Contacting breweries and never getting a response?

Yes, I've emailed at least a half-dozen breweries, probably more - just saying "thanks, I enjoy your product, I was wondering this or that"...

To one brewery in Maine, I suggested they have larger, clearer photographs on their website better displaying the brewery grounds and the incredible summertime landscape surrounding the brewery. They never responded but have changed the layout of their website twice, though still not totally cashing in on the beauty there...

Yeah, never got a response from any of them, except one. I purchased 4 large jugs of this brewery's beer, only to have 3 of them end up spoiled (i.e. vinegar). A representative did email back apologizing (though with a bit of frustration and annoyance in his tone) saying he would replace them (which he did, though they too were all spoiled). We exchanged a couple emails regarding the matter, however, he was quite vague on where I was to pick up the replacements, as I had purchased them 1.5 hrs away from my home... through a couple more emails and a couple calls I found out that I had to drive all the way back to the store, but this dude from the brewery was really short and just unfriendly in his tone. No reason for that. I don't have to buy your product. I believe since then they've remedied their vinegar issue...

 

Back in my Beer Consultant days, I contacted many breweries, some via e-mail, others through reps, others over the phone. Nearly all of the communication regarded deciphering codes and other freshness issues. The experiences were mixed.

Some got back to me quickly and completely, like Grand Teton. Others took a little while longer, but got me more than enough information, as was the case with the brewers of Palma Louca (who were responding from Brazil). Others feigned interest, but in the end did absolutely nothing about the issues I raised, which is what happened with Firestone Walker. Others humored me and fed me some fun lines (looking at you, Rogue). Others flat out ignored me, like Durango.

Meanwhile, whenever I meet/speak with brewers/owners directly, rather than reps or PR people, I tend to have nothing but positive experiences. And these have tended to be the much smaller breweries, local guys who barely have real estate, much less staff. Yet I always get my answers, I always get treated with respect, and it seems like an actual dialogue is happening, as opposed to just getting a sound board reaction.

Put me in the camp that believes that if you have contact information out in the open, you have something of an obligation to answer the mail you receive. Not to demean the amount of communication any given brewery will receive, but it's not like they're the Simpsons' version of Ringo Starr, where it'd take them literally decades to respond to everybody. Much like deadbeat traders on this site, you likely have the few minutes necessary to type out a few sentences of information...

 

I have only e-mailed 4 different breweries but got great responses all four times. A couple were delayed but in all cases the respondents were very friendly and the experience was pretty awesome to be honest.

 

I messaged pipeworks once about a bad batch of their sweet potato beer. Came down to their brewery, [brought a permanent funeral to share with the guys] had some of the beer they had on site, and left for home with a Raspberry Truffle Abduction and a snifter. I'm not sure if they intended for me to keep the snifter... but didn't seem like there was a designated dirty snifter area for me to leave it. In either case, I rock that mofo now as my go to stout glass and spread the PW love to everyone.

 

Actually, come to think of it, I emailed Great Divide about some seriously outdated beer I bought from a liquor store in Des Plaines, and got no response.

 

I've reached out to breweries on occasion, but my emails are almost always questions that indicate an enthusiastic interest in their operations, not criticisms or complaints.

Interestingly, I have received messages on this site from higher level employees who are concerned about certain beers or breweries that I have rated quite low(ly). Off the top of my head, this has included people running the range from an assistant brewer at Karl Strauss to a manager at De Molen.

 

If you don't get a response via email, try other avenues; call them, hit them up on Facebook or Twitter.

I like to interact with breweries and reps via Twitter and/or Facebook. They're quick with the responses, too.

 

Given the small staffs spread thin at a lot of breweries, ask yourself if your inquiry or complaint really justifies a demand upon their attention. I suspect the ease of email has created a magnitude leap in the amount of messages brewers (for example) receive that could make it increasingly difficult to keep up with it all, or to respond to any that's less serious than "Your special release bomber exploded and the flying glass killed my grandma." Perhaps the customer's always right, but must the customer always write?

Mea culpa: I've written to a few breweries, but only to alert them to typos on their websites (and always with a "no need to respond to this message" disclaimer because, really, who wants to respond to *that* guy?).

 

Really? Because a brewery's email traffic is probably high, I should not expect a response for anything short of alerting them to the fact that they have killed my grandmother with a bottle bomb? Customer service is low on your list of priorities for the people with whom you do business, huh?

Oh, there are some typos in your post. I started to edit it for you, but I am not that guy.

 

Personally I think the road to hell is paved with customer service and that Consumeris Americanus is more often than not a walking pile of garbage, but never mind that.

I'm saying that when people had to put pen to paper and then stamp to envelope and then walk (!!) to a mailbox, they weren't so quick to write to breweries (or other businesses), and that the rise of various online means of communication has likely resulted in a massive increase in the amount of inquiries any given brewery receives. If that's truly the case, it seems naive to assume that answering your inquiry about what may or may not be an off note in your bottle of Sputzelbrau will be much of a priority.

Alas, I'm not spotting the typos you referred to, which is ironic, as I'm spending the day going over page proofs at work.

 

That is pretty amazing. More proof that "the craft industry is 99% asshole free" (Sam C from DogfishHead)