Mislabeling Beer at Bars.

notorious and hop venom do taste very different in my opinion but then again to me notorious tastes more balanced and rounded than hop venom does.

 

I once got a pint of Grapefruit Sculpin that to this day I swear wasn't the same beer. It was extremely watery and flavorless. Not sure what other beer it could have been though

 

Did you question the bar tender/bar manager? I think there's something illegal about advertising one beer under a tap handle and serving another.

Nonetheless, I was at a bar with a friend some years ago in late November. We were enjoying Spaten Helles when the keg blew and the bar tender told us they'd swap it quickly.

As they poured our next glasses I noticed the beer was a few shades darker than the Helles. Turned out they had a keg of Oktoberfest left over from the season. The bar tender asked if we wanted something else since it wasn't what we'd expected -- heck no, we stayed even longer!

 

Over the years I've seen this happen a few times. Obvious mistakes that were surprisingly not obvious to a day or two worth of patrons. We all make mistakes, but the part I don't like is when they're clearly in the wrong and the staff argues with you anyway.

 

Dirty lines. I've been poured beers numerous times that were 1/2 fresh keg, half old keg. I kindly ask if they can run the line a little longer until the new beer is pouring. This generally happens at bars that are not beer-centric.

 

I had Hop Venom on tap at one place in Denver around the time of GABF. What you had was probably left over and 'somewhat' mislabeled. I say somewhat because this isn't a mislabeling I would be upset about since both are first class beers. And curiously enough, I also had Notorious, Hop Venom and RPM while in Oregon.

 

That was probably right after they started courting the Corona deal. (Sorry, too easy.)

 

It was many months ago but I agree, too easy

 

Yeah, as @steveh noted, in most states (if not "all", but who's got time to search 51 different sets of regulations), it is a legal requirement for tap handles to be visible and identify the actual brand of beer (granted, an often neglected requirement and, apparently, an illegible, handwritten note on a bar napkin taped the some other brewer's tap handle satisfies some ABC inspectors ).

But in this case:

So, a bar is serving the "wrong beer" with the "wrong tap handle" and the two negatives wind up, legally, to be a positive.

 

People make mistakes and they also do things intentionally. Both have happened and always will. Call them out when you see it.

 

This is so true. As others say it is how the establishment handles it after the fact. Also how often it happens.

 

Was at a small bar in the Little Italy neighborhood here in Baltimore meeting my wife and some of her co-workers for a drink after work. I walked in and ordered a DFH 60 minute as it was one of the few non-macro options available. As soon as I took my first sip I immediately knew it not only wasn't 60 minute but wasn't an IPA at all. I said something to the bartender who happened to be the owner and he was initially kind of taken aback that I would suggest such a thing. After some back and forth he went downstairs to check the keg and came back slightly embarrassed. He admitted that he had made a mistake and what was actually tapped was DFH Peircing Pils. He ended up thanking me buying my beers the rest of the night.

 

Could definitely be dirty tap lines, if it's not a clear mislabeling issue. There is a bar a few blocks from my apartment in Bethesda that has both Loose Cannon and Goose Island IPA on tap, when I moved down here I would occasionally go there with friends and these were really the only decent beers on tap so I would get them. Something always tasted a bit off about them and so I stayed away from both beers for a while. After hearing good things consistently about Loose Cannon specifically, I decided try the canned version and it was excellent. The next time I went to that bar I got it again to compare and it was WAY different, no doubt dirty lines.

 

About a week ago, my wife ordered a HammerHeart Forraedersblod, a 7% rye pale ale, and got served something very strong. We asked the bar to check the keg, and sure enough, it was the 13% Valkyrie Tears from the same brewery.

Don't know if that's illegal, but it sure could be dangerous.

 

last week I was at a bar and their tap list said they had Spaten Octoberfest, so I order one, when I got the glass of beer back, tasted it, it was obviously a pumpkin ale, so I sent it back with the quickness

 

I hope at least that it's generally just a mistake and nobody would intentionally sell the wrong beer(although if Bar Rescue is to be believed many owners will buy swill vodka and put it in a premium bottle so who knows). I think it typically is more so just nasty tap lines. I remember when my local spot finally started to get decent beer the tapped Bells Amber, but they never flushed the line so the first couple pours we like 50% Amber and 50% Molson.

 

Serving a mislabeled item in Colorado is illegal. If you ever feel that the beer you're drinking is not the beer that is advertised I would ask the staff/speak to a manager about it. I would imagine it was just a incompetence mistake (wrong keg delivered, uninformed staff, dirty lines) vs. a deliberate misleading.

 

Went for Stone GoTo at my bachelor party, saw the tap handle, and it was listed. Turns out, it was Cali-Belgique.

 

Could be a mispicked keg, happens quite a bit. Or dirty lines as others have suggested.