So at the beginning of May a friend and I ventured down to Waterbury. We picked up a case from Alchemist, visited Hill Farmstead, and enjoyed a weekend drinking great beers in town. We noticed a few cans of HT had some residue around their lining but thought nothing of it until we got home to Ottawa and noticed some of the cans were obviously not as pressurized as others. I sent an e-mail to Alchemist as a heads up that some of the cans had come out in the shape they were along with pictures and notes on the cans that seemed OK and the ones that were definitely leaking. Response times were very quick and they seemed to want to get to the bottom of the issue as fast as possible. They ended up sending me a refund for the entire case of beer even though only about 4 cans were 'faulty' and also cash to ship the defective cans back to them (shipping from Canada ain't all that cheap). Alongside that was a gift certificate for the value of ANOTHER case of beer next time I visit. This, my friends, is what craft beer and customer service should be about. Dealing with the people at The Alchemist was a pleasant experience and they worked their absolute hardest to rectify a problem that had affected my Heady Topper experience. I have the utmost respect for this brewery and have developed a loyalty that will never die because of their passion to do things as best as they possibly can and make things right when they make a small mistake. Cheers.
That's fantastic, and thanks for sharing this. Their organization is pretty hard not to like - amazing beer at a very reasonable price, great communication with fans/customers, good, friendly folks at the brewery (no egos/pained artist gimmick). John and company are doing it right.
I actually experienced the same thing early-mid May and didn't know what to make of it. Discovered beer residue lined the top of most cans when I returned home, and wasn't all that impressed with the HT compared to prior batches. Glad somebody else noticed and took the initiative to follow up and report the issue.
Yep. I had the same thing happen to me a couple months ago. I got home and noticed the residue and ended up with 3 1/2 cans of Heady of my 4-pack. Darn it, I should have sent them an email.
The Alchemist has always been and will always be a class act in my book! New canning line, massive increase in canning volume. I view these as nothing more than growing pains and they want to make sure things are done correctly.
Wow. So awesome. Reminds me of why I genuinely enjoyed my experiences at the old Alchemist Pub & Brewery and it reminds me of why I still enjoy a can of Heady Topper when available.
So an update is warranted. The same friend and I made the trip down to Vermont this weekend with another friend tagging along. I was in touch with Alchemist who had promised to set aside a case of beer to make up for the faulty cans. The case was ready and waiting when we got there at opening Friday morning. A great thing considering they sold out Wednesday and the news about the closure of the retail shop for beer. I just want to spread the love for the Alchemist once more. These guys are pure class. Whether you love or hate the culture beer geeks have created and demand, lineups, hoarding, etc, these guys seem to do their best to get beer out there and they'll always be good people in my books. Cheers Vermont. Stay classy and down to earth.
I bought a case back in may as well with the same residue at he top of the cans. Didn't stop me from drinking every last one of them. No refund/return needed.
