Pittsburgh - New Beers & Local Breweries

BJs is a brewpub chain similar to Rock Bottom.

 

Oh.. I was thinking Berkley & Jensen

 

I can only assume this is sarcasm. Why would any brewery read this thread regularly? Many people here just bash brewers and breweries repeatedly. If I were a brewer in the Pittsburgh area there is no way I'd read the shit some of you post, it's downright nasty. Constructive criticism is one thing but to dog pile every single beer made by every single brewer in the greater Pittsburgh area is stupid and I can understand why they shut down the last dumpster-fire thread you all started.

Right? How dare @Sixpoint respond to being called out publicly with a picture of their beer being drain poured and the caption 'fuck sixpoint'. As a business owner or representative of Sixpoint I would sit idly by and allow people to drag my name through the dirt without merit, especially AFTER trying to meet the complaintant in person to figure out what the issue with the beer is.

 

I'm with @PA-Michigander

When 18th Street got all kinds of flak for doing their Barrel Massacre ticket release unannounced, Drew made a post that was something like "Its my business and I'll run it the way I want to. If you think I'm going to give in to what people demand on the internet and Facebook, you're fucking wrong and anyone that does that won't have a business for long."

I'm totally on the side of Pizza Boy and Haters Tears, Bullfrog and the Crime of Passion drama, etc. Its a turning something that should be a fun business for the owners and a fun hobby for the consumers into this whiny, arrogant, dick measuring competition (which happens in basically everything guys are the driving force).

And also, I would bet that a lot of the other brewers do read this thread...but feel no need to defend themselves against you bros.

 

Before this thread is nuked, I'm going to go ahead and agree with the above two posts. If I were a brewer, I would love to take constructive criticism. Unfortunately, constructive criticism doesn't usually happen here.

 

There is merit. I'll just continue not spending a single dollar on 6p products due to an awful "customer service" experience with them. If you're that offended by seeing an image of some rightfully drain-poured beers, go check out r8beer.net or wherever it is the grumpy old guys hang out.

 

I have family in Westerly just curious how you obtained the Grey Sail. Trade or in person purchase?

 

This.. SO much this.

I agree 100% with the sentiment that the mud slinging isn't constructive, but if you're going to be in business you have to have thick skin and be able to separate the constructive from the bullshit. Those who just don't try at all are missing easy and free opportunities to collect feedback from their customer base that they can in turn use to improve their business. For every few guys in this and the old thread who are negative just for the sake of negativity, there are several who just want to enjoy local beer and patronize local businesses. The feedback from those people is invaluable to the success of places like Brew Gentlemen.

 

I hope they do read it, honestly. My comment wasn't about them defending themselves but rather just engaging in conversation with those of us who are obviously capable of discussing things reasonably. Voodoo and Brew Gentlemen both do a great job of hanging around here, participating in a meaningful way and not engaging those who are just being assholes. It's obviously possible and, as BG said above, it can be productive for them as well.

 

The food was always good. We would take friends down there (when we first moved out here) because it was a cool unique place and the food was good. The beer was mediocre at best, but since then most of our friends have been, so there was no real reason to go back but I definitely will soon

 

To be fair, I tagged Sixpoint in a thank you post for a kind gesture that they made. So they are not here unsolicited.

 

@clerkpalmer hooked me up. I gave him one of my Lunch's and he extra'd that to me. Really enjoyed it.

 

Anyone else think it is strange that the Pittsburgh Craft Beer Network would be retweeting information about a Blue Moon Special at a bar? https://twitter.com/CarissaHope717/status/618785567078248448/photo/1

 

I agree with every word of this and I'll add to it.

Based off of what I've read here and heard from others, I knew Hitchhiker had some growing pains. I kind of wrote them off. But, based on Andy's involvement in the thread and his openness about their early struggles and their current improvements, I figured they were worth giving a shot. Others I've heard the same thing about never got that shot from me (RIP Milkman, we barely knew thee). You'll have your token asshole who's an asshole just to be an asshole but on the whole, the people in here are generally respectful and happy to see local brewer involvement. Hell, even I was happy to see Scott Smith show up in the last thread.

 

It sounds to me like this guy was reading & paying attention to what people had to say, but chimed in to say he wouldn't be swayed by what he saw as unreasonable expectations. I think you've got to take all opinions into account. I, for one, take criticism on here seriously (most of the time) & try to do something constructive with it, whether it's addressing it one-on-one here or taking grievances back to those in charge. Sometimes it helps, sometimes not, but I believe it's worth listening.

 

Well said

 

If I have a bad experience with a brewery I'd be 10x more likely to give them another shot if their customer service is good and they acknowledge their own struggles. I'm a realistic customer and I understand that places will have growing pains and mistakes will be made.

That's what I think a lot of the locals can learn from the constructive and respectful posters in this thread.

 

Yeah I suppose that's true. But he also mentioned about how people were coming into the brewery and yelling at the bartenders and showing them the BA threads. And yeah I'm sure their Facebook was blowing up too.