Calling out breweries on the grand opening...

From my perspective its a pretty self-centered posting which tells us more about the person making the post than it does the brewery. Nobody made it a "must event" except the person making the post. If any "scam" was involved the person scammed themselves.

As you say, it takes a while to work out the kinks, etc. Now if the post had been made 3 weeks after opening I'd say it would be telling us more about the brewery and their possible lack of concern for quality or that they may not even know what quality is.

 

Having worked in the restaurant industry I can tell you that this is par for the course. Both the opening day kinks and the super critical responses.
I do think sometimes breweries forget that when they open tap rooms they are now in the costumer service business and they need to get on their horses and move it a little. But the kind of criticism posted here seems like an over reaction.

 

To be honest, it just seems like a dick move. They just opened, so chances are they are still training staff, getting familiar with new and larger brewing equipment, and the "this place is new" crowd is there which means longer wait lines whether it's justified or not.

I try to give breweries, beer, people, and the like the benefit-of-the-doubt when it comes to "new". "New" usually means it hasn't been refined, so no sense in expecting a world class experience on an opening week. Heck, take a look at just about any car the first year after a redesign - they tend to have the most problems. Why would a brewery/service-place do any better? It takes time to refine.

 

That review does seem a bit schizophrenic. Trying to parse it, though:
Not sue if the person or the community made too much of the opening event - but I do think @drtth hit on it that perhaps the person had unrealistic expectations for quality of beer or how "grand" the opening would be.

However, long waits during a (let's presume correctly assessed) not too busy time isn't the greatest. That's where @PatrickCT's comment comes in - they need to realize they're not just making beers any more. Also it goes to the OP's point - it was their first night.

Hope they do get it together. Perhaps @MistaRyte can post back in here when he does go to set the story straight .

 

Regardless of whether it's true that businesses will work out the kinks over time, to many people, myself included, if the first experience is a negative one, they won't be in a rush to come back any time soon. Personally, I feel that if you are opening your doors to the public, your product should be in its prime condition.

As a recent example, Sand City opened up near my place about 7 months ago. Their beer was great from the start. I immediately hailed them as best on Long Island (and they are still improving!), they had merch available, and they were staffed properly. If the one and only local example I have can get every aspect right, how much should the average consumer forgive a place that doesn't? Sure, breweries are allowed to work out their kinks, but I don't owe it to them to come back any time soon. Be ready for business when you say you are open for business. I do think that the guy quoted in the OP seems to be taking it too personally though. As if he were personally slighted. If it wasn't great, just move on. I'm sure there are plenty of great beer options in Norfolk.

 

I have also worked in the restaurant business for 5+ years and I can tell you that empty tables does not always equal "not busy."

Sometimes the kitchen is at capacity for orders coming through and they cannot sit every single person that comes in at the same time. This not only overwhelms the wait staff but it overwhelms the kitchen even more, making the dining experience much worse.

This is to be expected upon grand opening.

 

Grand openings are NEVER very good examples of what a Brewery or Eatery will ultimately be like.

 

Working the customer service kinks out is what soft openings are for.

 

I'm going to a grand opening on May 7. If it's a mad house it's a mad house. I just hope the beer is good.

 

New Jersey grand opening May 7? Where?

 

I think there's a couple things at work here...
First the beer is the beer - maybe it's not so great, maybe it is. The point is, no one other than the brewers know for sure at the time of opening, so we (the public) are excited about a new brewery and go to check it out. Maybe it'll be the next Russian River / Alchemist / 3 Floyds / etc, maybe not, but we won't know until we try it.
The next part is the wait. I (possibly) can't competelyy fault the brewery on that - they have limitations on capacity determined and enforced by the police, fire department and probably a few other places. That then becomes a function of how many people are there. The enforced capacity isn't always what it appears for crowd control.
Then come to the staff. Of course they aren't likely used to pouring for people, so they may be a bit slower than at first. Then is the customer not knowing the beers, so the bartenders have to explain all the beers to every person that comes to the front of the line. Then the customer has to decide what they want, etc. Compound that to the people wanting samples of each beer, and not allowing people behind them in.
The OP stated he waited 20 minutes. What for? To get in? In line? At the counter for a pour? Inquiring minds want to know. The answer to that will determine (to me) if this guy was being overly critical or justified.

*edit, the person on the FB post said...*

 

Yup, no question, it's a full-on dick post. If you go someplace the very first day they're open, ya gotta expect a bumpy road. Employees aren't gonna be fully familiar with the PoS system, stuff is gonna go wonky, humans (both customers and employees) are, uh, "creative" in their behavior. There's an adage; "It's difficult to make something foolproof, because fools are so damn ingenious".

If the person who posted that walked into a place the first day, and expected a well-oiled machine, that is one unrealistic human.

That said, this is why I don't go someplace until they've been open at least a couple weeks. Gotta give folks time to find the light switches.

 

The person reviewing them is being a whiny dick.

 

With regard to product, that's pretty much how I feel.
On the service end of things, having worked in food service during my varied career I do know know it can take some time to work out kinks and get everyone up to speed in a new operation. But if a brewery opens up and serves sub par or 'not ready for prime time' products right out of the gate, it's pretty hard for me to take them seriously. They shouldn't expect the paying public to be their guinea pigs.
Brewing good beer is itself actually relatively easy (as exemplified by the number of newbies entering the fray these days); but brewing on a larger scale with some consistency is more demanding, and if, like most 'craft' beer, it is going to be hyped as something better than average (usually sold at a premium price) the product needs to have the kinks worked out when it is first introduced. There's plenty of other options for consumers to move on to if the quality isn't there.

 

It's competitive out there. Man up, take the criticism in stride, and try to find your niche with consumers who want to be at your place.

Did this place open this past weekend? I think I found the place. 4 brews to start, kickstarter backed. I wish everyone well in pursuing ones dreams. Some places do need a wake up, even if its on day zero.

Locally, we had a place that opened a couple days too soon. Their beer was undercarbonated and first impressions were real bad. I get that you had to build your brewery, buy equipment, wait months for licenses and such, so the second you get that green light to brew, most places want to be open within 10-14 days, with or without the beer 'ready'. But as another thread was mentioning, if a place can't afford to dump bad beer or prolong a grand opening, they may need to rethink things ASAP. I need a shirt that reads "I hate being your craft guinea pig".

We have another place that opened with prices some 20% more than the established places, with much lower quality IMHO. I told them I would likely not return until things balanced out.

 

Not a total dick move...but I get what you're saying. Maybe these folks just spent months renovating and converting the space (e.g., not interacting with customers but rather with builders, etc.) and learning their new brew system that they just built from scratch.

Kinks happen, otherwise "You Really Got Me" there.

 

I don't pay attention to reviews until i tried it. Recently got two brews that won metals and they were both horrible.

 

Chatham NJ , Twin Elephant Brewing
http://www.dailyrecord.com/story/ne...phant-brewing-opens-weekend-chatham/83379504/

 

It does take a while to dial in a system. You have a choice to do it before you open, or after. I think if a brewery opens without dialing in, they deserve to be panned.

I have a friend who, before he opened, told me he would dump every less than perfect batch, no matter how many it took until he was dialed in.