Advice for all breweries...

Not perfectly reliable but a good resource (linked)

 

I found that seekabrew will make updates if given the information. I've sent updates for South Dakota a couple of times. I expect they maintain their own state but need help on others. It's not like they can Google the info or get it from brewers or distributors. We're their best/only resource so it's what we make it.

 

Clown shoes pulled out of CO years ago. Still listed on that spreadsheet.

 

Simply because a brewery has a distributor(s) in a state doesn't necessarily mean their distribution covers an entire state or, even more commonly, every retailer deals with those distributors. In addition to listing states, I'd like to see distributors listed (along with their coverage territory). This was once a lot more common on brewers' websites than those annoying and inaccurate "Find our Beer" pages - and there's no reason both can't be offered.

(I was just going to use Sierra Nevada's site as an example for a brewery that does both - but after a recent revision, I can no longer find their distributors page - WTF! A search for "wholesalers" or "distributors" turns up any hits. They seem more interested in pretty pictures and new types of site navigation and constant site revisions. Just exploring around the site and they list their retailers as "On The Go" or "Sit & Enjoy". Really? "On- / Off-Premise" wasn't good enough?).

Here's the thing about knowing the distributor - Why waste time, drive longer distances while passing numerous licensed retailers, because the website says Store A has a beer that all those stores you just drove by deals with the same distributor and can simply order it along with their normal delivery? Sure, it's always possible that a store might not regularly deal with the distributor or want to order something out of their ordinary inventory, esp. a beer that has been previously stocked and didn't move, and too many beer drinkers are "tickers" who only want to buy a single bottle and won't commit to buying the beer when ordered, but, hey, that's their problem. More information is always more helpful.

 

Seems like it'd be even easier if you'd relax, and go old school, and be surprised by what you find.

 

Their contact information is on their "about" page.

 

This is a solid request. Hell, I'd be happy if breweries posted an update of their taplist every once and a while. A staggering number of breweries fail in the communication department.

 

I generally agree with this advice: Very rare is the situation in which I'm searching for a specific beer. Many people who use this site are trapped in the mentality that if a beer doesn't get super-high ratings or if it's not from a very highly regarded brewery, it's not worth drinking. I, in contrast, think that ratings here and at Untappd are largely useless, that hype and the underdeveloped palates of young and excitable drinkers overwhelm most other factors in the ratings, and that there are hidden gems to be found all over the place. Advice for all travelers... I recommend trying a beer from an obscure local brewery rather than trying to grab a beer from a big-name brewery from thousands of miles away that happens to distribute there.

 

I agree with this 100%

Also, please don't use Facebook exclusively to convey information. I will never have a Facebook account and I resent missing out.

 

I was simply using that as an example to point out how unreliable seek a brew is. No need to contact the brewery, theres a reason why they didnt make a splash in CO.

 

Thought you were referring to seekabrew being out of date...

 

My advice to breweries would be to legibly date your cans and bottles. Sorry, but unless it’s dated or recent release that I know is fresh, I’m not going to buy.

 

Number one on my list too.

 

My advice to a brewery is not to take yourself so seriously that you limit the customer's experience. Some places I've been to hate the idea of flights or small pours because it may theoretically impact someone's palate if they try beers "out of order" or drink only a few ounces. I tend to travel a lot on my own, mostly because I just extend a work trip for a couple extra days of personal time. I absolutely hate when a place refuses to serve me a flight or even 1/2 pours because they know better than I do about what "experience" I should be having (I'm looking at you SARA in California). Ok, fine. Since I'm solo, I'm now going to order just 1 or 2 beers - hope they're good. And if the staff says "we get that request a lot, but no we don't do that", maybe you should.

 

I'm on FB but as it relates to tech and reaching out:

If your brewery's "story" list at the top of Instagram or Snapchat looks like someone had a seizure while working a telegraph - I absolutely will not watch them. 50, 3 second stories across the top is an immediate non-starter with me. Love great content but there is a thing as fatigue when it comes to it.

Some brewery/beer people are worse than the hypothetical 12 year old girl snapping every living second of their day...

 

Great point! When I visited Alesmth I loved how they have like 3 pour options. I don’t recall exactly but they had a taster pour like 4 ozs then a small pour of 8 or 10 oz (don’t recall which size) then a full pour. Different sizes for their big beers like barrel aged speedway. It was great because I wanted to try more beers since I don’t visit very often but tasters don’t really do it for me. The 8/10 oz pour was perfect. I thought man I wish more places did this!

 

I love it when you flip over a 4 or 6 cans of cans to find that the date stamp on the bottom is completely illegible on every single one. I think that frustrates me more than places that don't bother dating!

 

Even worse, when the date is illegible but the ‘humorous’ phrase accompanying it is clear as day! I see this so often I sometimes think it’s intentional!