of the opinion that she was told to do that by the brewer and/or manager.

However had it been me, I would have rejected that beer and requested something else because what she poured wasn't what I ordered. Then again, I would never order a pumpkin beer in the first place.