Contacting breweries and never getting a response?

I never had an issue with Great Divide.

 

Most breweries have contacted me. Twitter is also a good way to contact breweries.
Adam Avery, the owner of Avery Brewery, emailed me himself.
However, Brew Dog and Oskar Blues never contacted me.

 

Maybe they don't like you...

 

maine, mass, only difference is a couple more teeth

 

I've contacted both Founders and Stone. Founders due to a bottle with a loose cap and flat beer, probably distros issue. Founders said they would send me a care package since they can't send beer/beer coupons etc, never got a damn thing, been 9 months.

Contacted Stone because a RuinTen exploded on me, just sitting there and boom. They sent a care package within 2 weeks. For fit hat, Stone pint glass and some reusable bag. Very cool of them and very timely.

Still a bit pissed at founders, not because of the beer issue but because they said they would do something and never did, even after 5 months went by and I re-emailed them to let them know that they never made good. They imo are having issues in all aspects of their business as of late, distro in too many areas, beers not in stock in a lot of stores in my state NJ. Stores telling me they are dropping them bc they can't fulfill orders, not for seasonal and backstage but for Porter, Centennial etc. Underperforming back state series IMO and and many others. Don't get me wrong, I still love FBS, KBS etc. but they seem to have just tried to grow too fast too soon IMO, whereas Stone has been killing it the past 2 years with enjoy by, ruination anniversary, collab brews, and their regular lineup. Founders should take note IMO on how to run all aspects of their biz.

Love them both though, just pointing out my observations.

I've tweeted many other breweries and have gotten plenty of response via social media. Hell even goose island replied when the Blackhawks won and they were promising they would fill the cup with any beer and I asked if they would fill it with Rare and/or King Henry, they replied with "anything they want" shame I don't think the Blackhawks took them up on it : /

 

One of the few breweries I emailed and never got a reply from is a WY brewery. Hell, they haven't updated their website since 2010! Fellas. it's the electronic age; get with it!

 

Most of the times I email breweries it's either thanking some of the smaller guys who made something particularly good and/or to ask them some simple questions about a part of their brewing process. I can only think of three of them that didn't get back to me - I don't take much offense to the ones that don't respond (they are all smallish and days are crazy I'm sure) but I do really appreciate all the more the ones that take the time to get back to me.

 

Try their Facebook page or Twitter.

 

I have contacted Widmer Bro's for help on a homrebrew recipe and Guinness for a distribution question, they both responded quickly.

 

This thread reminded me I had to contact Stone to get the volumes of CO2 for their IPA (picking up a keg this week), so I wrote to them after I posted at 4:15, and by 7:35 they had replied with a spot on answer. Fine job Stone!

 

I wrote Cooper's Cave once and asked why all of their beers tasted like musty cardboard. No response. Jerks!

 

I have never been emailed back from a single brewery. I have had good success with twitter, though.

 

Maybe you should drop some names so that they stay in line. This could help promote better PR.

 

Those people are insane, and work out of a garage. Absolutely flabbergasted that they make as much beer as they do, and deliver it all themselves? Crazy. There is definitely a reason they haven't gotten back to ya.

 

Truth.

 

Yeah, Great River Brewery...they suck fat sweaty donkey balls.

 

Yea that's very true, and they do note that they may take a while to get back to you, but I gave them several weeks with no response. Again I understand, but if you're gonna offer an email for comments and concerns, at least respond to a legitimate concern at some point.

 

Had a problem with my CC at the Bruery Tasting room a couple months back, wrote and email and they responded with an email and a phone call within a couple hours. Solid.

 

Yes. I looked at a breweries website and they didn't have any comment/email option, so I messaged them on FB and never got a response. I didn't feel it was an issue that warranted me calling them or talking in person (it actually wasn't an issue at all, just an inquiry), so I was a little disappointed. I've done similar things with other companies and usually get a fairly swift response (for example I had an issue with a Ful backpack I purchased, within a day I got a reply and they sent me a new backpack to my doorstep within a week, no cost to me and no questions asked).

 

New Belgium -- great response when I reported a QC issue, offered to send money (which I declined), insisted that I at least accept a t-shirt. Awesome super soft t-shirt.

Wayne Wambles at CCB -- emailed back and forth about a recipe for a white oak IPA that I was working on, super detailed answers to my questions, included links to oak spirals that he recommended, etc.

Pat @ Alpine -- no response at all to a simple question about dry-hopping

Snoqualmie Falls -- great response when I emailed to report an infected bottle of porter that my sister brought me when visiting from WA. Prompt (emailed late at night), wanted to know exactly what off flavors there were so they could investigate, etc.

Shaun Hill -- emailed back and forth on a couple of occasions with info about visiting HF, gave suggestions for a recipe I had questions about, etc.

Steven Lyrely at Olde Hickory -- awesome guy, great recipe tips, remembered who I was when I ran into him at an event and was willing to talk shop for a good long while, wanted to know how the batch we'd emailed about had come out.

I'm also in the camp that you shouldn't make an email address available to customers if you don't intend to respond to emails. I get that small business owners/employees are busy. At the same time, my work is very busy. Yet, I respond to every email I receive in a timely manner, within 24 hours as a rule. I view the parents of my students as customers, in a sense, and feel that their questions and concerns deserve my utmost attention. I might be grading a stack of essays or planning a lesson, but I set it aside when I get a note. I would expect the same from a brewer, my real estate agent, a company that I'd purchased a product from online, etc. You know, the people to whom I give money.