Ever had a brewery right a wrong?

That's great to hear that they did right by you. That opener looks sweet.

 

Surly went above and beyond to address the carbonation issues they had with Abrasive this year. My emails were responded to promptly and they ended up sending me two Spiegelau IPA glasses with the Surly logo on them as well as a personalized note thanking me for being a customer and apologizing for the inconvenience. Mad customer service skills.

 

Nice story. If I didn't have super amounts respect for Southern Tier already, I'd say that this makes that company appear super awesome. I've never contacted a brewery with an issue, but along the same vein, I contacted Stone asking them if they were gonna release Xocoveza again as a seasonal and a friendly representative wrote me a personalized email which diligently answered all of my questions.

You gotta hand it to craft breweries. Not only are they dedicated to the quality of their products, they are also dedicated to their customers.

 

Weyerbacher saw some posts I made complaining about Insanity last year and contacted me about making it right. Gotta love a brewery that does stuff like that.

 

I bought a sixer of Thirsty Dog Siberian Night a few years ago. Don't remember what was wrong, I think maybe it had soured.

Anyway, sometime later I stopped by the brewery just to see it and in the course of the visit I mentioned the problem, only to inform them, not complaining or expecting any compensation. The guy I spoke with (possibly one of the owners) gave me an individual tour and at the end he told the receptionist to give me a sixer of whatever I wanted.

 

I've found craft breweries to be extremely approachable on Twitter as well. I've asked various breweries questions about releases, seasonal, etc and they're always addressed.

 

IMHO the 'poster child' brewery here is Sixpoint (@Sixpoint). Shane is a class act who has the proper perspective of looking at the 'bigger picture'.

Cheers to Shane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I always email the brewery if I there was a problem with the beer or I realized I purchased beer that was old, expired or should not have been on the shelf in the first place. I have received everything from T-shirts, openers, stickers, reimbursement checks and free bomber or six pack replacements. I think they appreciate getting the heads up that the distributors are not doing their job to 100%. The items I have received have always been nice and I always thank them for their gifts, it is generous and I appreciate the time they take to listen to the consumer...

 

I second that !!!!!!!!!!!. I have dealt with Shane in the past, and there is no one like him that respects the consumers, takes pride in what he does and always listens with an open mind, Cheers !!!!!

 

Yes, Sixpoint does that and it is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Shane !

 

I've never personally had a brewery "right a wrong" and I hope I never have to make them but it is reassuring to know that most breweries value their customers enough to do something about it.

On the topic of customer service though, I've always had good experiences with craft brewers. I have tweeted and emailed breweries before asking them about releases, etc. and I've always gotten prompt answers. I once emailed a local brewery telling them how much I enjoyed one of their seasonal limited release beers on tap and asked them if they were thinking about bottling the particular beer the future. To my surprise I got a personal email from the owner/brewmaster telling me that the beer would be available the following year in 500 mL bottles. Granted this brewery isn't major by any means but I was really impressed by the fact that the owner himself took the time out of his undoubtedly busy schedule to answer my question.

It's been said time and time again but it seems that craft brewing is about people just as much as it is about beer. The customer service that many craft breweries exhibit illustrates that point quite nicely.

 

Not to be a 'Debbie Downer' but I contacted a local brewer when I bought a 6-pack of a lager beer that reeked of diacetyl. They just recently purchased their canning line and the owner/brewer explained to me that they experienced some 'start up' issues with their new line. So, he gave me an explanation of why the beer I bought sucked but did no more than that.

Not every brewery will actually 'help' you once you bring a problem to their attention.

Cheers!

 

True enough, but its nice that a helpful brewery is "the norm" so to speak.

 

I've emailed a brewery before just to alert them that I had purchased a bottle (4 actually) of a rum barreled milk stout they had released and it was infected, to give them a heads up that there may be more out there (most definitely infected, it smelled like a bottle of bottom shelf vodka and had no taste of rum, milk, or stout). They got back to me the next day or so, letting me know that it may have been just a bad bottle, that they hadn't heard of any other issues like mine, and asked for my address.

Sent me another email a day or two after stating they didn't have any more bottles of the one I had purchased, but ended up sending me two bombers of their next seasonal release and two BA variants of that as well.

All from a brewery that doesn't even distro to my state.

Now, THAT was the epitome of customer service.

 

A few weeks ago I had two bad Stone Enjoy Bys and contacted them about it. They were super nice and cool, and sent a hat and glass. They tested the same bottling and I guess theirs was ok. Very positive experience and I'll continue to patronize them.

 

I contacted weyerbacher about a 4 pack of heresy I just bought that was sour/infected. They offered to refund my money. This was a couple days ago so I haven't recieved anything yet.

 

I had the same experience with Stone a few years ago when I lived in VA. I've now worked for the company for a year and it's awesome to see how much they pride themselves in customer service from the inside.

 

What did they say?