Do (successful) breweries give a damn?

I emailed Troegs a few years ago with a suggestion, rep that replied offered to hold a special release brew (impending descent?) until I was able to visit the brewery a few weeks later. Never took him up on offer but thought it was pretty cool to take that approach. Thankfully, Troegs is in my hometown and I am able to stop in frequently. Always looking to pick up some scratch when I'm in Hershey, PA.

 

I dropped Upslope an email after buying their Blood Orange Saison to let them know how much I enjoyed it (also begging them to continue to make it), didn't expect to hear back from them but received an email from the brewer the next day. Nice gesture

 

Beer is no different than any other type of business. There are good and bad....some have great service, some do not.

 

Like others have said, call or email are the best routes. Facebook, Twitter etc. is probably viewed as a good way to mass communicate TO a broad base by the breweries. One on one communications get answers more often.

 

FWIW, it may be difficult for a brewer to send a box of beer. For one they may not be allowed to get you beer without going through 3 tier in NY. I know in NJ to donate beer a brewer has to fill out 3 separate forms with the state (but distributor can do it no problem).

 

Going through each page of this thread and hitting Ctrl+F for "FFF" or "Three Floyds" is a fun time. Highly recommended. 5/5, would read again.

 

I respectfully disagree with this. Sending the bottle back with a letter would be cost and time prohibitive and opens up the possibility the brewery could make up an excuse about how it was "damaged in transit", etc., or just toss the box and continue to ignore said person. Also, as shitty as it is depending on who you ask, social media is THE way to communicate in this day and age. It's changed the way we communicate and if these businesses have these social media accounts, that in theory, should be the quickest and easiest way to contact them. The majority of companies also hire a specific person to manage these accounts (I understand not all do), but overall not getting a response on any of these avenues is unacceptable.

 

I think certain breweries give a dam. But they all must care to a certain extent because why else would they choose brewing as a career.

 

You shouldn't have gone the social media route. They're running a business and it's unprofessional for you to be publicly reporting issues that you had with their beers. If you wanted to get it done the right way you should have e-mailed or called them directly.

 

In every industry you will run into some arrogant people that don't respond well to criticism, even if you are just letting them know a problem exists.

A lot of beer drinkers also don't give a damn what a brewery says or does as long as they make good beer. Lol

 

I've generally had my messages answered by Founders, 3 Floyds, 18th Street, and Upland

 

Based upon my experiences, New Belgium and Odell most definitely do.
Breckenridge does not, and that's long prior to the AB buyout stuff.

 

I've had really positive experiences with just about everyone I've talked to. One Colorado brewery I talked to, they've been around for about 10 years- they were super responsive when I had an issue. I think I have more respect for them now seeing how they handle issues than I did before. So yeah, I think all good breweries DO care. That's why they are good in the first place.

 

I think it's honestly unfair to even ask this question, because as with any other aspect of life, your experience will vary day-to-day, based on who you talk to, and potentially even what mood they're in. There are probably great, enthusiastic, customer-friendly beer people at every brewery, and there are probably others who are snarky, stuck-up, disinterested, etc. I would hate to judge an entire brewery on that one time I emailed them, and that one person emailed back (or didn't). I think the discussion is interesting, and people are definitely giving some great insights/anecdotes, but I think it's also important to remember that all of these breweries at least ostensibly are filled with employees that are just as into beer as you or I, so yeah, they probably do care.

 

I agree that emailing or calling directly is the best route to take in the first instance for a situation like this. If the brewery ignores you or is rude in handling your issue, sure go ahead then and mention/escalate it on social media. And if they do respond to you and handle the situation to your satisfaction, follow it up with a positive comment on social media that the brewery did a great job with their customer service.

Too many times I see people immediately going to social media when the direct route is a more appropriate channel for initiating discussion with a brewery imo. I emailed a brewery last year regarding a beer and the head brewer emailed me back within a day or so and he specifically mentioned how he appreciated the direct email. I realize that social media is everywhere and and now ingrained in our culture. And yes it's a great tool when used appropriately but with its presence there seems to be some loss of tact.

 

I will agree with most of the people in here. Blasting on social media isn't the fastest or best way to get a response. The only thing I will use it to do is to get a contact for someone.

I've contacted 2 different breweries for issues and numerous others for general questions via email and phones. I've gotten responses from all.

One brewery from NC had severely overcarbed cans. One can was bulging the cap of the can into a point, the other I grabbed out of the fridge and it exploded in my hands. They offered to replace the beer for me if I was in NC, but that's all I got. Unfortunately, I'm not anywhere near there.

The other was a brewery in Alaska. I had one of their beers bottle bomb in my closet (ambient ~68 F) and he took care of the issue by sending me three bombers in the mail.

I also will jump on the FFF hate train.

 

The sense that an active, responsive social media presence is necessarily key to any business today is the sense that any business today should be prepared to devote much, much more of its energy to PR than in the past.

Blech.