Controversial Beer Opinions Thread

So you don't agree, but really you do agree?

 

More or less. It isn't so much because of the calories I just think drinking a chocolate porter with a piece of german chocolate cake sounds kind of gross but all those calories obviously aren't ideal either. Seriously though, does anyone really mix a sweet stout/porter with cake or ice cream? I can't be the only one that thinks that sounds terrible.

 

I make stout cakes and brownies, and stout ice cream is awesome. Pair it with an Icicle Dark Persuasion, and it's very pleasant.

 

Baking with stout is probably a good idea! I use Samuel Smith Organic Chocolate Stout to make Cincinnati style chili with and it always comes out awesome. I never really considered baking with beer but I don't really bake that often anyway. Pairing a sweet beer with a dessert just sounds like to much for my stomach to take even if the flavors accentuated each other perfectly, just to much sweetness at once for me.

 

I've made a stout float and it was decent. I wouldn't use a weird flavor one though.

 

A new brewery my wife and I visited last fall did not allow tipping. The staff was up front about it when people sat down. One guy tried to leave a tip, the bartender, politely reminded him of the policy and told him to 'save for your first one next time you come in'. I like the policy. I agree with the sentiment, that tipping well doesn't do much to get you better service. It might if you are a regular, but I don't go anywhere enough to be considered a regular. I do try to tip well though.

 

There are a minimum of 3 problems with that approach:

A: The owner has likely already raised prices to cover the loss of tips. Thus we consumers are paying a higher price than we otherwise would be.

B: A lot of the places that have eliminated tipping have instituted "service charges" added to your bill, which, in theory, goes to staff. Which presents the problem of the owner deciding who gets how much of that pile, possibly after he takes his slice first.

C: A No Tips policy takes away the consumers ability to express gratitude or displeasure where it is most brightly noticed: the servers wallet. Someone sucks, I have no issue with a minimal or zero tip. Someone rocks, I way over tip. A lawerly type might make the argument that "no tipping" serves to stifle free speech.

A decade or so ago, I started going to a new hair salon. They had a sign up saying they were a no tipping salon. My cut was $25. I gave the girl a 20 and two 5s. She said we don't take tips, I said I don't care what you do with it, but I'm leaving the 5, you can keep it, donate it, put it towards the coffee fund, whatever. My next visit, there was a donation can for the local alternative humane society, that had a fair bit of cash in it. My fives went in there going forward.

Point is, someone cannot be forcibly stopped from expressing gratitude, to try brings more problems than it solves.

 

That is a good story, but none of the problems you listed are necessarily real.

A. The owner probably rose prices 20-25% - the amount most people tip. So no change in total price.

B. I have never seen this. If a place did not allow tips, had increased prices accordingly, and was adding a service charge I would stop going there. To have increased prices and added a service charge makes no sense.

C. Eventually bad service will hit the bad servers wallet. How long will the server be working there if people are complaining to the manager or stop going there because of bad service.

 

They are things I've either seen or heard directly about. If the owner raised the price of a pint 25%, but the bartender only earned a 10% tip, that is not equalling out. One of the food trucks in my town did away with tips, added a service charge, and only kicks a a percentage of the service fee back to the workers. There are plenty of bad servers that have a long work tenure at places, that aren't going anywhere. Ever dealt with a surly server on the morning shift at a diner?

 

...If I throw 5 bucks into the guitar case can we stop talking about tipping etiquette?

 

Here I am busting my ass on the forums for a pittance (actually nothing) - should I DM you my venmo dets? (or address since you strike me as an old skool cash-only type of dude)

 

As long as it doesn't require you being on my lawn......

 

When people refer to a brown ale as simply "a brown"...e.g., a "classic brown"....my bowels shudder

 

These days I don’t even bother with browns. I just focus on hops.

 

I may actually get excited about KBS again if they did some variants.

I still ended up buying a 4 pack this year, but I'd have gone out of my way for a 4 pack with different coffee origins or something of that sort.

 

I'm indifferent to brown ales, but your statement is a touch ******ed.

 

I've seen similar, but don't recall ever seeing the "not distributed to staff" part.

Maybe there are other circumstances that come in to play and not evident from the rec't?
If not, and if the surcharge policy isn't posted near the entrance or on their website, or at the very least on their printed menu, it kinda sounds like a bait and switch tactic.

 

Was. Not. A. Serious. Statement.

I was agreeing with you. There’s also a horrendous trend of people referring to IPAs as “hops”

 

That was cut from a FB post. It was from the bar of a major hotel in Seattle. Seattle is in the middle of pushing the minimum wage up to $15/hr. Fees like this are one way that owners are taking money back from customers. Turns out the person who posted this was one of the folks who helped drive the MWO, and the manager tried to explain away the charge. It's an actual thing, despite whatt some folks think, and it's only getting worse.