Store employees embellishing?

Theres a reason its been the only craft beer store in the city, and largest in the state. Im headed there here in a bit on my way to chipotle.

 

this is a tell as old as time, and it is true as it can be

 

Certainly. It rare but they are out there.

 

As long as you give your beer store a decent tip after every purchase, they will shoot you straight.
Going rate is what, 25 % of total beer sale?

 

So this assistant manager has been there five years, of which, you've been going the entire time. Has this person been a solid employee before or has he been lying to you the entire time? Seems like you should have a good feeling for the place/person in five years to either dismiss him and the place or accept them as they are.

 

I live in the armpit of Indiana, a desert of craft beer. There is one shop that's a bit on the smallish side, but has decent knowledge, the the larger stores employee people that are completely clueless. More than once I've sent my wife to pick up a certain beer that was in stock and she had to help them find it (my wife hates beer and knows nothing about it).

My best story involves talking to one of these geniuses. He talked a fairly good game and then I asked, "have you tried Westy 12?" He replied with, "I think so."

"I think so." I'd venture to say that anyone who has tried Westy 12 is absolutely positive they've tried it and more times than not, they can probably tell you exactly where they were and what they were wearing when the did try it.

 

Aged Enjoy By. YUMMY!!!!

 

Totally agree.. I'll always be honest with people. I'll only bring in 'over-hyped' beers if people are knocking the door down for it. Might not be something I would drink, but there is always someone that wants whatever 'X' beer is. I don't feel bad at all saying 'Ya know, not my style.. but a lot of people out there love it'.

 

I remember asking a store in Chicago if they carried Zombie Dust (this was...6 months ago?), and the response was "No, you can only get that in Indiana."

While it was partially true in that Zombie Dust was really hard to find at the time, when I picked up a 6-pack at Binny's a week or two later, I decided I probably was better off not trying the other place again.

Said place has since gone out of business, no surprise.

 

It does suck when you end up with an employee that doesn't honestly know what they're talking about. Always ask to talk to a beer buyer/manager. That employee very well may have just not known, and depending on the kind of store.. possibly doesn't care. For that employee at that store (I hate to say it, but its true), he/she isn't making any more or less money by telling you one thing or another. It is really unfortunate, but it happens ALL the damn time. Also DO need to remember sometimes, as much as people hate to hear it, consumers don't always know everything that is going on on the business side of things. Of course I don't mean ANY people on this thread, though..

 

Is a perk of working at a liquor store being able to drink samples of all available product to be able to answer questions about it? If not, we may have some unfair expectations.

 

Barely ever happens. For the most part, employees would have to buy it for themselves. There are, of course, exceptions to this.. not every store is the same. Depends on who it is, too… beer manager might be able to open things at his/her discretion. But no, it is not necessarily (and I would venture to say not often) an included perk of working at a liquor store.

 

1/6th of a barrel you mean :-)

 

Sam's is a great place, but I swear after 9 years of going there I still don't think they recognize me.....

 

How about if your beer person doesn't know as much as they think they know, frequently spouts misinformation, but you just keep your mouth shut as to not rock the boat and cause a rift in your beer relationship, as they're your only point of access to limited releases? That's the situation I've found myself in before.

 

+1. A hookup is a hookup even if they are beer challenged.

 

We quote: "sound like chicks." You, sir, are the reason people think women can't enjoy craft beer as much as the gentleman next to them. This thread was started on the premise that some people enjoy talking about beer. In fact, this entire website is based around people talking about beer. If you don't want to converse, either in life or here, don't complain that we "sound like chicks" because we like to talk beer.

 

Hey, thank you for beginning this thread. I fully enjoyed following it from the retail stand point, it's been very interesting, good topic!

 

I regularly share beer with our staff so they can have increased knowledge. I have them try a lot of different beers that I am considering carrying. If they like it, we might carry it. If they hate it, it's out. There isn't space to waste on beer we don't like.