How to be a better craft beer customer

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by JuliusPepperwood, Sep 22, 2020.

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  1. JuliusPepperwood

    JuliusPepperwood Initiate (0) Jul 21, 2013 North Carolina

    Thought it might be cool to drop advice for craft beer nerds to help them be better customers. This is my biggest pet peeve at taprooms:

    Don't give taproom bartenders a hard time if they are out of the beer you want.

    Your local craft brewery is not McDonalds, they cannot guarantee every beer will always be on tap every time you come in. It is a craft product and beers take time to ferment, sometimes a beer is more popular than predicted, and ingredients can be delayed or unavailable. And it certainly isn't the bartenders fault since they likely have zero impact on what beers are being brewed.

    It's ok to be bummed or say you were looking forward to that beer. But have a back-up beer in mind or ask for a recommendation and try something new. But try not to moan and make a huge deal out of!
     
    JrGtr, officerbill, MrOH and 15 others like this.
  2. zid

    zid Grand Pooh-Bah (3,132) Feb 15, 2010 New York
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Why do I feel like you might have been that bartender? :wink:
     
  3. SFACRKnight

    SFACRKnight Grand Pooh-Bah (3,348) Jan 20, 2012 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    This is just a symptom of the existential narcissism that has become the American way. Who would have thought basing our beliefs and lifestyles simply on what makes us happy and content as individuals would have lead to a society of grown up children?
     
  4. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,057) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    If this thread is intended to list other suggestions too, then mine is: Don't congregate with your 10 buddies in front of the ordering station at the bar. I'm polite enough to break into your active conversation to ask if you're in line in the hopes that you'll get the hint. I've always received a 'no' answer, but I've never had the group split to allow me to access to the bar; I have to go around the group. MOVE you're beer klatch elsewhere you morons! (And while you're at it, stay off my lawn!)
     
    jzeilinger, pjbear05, REVZEB and 48 others like this.
  5. rozzom

    rozzom Pooh-Bah (2,620) Jan 22, 2011 New York
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    OP you bartend somewhere or you go to a place with a high density of douchebags?
     
    REVZEB, ZlaVydra, AWA and 10 others like this.
  6. StoutElk_92

    StoutElk_92 Grand Pooh-Bah (4,045) Oct 30, 2015 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah

    I would say, be open. Be open to trying new things and open to new interpretations of a style. Every single beer is different in it's own way, and the ingredients are natural and prone to variation. It's good to remember that not every beer from a style will be like the "best" of it's style or your personal favorite. I try to appreciate beers for what they are, not what I want or expect them to be, and I find that helps me enjoy it more.
     
    puck1225, Amendm, Orca and 3 others like this.
  7. chimneyjim

    chimneyjim Zealot (522) Jun 23, 2004 Oregon

    Taprooms? Lines at the bar? Is this really a 2020 thread?
     
  8. steveh

    steveh Grand Pooh-Bah (4,174) Oct 8, 2003 Illinois
    Society Pooh-Bah

    Those are signs of hope. Don't harsh the mellow, dude. :wink:
     
  9. HoppingMadMonk

    HoppingMadMonk Grand Pooh-Bah (5,208) Mar 3, 2017 New Jersey
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    @SFACRKnight yeah! What this guy said
     
    Limazulu, Amendm, VABA and 1 other person like this.
  10. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,057) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    My post is the second time complaining of many more times to come, although it's not very applicable this year. I figure that it will take multiple iterations for the morons to get the hint. To be realistic, maybe those self-centered social climbers aren't likely to be BA members. (But they still need to stay off my lawn. :slight_smile:)
     
    Amendm, VABA and StoutElk_92 like this.
  11. ManBearPat

    ManBearPat Pooh-Bah (1,813) Dec 2, 2014 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah

    Paging, Karen
     
    Limazulu, LarryV, ChicagoJ and 5 others like this.
  12. chipawayboy

    chipawayboy Pooh-Bah (2,181) Oct 26, 2007 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Advise applies to any customer interaction for any product.
     
    dexterk1, JrGtr, Rocktire and 7 others like this.
  13. nesarebad

    nesarebad Pooh-Bah (1,868) Feb 4, 2012 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Yes, I would suspect they bartend or go to a place in America.
     
    VABA likes this.
  14. FBarber

    FBarber Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,325) Mar 5, 2016 Illinois
    Mod Team BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    ooooh, I got one. If you get shut out of a special release, regardless of the circumstances, don't be the a-hole who goes on every social media platform complaining about it to the brewery, then, when the brewery offers you early access to their next special release to make up for "the inconvenience", complain that its not good enough for you ...

    You will, in fact, survive missing out on that beer release. It is, after all, just beer. So just accept you missed out on it and move on with life.
     
    pjbear05, REVZEB, Ocalafox and 27 others like this.
  15. IGaveYouPower

    IGaveYouPower Savant (1,070) Dec 2, 2010 New York
    Trader

    If you're the kind of person who needs the advice in this thread:

    1) You are assuredly a rude, shitty person in general and it permeates into every aspect of your interactions with people in customer service positions.

    2) You would probably deny ever doing any of this, and if you did admit to doing any of it, you'd probably try to rationalize it being okay.
     
  16. steveh

    steveh Grand Pooh-Bah (4,174) Oct 8, 2003 Illinois
    Society Pooh-Bah

    Lotta First World Problems and bad Karma being exposed in this thread. :grin:
     
    Rocktire, MikeWard, meanmutt and 8 others like this.
  17. unlikelyspiderperson

    unlikelyspiderperson Grand Pooh-Bah (3,966) Mar 12, 2013 California
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Be honest about your tastes. Don't ask for a recommendation and say, "I like pretty much all styles" when what you mean is "I like pretty much all hops (except sabro and laurel and noble hops and EKG...)"

    To add to that, stop calling beer from styles you don't enjoy "bad". You don't have to like every style and that doesn't make styles you don't " bad" beers
     
  18. SFACRKnight

    SFACRKnight Grand Pooh-Bah (3,348) Jan 20, 2012 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Quit reviewing all beer styles against each other.
     
  19. unlikelyspiderperson

    unlikelyspiderperson Grand Pooh-Bah (3,966) Mar 12, 2013 California
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    But bro, this dunkel doesn't taste anything like papaya juice and the its so thin. The DDH lactose and mango dipa i drank first is waaaaaay better
    2/5
     
  20. SFACRKnight

    SFACRKnight Grand Pooh-Bah (3,348) Jan 20, 2012 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    My personal favorites are the ones that review a lager of some sort and rant and Rave about how it's the best one they've ever tried and give it a 3 out of 5
     
    kuhndog, officerbill, JMN44 and 12 others like this.
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