Reasons for Not Patronizing a Brewery

I see your point, but stand by my original post. Does the staff need to know the entire breakdown of the beer - malt, hops, yeast, ferm temp, amounts, etc - no, but at least be able to give me something better than "it's hoppy". If there are 5 IPAs on your list, at least be able to say, this one is citrusy and dry, this one is a West Coast, this one tastes like Pine cones, this one is thick and sweet and smells like candy. Is it too much to ask that wait staff at a brewery know more than - it's light, it's hoppy, it's roasty, it's sour?

 

There’s a few in jersey. Either from cleanliness or condescending owners/ employees. I won’t say which because I have some publications and have interviewed some big names and don’t want to do that but I have a few in mind.

 

Right. Never mind that the German army awarded the Iron Cross for valor long before the Fascists ever thought about f***ing up the world.

And yeah, exactly my point concerning ignorance -- again, I hope your business partner wasn't wrongly accusing anyone.

FTFY.

 

well,, if I was at a spot that specialized in soup/stew I would definitely expect my server to know the answer to a couple of those questions

 

Nope... just "it's stew" maybe "it's hot" or "comes in a bowl"

 

"I see you've got 5 types of beef stew on the menu, how is the caldo de res?"

"It's pretty beefy..."

 

I generally avoid things produced by the big breweries (ABInBev, SABMiller, etc) or small breweries owned by them, that's the main reason. But honestly I'm so picky about beer styles that honestly beyond that as long as it's a style that I like I'll try it.

I'll say too, if it's a brewery that just makes kettle sours, hazies, pastry stouts or what I like to call, 4th grade lunchbox dessert beer, I'll probably not patronize them, not because I have some moral problem with that, but rather because a lot of breweries that make a lot of that kind of stuff just don't tend to make the styles that I do like, so I don't waste my time going to them or looking at their offerings on the shelf. If they made something in a style I do enjoy I would try it, but I might not even notice they make it because it is overwhelmed by the crazy number of those kinds of beers that they make.

 

-Hours of operation

I prefer to do my visiting of pubs and breweries on weekends for lunch up until around 4 PM or so. If your a brewery that doesn’t open til 4 or 5, probably not going to make a special trip for you.

What about “Owner/founder is a criminal”? I’m all for forgiveness, but I make it a habit not to give money to people who hurt children. Therefore, I don’t drink Two Brothers products.

 

Well, again - my point is that the menu should be the primary source of the information, not the servers.

And that's a problem with management, not the individual employees. (Enough to make it a reason not to patronize the place? For me, nah. But I don't travel long distances or go out that often).

They are "servers" not "servants". They have enough to do, I don't expect them to recite the menu all night long, multiple times, too. Write it the !@#$ down and print it out - everybody has a printer these days - why wouldn't a bar or restaurant? And, sure, if you have additional question, they should know it or find it out for you.

Personally, I find it annoying to read a menu and then have them come along a recite the "Specials" not on the menu. "Huh, what was it? Flavored with what?" I'd rather it all be written down.

I agree that a brewery with 6 IPAs should explain the differences/the brewer's intent but after a few facts (IBUs, ABV, hop strains, sub-style) it's all gonna be opinion. Say a bar had 6 European-brewed pilsners - besides the factual stats, what can a server say?

 

Wasn’t a smart thing to do, but at the same time he didn’t do anything wrong legally that I recall. Regardless, their beer just isn’t good. But, I can see why people would buy it based on their marketing approach . . .

 

I have been to plenty of breweries that have tons of IPA's on tap, that all looked and tasted the same to me. The same murk bomb look, lifeless body and carbonation, the same non descript "juicy" taste. Maybe slight variations in bitterness but that is very subjective. So yeah, when a bartender can't describe an IPA, sometimes its cause, they are basically the same with slight variations that can only be determined subjectively, so I won't really blame them for that. Those are the breweries I eventually stop patronizing, not cause of the bartenders or service, but because the beers are boring

 

In short - overtly satanic themes.

There's a brewery near me who has leaned pretty hard into heavy metal theme.

Started out with some pentagrams, goat heads. Fine - I'm into heavy metal and these are relatively common themes in the imagery, etc. They slowly trended further from simply heavy metal tropes to more specifically satanic themes. When they started hosting events with the Church of Satan, that was a bridge too far for me.

Their whole schtick is being 'counter-culture' but again.....a bridge too car.

 

But how are their beers? If they suck. I'd like to go for the entertainment value.

 

I know who you are talking about

They make variations on IPA and variations on big milk stouts, with different stuff thrown in. IPA's are fine, but all tastes the same, stouts are middling to fine depending on the strength and what they throw in, cause sometimes they are so over the top and unbalanced, plus ethanol heat, that I just don't want to drink them. But thats all cool for the super fans of the brewery, which again is fine, everybody has their different tastes, but man I get tiered of them quickly. Especially since they are in an un airconditioned warehouse in Houston, most of the year is just not comfortable. I guess thats also part of their "counter-culture"...

 

Yea it was most likely the brewery owners saving face since he did it publicly. Anyways his situation aside I’ve had one “good” beer from them something brunch? DIPA hazy was actually really good. and the rest I noticed sell well on the jersey shore probably because of the novelty names and “mango” wheat and “pineapple” hefe fruit stuff etc. of the Philly breweries I miss Saint Benjamin which in relation to the subject their building got bought out and the new owner didn’t like beer so he booted them. Talk about not patronizing

 

Gotta keep with the theme...

Damn, it's hot as Hell in here...

 

I agree. The issue here in OR right now though is no one is printing menus. You get a name on a board, ABV, IBUs, and a style, usually not more. If you QR code to the website you might get a more in depth beer menu... if they keep it up to date... and even if it is up to date, it might just have the same information as the chalk board. As a brewer I also know that just listing the hops isn't super helpful. Is the Columbus simply a bittering addition or an Aroma addition? Big aroma addition or minor one?

The other issue we are facing in OR is some places are no longer allowing tasters of a beer. So no printed information on the beer, no ability to sample it, and you can't tell me what it tastes like? And you want me to pay $7 plus tip for a pint of said beer in hopes that I will actually like it? Deuces, bro.

 

Ya, a proper menu would be great. Really it's an either or situation to me. If you don't want to maintain a menu then make sure your servers can convey some basic info about the beers, if you don't want to educate your servers then make sure you have a proper menu.

The worst offender that I'm aware of is a half decent beer bar (and, really the best option in the area) that I used to frequent because it was near a work site and had decent food. They keep 12 taps of a good variety of rotating beers on but have zero menu, printed or posted on a board, and if you ask your server what beers they have they'll invariably respond, "what do you like?" and then act extremely peeved if you ask them to tell you the options.

I resorted to sitting at the bar when I could so I could at least ask about specific tap handles or bother the bar tender instead of the overworked waiter. But it's absolutely insane to me that a place that obviously makes some effort to cater to the "craft beer" crowd can't be bothered to make it clear what their ever changing draught options are.

 

Locally, there are breweries I don't patronize because:
1. Too far away. Most of my drinking is done on foot. I don't like to drink very much if I need to drive, and if there's another brewery I prefer in the area I'm driving to, what limited drinking I do will be at the establishment I most prefer.
2. Beer isn't that great.
3. Don't care for the crowd at said brewery.
4. Combination of the above factors.

 

Do they play Deicide?