Abnormal Beer Co.

Never said it was a nefarious plot, just stating what happened to my friend and me. Loved everything else. Got there early, got our tasters, picked up bottles and got out. But two people in a row paid cash with two different bartenders and neither of us got change. Not saying it wasn't a mistake, but it did happen. Fantastic beers though and well worth the trip.

 

Agree to disagree; to each his/her own.

I'm not judging as if I'm some sort of omniscient deity. I could never open a brewery or restaurant, much less keep one open a year (and have it be successful), but that doesn't mean I can't offer an opinion or some potentially valid criticism. Honestly waiting in line for 20 minutes sounds like a long time to me. There was zero regulation of the "line(s)." There was an impenetrable throng of people that I didn't feel like dealing with (again, my feeling. I understand this may not bother others). Also, not sure why you would doubt my ability to hear a crying baby because of the loud music (an odd thing to take issue with in my comment, unless you had a crying baby with you). The frequency of a baby's cry is scientifically proven to cut through a wide range of loud noises, including rock music.

In any case, I'm happy for Abnormal Beer Company, and I look forward to drinking more of their beer. Sorry if you felt my observations were disrespectful or offbase

 

I got there around noon. It was kind of a shit show definitely overwhelming when you walked in, but it only took us about 15 minutes to get to the bar and get pours. They were managing capacity pretty well. M2 was great. Glad I got to try it, since I missed out on bottles. Thought modorado was hazy goodness. Enjoyed Very Vanilla Speedway. I didn't spend more than an hour there. I was expecting it to be madness. They were doing the best they could. If you were expecting a table or fast service, you were SOL. I went for the beer (mainly to try M2) and enjoyed my one round. If I were expecting to spend the day there, I would have hated it.

 

Hey guys.


This may be a really off topic question, but how was the beer?

 

Worst part of the event had to be those taquitos. Had a good time otherwise.

 

I feel like criticizing products like the food or beer is fine, when you start criticizing the "business" of an anniversary party maybe you should look elsewhere.

Did you expect the anniversary party to be empty and easy to navigate through? It's the culmination of the year for most places (specifically breweries and beer bars). All the regulars are going to be there and also all the guys that want to try whales on tap. Of course it's going to be a shit show.

Are you guys the same people that expect to go out on Valentine's Day to your town's most popular restaurant without a reservation? Or even on a Saturday night and not expect a wait?

 

Standing in line and shooting the breeze meeting people is half the fun...

 

So...how was the beer? I read a lot of homers hyping it, is there any objective reviews?

 

Well as someone who is keeping all my M2 bottles I would think I can be pretty objective. Basically it is what they wanted it to be... a liquid candy bar. Yes its sweet but it has great body and flavor. I didn't find it too sweet and would put it up there with most non-BA stout. However, the real gem of the event was the IIPA, Nelson and Galaxy bomb, probably the best SD IPA I have had this year. The fact we could get growlers was awesome....

 

Jesus H. Christ. The only way I could have made it more clear that what I was saying was MY opinion would have been if I contracted a skywriting plane to spell it out for you guys.

"Entitled" and "whiny" don't mean what you think they do. I could not have made it more abundantly clear that I am happy for them, and I enjoy their beer and the event could POTENTIALLY be improved, from MY point of view.

The word "entitled" is thrown out on these boards a LOT, sometimes with good reason, but often without any basis. I consider myself a fairly reasonable person, not entitled to anything (except perhaps the opportunity to express a well-reasoned opinion on Beer Advocate). I did not feel "entitled" to receiving instant service at Cork and Craft on Abnormal's 1st anniversary. I did not feel "entitled" to bottles of M2, which I missed out on (like many others).

As a card-carrying cynic (two decades of Padres fandom will do this to you), any time I go out, I fully expect waits and long lines. I'm okay with this. And admittedly, maybe my initial post about the event came off unnecessarily abrasive, but I fully expected the event to be very busy, I didn't expect a smooth ride, but that doesn't mean I can't offer an opinion about how something could potentially IMPROVE. I've been to quite a few bar, restaurant, brewery anniversary parties. Some much worse, some much better. This seemed like a solid event, but in MY OPINION, I felt like there was room for improvement.

I hope you both have derived sufficient pleasure from trying to negate someone else's personal opinion.

In any case, I love Cork and Craft. It's something that's unique in San Diego County and is a special place. I love Abnormal Beers; if I'm out at a bar and see them on tap, I'm almost always ordering one of their brews. I'm not trying to tear them down, I'm just offering my thoughts. If you think I'm entitled, whiny, impatient, whatever other judgment you want to assign to me, you should read Yelp reviews to re-calibrate your worldview.

Cheers to all.

 

With all the sniping done on these forums, it's amazing that any BAers can run into each other as strangers and fellow beer lovers at these events and still have a pint and a pleasant chat.

 

I just think a lot of people that don't work in the industry forget that it is a business. Obviously Cork and Craft want the event to go smoothly as possible, but they are also throwing it to make as much money as possible, so they are going to try and get as many people in as they can while retaining some form of service.

I work at a popular restaurant in San Diego and on week days we often go down to two or three servers in a place that can fit 105 people. If we randomly get a 25 top on a Tuesday, service is going to be pretty shitty regardless because you have 25 people trying to order drinks all at once and then throwing 25 orders at the kitchen. Lines suck, waits suck, but if you're going somewhere popular don't you just figure those are going to happen? Do you think Cork and Craft didn't think about ways to improve the event before hand? We as bartenders, servers, etc aren't just working to be able to drink at work, most of the time we drink at work because of crowds like the ones at the Anniversary party you're talking about.

 

I liked that they removed the tables in the dining area and put up belly-bars instead. Allowed for easier access to walk around.

I did feel bad that they ran out of glassware and had to open a fresh case or two, but with M2 being only tasters and watching ppl walk away with 4-6 of them at a time I could see it happen. They were also swamped it seemed that glass collection slowed down which only went to further the issue of the lack of taster glasses. What I did find out though was that myself and a couple buddies at our little table were bringing up empties just to help out but I guess the bartenders were thankful for that assistance in that we were basically given priority and asked what pours we wanted when we dropped off the glassware without really waiting in a line. It was a nice little perk.

Being helpful goes a long way.

It was kinda funny that the longest time I waited in line was when I wanted to close out my tab. Some conspiracy shit going on trying to keep me there drinking...hehehe.

 

Nice! Thanks for the response. I will have to check them out soon

 

I worked in the restaurant industry for a decade and sympathize with all of that and understand those realities. Honestly, I think I was extremely measured in most of my comments, and I think it's unfair for you to continue to assume I'm some impatient Yelp asshole who assigns a restaurant a 1-star rating because parking was difficult and doesn't think about the men and women that work extremely hard in an industry that doesn't always get the respect that it deserves. I'm not sure if you even read my previous comment, because I explicitly addressed your snarky remark about being the kind of people that "expect to go out on Valentine's Day to your town's most popular restaurant without a reservation." I routinely wait in long lines without complaint because I expect it.

In the interest of shutting this down, as it's gone on too long (and I'm somehow not getting through to you, at all): you're right, I'm wrong. No more opinions will be proffered on this or any other event I attend.

Cheers

 

I got you on this one.

 

I don't know. Seeing a large unorganized crowd at the bar at an anniversary event should be common place if you've been in the industry for a decade. The bar at the restaurant I work at is a shit show on a simple Saturday. Regardless of what you do you're always going to have people trying to avoid the line and be in a drink well or asking servers to get them a drink. I understand the sentiment of turning around and walking out, that is what I probably would've done as well, but isn't it entirely expected that an anniversary event is going to be crazy busy and at the very best loosely organized in terms of getting to the booze?

 

I got there around 1pm and the first round of tasters I waited less than 10 minutes in line...only because the 3 people ahead of me all had tabs to close out. By 2pm it seemed like the counter was never more than 2 or 3 people deep. I definitely wouldn't consider this event a shitshow. Maybe I was lucky?

 

Tried the Boss Pour IPA yesterday. Wow! Nelson & Citra mixed together, really good stuff. I've also had there Mo Dorado IPA and Year One IIPA in previous visits. These guys are making the best IPA's in SD right now.

 

Would be a good name and bottle graphic for one of their beers...