Responsibility of Beer Knowledge

Absolutely the server, if a customer is unsure about a particular beer but has a limited knowledge the server should be able to guide them to a beer they like with a few simple questions.

 

what.

 

In most cases the server should know and should be able to guide people to beer that will meet their needs. That is the whole idea behind the Cicerone program. Too often the person in the restaurant or bar that buys the beer is the wine person, doesn't drink beer and doesn't know about beer. They do their establishment, customers and beer a disservice.

 

I'm responsible for my own knowledge. I don't want to be bothered with someone else's thoughts beyond "this is outstanding. you should try it"

I don't drink at a bar for craft company or beer talk. That shit embarrasses me

 

As far as BAs go, I'd say customer - when BAs gripe around the lack of knowledge, I feel like it's complaining for complaining's sake. In general though, a server (at least a good one) should be able to have a decent idea re: what beer is what, to allow them to make an intelligent rec to a non-nerd.

 

I don't expect an overwhelming amount of knowledge about beer when I go to a place. I take it upon myself to be educated. But, I carry a lot of disdain when servers in bars/restaurants have ZERO knowledge. When I say "I'll have a Two Hearted (or any beer, really) please" and I get a look like I have a third arm growing out of my back, then I have to grab the beer menu, open it, point at the name I want - every time that happens, I die a little inside.

Knowledge is power, and knowing the basics go a long way for a server/bartender. Knowing what beers are what, what glass to serve them in, etc. is important to me as part of the experience.

 

Bar is set too high to expect servers to be beer knowledgeable. Much better off focusing on the basic customer service skills which are often lacking these days.

Solution for the beer info is to just have one person - owner, manager, whomever - to have a brief description of the beers on the printed menus, or on little printed sheets for servers to carry, or on some big chalk board that is easily viewable. The genius of this is that this person doesn't have to know much either - all that this person needs to know is how to get some sort of description from the brewery website or whatever. This isn't perfect but it goes far, far beyond what most places have.

This also helps block some of the current status quo problems wherein servers and bartenders admittedly know nothing and can't help at all, or they know very little and act like they know a lot more than they do. Misinformation from them is quite common. Just the other day the guy next to me asked what the Kolsch on tap was and he was told it's a smooth lager and he'd like it a lot.

 

My opinion, and the level I hold myself to, is that any server at a craft beer-centric place should walk up to a customer they don't recognize with the mindset that this could be the very first time said customer has come to a craft beer location; this would include at least knowledge of what's on tap, what's available in bottle, and descriptions of the lot. They should also have some questions to ask to gently ascertain the level of knowledge the customer has, so as not to insult the knowledge of those who have been at this for years. If a place is going to market themselves as a hub for craft beer, they should train their staff as such.

That said, for less crafty places I would say it's the customer's responsibility. If I happened to walk into an Applebees, I'd not expect the any more of the server than to have the tap list written down.

 

I chose both. In theory, the server should have a solid awareness of the specific beers available as well as general style guidelines, just as he/she should be able to provide a little additional information about the dishes on the menu if asked. But with constantly rotating taps, this can be a pretty tall order (and if a place doesn't have constantly rotating taps, then most likely it doesn't have a very wide-ranging beer selection to begin with so the point is somewhat moot). Also, what if your server doesn't happen to like beer? So I think if the customer cares enough about beer to start asking probing questions about what's on that list, then he/she probably already knows more about beer than most servers do.

 

Exactly - in most cases anyone who can tell that the server hasn't really got a clue, doesn't need help/recommendations to begin with. The ones that really do need the help are blissfully unaware that they're being fed BS.

 

It depends on the type of place. In a bar known for beer the staff should know about what is being served. If the place doesn't cater to craft drinkers but has 4/5 craft beers on tap I don't expect them to.

 

I'm not sure I'm on board with the idea that anyone--server or customer--has a "responsibility" to be beer knowledgeable...

...unless you're talking about a craft-beer centric place that is clearly designed to cater to and convert people into craft beer drinkers. In which case, it behooves the establishment to have people who can talk to a customer about beer in a knowledgeable way. Both for the purpose of encouraging the uninitiated to become more into craft beer, but also to enable them to have some kind of rapport with those who are knowledgeable in the interest of gaining a regular. One of the reasons I frequent my local watering hole is because they have people behind the bar with whom I can shoot the shit about beer. That goes beyond knowing/memorizing the details and characteristics about the beers they have available and gets into them being just as passionate about beer as I am. In fact, I'd hazard a guess that this place makes a point to hire people who love craft beer. It makes a big difference.

But as far as regular old bars and restaurants, even ones with a pretty decent craft beer selection, I don't expect much of anything out of my servers. Honestly, I run into servers who don't even know the name of the one seasonal beer they have on tap so often that expecting any sort of deep beer knowledge is just futile.

 

I imagine it would be relatively difficult to find someone woh is both is both a beer genius and is also willing to work for serving wages and tips.

 

+1 with Draheim and Rollom.
I think that the customer does need to go in with a minimum of knowledge, but that the server does have a responsibility to know what they have and a brief description of it. You expect your server at a restaurant to be able to talk about the food, and the wine (normally) why not the beer as well. It doesn't need to be a review-level description, but something like "a hoppy IPA, with a bit of malty sweetness behind the citrus and pine hops." is plenty. Most restaurants they have a list in their server book, why not a couple notes beside the name.

 

It depends, the Yard House by me has 120+ beers on tap, most of the servers are barely 21, I can't imagine they have knowledge on all of them, maybe they read about them, but I doubt they tried them all

 

It depends on on who the customer is and what type of bar it is. If a craft novice walks into a bar and says "I like hoppy beers", then yes, the tender should have enough knowledge to point the customer in the right direction, the same way that if I tell them I like dry white wines, they better not bring me a Riesling. If one of us beer snobs walks into a bar and says something like "Do you have anything dry hopped with Mosaic or Galaxy hops?" I don't expect them to know what the hell I'm talking about.

If it's just a regular bar, you can't expect these bartenders to know all of the nuances of every type of beer, wine, and liquor that they serve, and potentially every meal on the menu. If It's a craft beer bar, I expect a higher level of knowledge. If it's a brewery, I expect a very high level of knowledge and they should be able to answer pretty much any question I have. Remember, we're all here because we're obsessed with beer so if there's a question about a beer that you don't know, it's likely that the bartender won't either.

I can't remember the last time I asked a bartender to recommend a beer for me. I think I'll probably know more about beer than him, and I'm positive that I know my taste better than him, so why should I expect that he can pick a better beer for me than I can?

 

I voted both, but I've usually been quite disappointed.

 

I don't even care anymore if the bartender/server knows a lot about beer but at least know what you have. This happens way too often to me:

Me- Can I see a draft list please?
Server- Sorry, I don't have one.
Me- I see that XYZ brewery tap handle, which one is that?
Server- Umm I think that is their seasonal?
Me- Oh ok, you know which one?
Server- No...I think it's a pale ale.
Me- That's ok, I'll take that.
Server- *comes back* Actually we are out of that one!

 

This depends on the bar. If it is a craft beer joint I would definitely hope the server had the beer knowledge. As a consumer, when I first started, I didn't know shit, and thankfully the bar I started at and still go to they have guided me into some pretty interesting albeit great beers. I now know way more than I did a while back thanks to great bartenders.