Responsibility of Beer Knowledge

I give a slight nod to the server over the option of "Both", The degree of knowledge a server has about beer obviously depends on the type of place. A well established craft beer bar/restaurant should have a very knowledgable understanding of what beers they are serving. A restaurant that has good beers, but beer is not the primary draw, should still have a knowledgable staff, but I would judge them less harshly if they couldn't tell me the original gravity of a particular beer.

 

went to deciccos. had the server offer me a head to head of HF's conduct of life, a 5% pale. very nice of him. he did it against a 6.8% ipa from Newburgh. you dont do head to heads with different styles. and yes pales and ipa's are different styles. lol. I was a little miffed. then I mentioned it to him, hey thanks for the free samples but you dont do h2h with dif styles. looked at me like I had no idea and went on to say how much he disliked HF. i thought if sean hill heard some of this shit he would pull every barrel from every deciccos in a heartbeat.

Generally speaking I know more than the servers do.

 

A bar that i frequent has a feature where they can print the beer list with descriptions via the same machine that prints your bill/receipt, so you kinda get a ticker tape that lists the beers. The beer buyer enters the descriptions. in addition to the beer description, it lists the pour sizes available and the ABV. Just ask the bartender and s/he will print it out for you. Also helps that they'll provide samples so you can try before you buy.

 

It would be a very unique situation where I would get free HF samples and be miffed at the same time

 

"without any previous knowledge of the selection"
I would be in the same boat, if less than knowledgeable. Kinda like going to a French service restaurant and asking the maitre d, to suggest or validate your choice.

 

point being, as a server at a beer bar, imo, you should know do to h2h's with like styles ONLY. otherwise its just a tasting.
also, I was miffed not pissed or hostile. lol

 

I went with both:
It all hinges on what end of the spectrum do these restaurants/pubs sit at.

Lower end odds are you are on your own for knowing what you like to drink with the food you just ordered.

Higher end the onus should be placed more on the server (mind you that they may push for wine because they are more comfortable) to know their offerings (not to say know them inside out, but have at least tasted them before ) enough that they can help you out.

In both scenarios it helps also if you have an idea or two and your not stuck looking at the beer list like a deer in the headlights.

 

Yeah I get that - I guess I'm just saying for free beer (esp HF) I'd let it slide, rather than give them a spiel on how to properly conduct a head to head. But everyone's different haha

 

I frequent bottle shops with bars much more than actual "full service" bars, so I always expect (and receive) knowledgeable help.

 

Depends entirely on the restaurant. If you're expecting your server at Applebees to know the differences between a Belgian White and a Hefeweizen, you're probably barking up the wrong tree. Nicer restaurants that only have basic macro options + a half dozen craft options is probably not the right place either.

Now, if you're talking places like Rock Bottom on the low end, or tap rooms that boast about their 40+ craft beer taps, I think it is a perfectly reasonable expectation to have a server who at least knows beer 101, and probably a bit more.

Either way, you're still ultimately responsible for your own knowledge. If you post regularly on here, you'll probably know more than 95% of servers out there because you're hyper-focused on beer, while they likely have a much wider range of products they need to have knowledge of.

So, both.

 

That's happened to me before, too. I didn't let it bug me, although I could see how it could be kind of annoying if it became a regular thing. But the one time it happened, I politely replied "Yes, I know it's over 14% abv, that's no problem." (BCBS)

 

Generally speaking. Outside of their habitat; linguistics is a bitch. But... You also might have been getting played with and your buttons were deliberately being pushed because you may have come off as a fanboy and a snob. In the end. You got two beers for free.99. Isht happens, and guess what. Servers are sometimes sarcastic individuals who enjoy messing with people.

 

good point my friend.

 

I mean...I suppose it comes down to the idea that the customer has no idea what they might have and it's the server's job to know what they are selling...the more the customer knows, the more the server will have to now, so it really is the server's job...though it does reach a reasonable extent, depending upon the establishment...if a brewery/restaurant the server should be extremely knowledgeable...isn't this common sense?...

 

Great idea.

Some here have the beer menus printed every day or two and the beers have a brief description.

Also places like Yardhouse have an electronic chalkboard that rotates through the list of seasonals and such and they have descriptions, abv, etc.


All of these are superior options than the unrealistic task of having knowledgeable/trained servers. They're better off focusing on general customer service, which is already an issue at many places.

 

You're right. But I think many of us are noting that it is asking too much of this part of the labor market these days. Yes that is cynical, but in so many cases it is true.

 

I voted customer..though it depends on the Bar/Restaurant. If the place you are at is a known Craft bar, then, at the very least I would expect the server to be able to answer "What can you tell me about ___" If they can tell me anything at all then great...though if they can't I'd say that might be more on the owner for not picking/training an employee that knows about beer.

If its just a bar/restaurant that happens to have a handful of craft beers, then I don't have a high expectation for a SERVER to be knowledgeable..a bartender maybe. If they are its an added bonus. Is every server supposed to know something about every liquor, wine, and beer...I would say no.

Sometimes I'll just say "whats your favorite" and go with that

 

The stupidest thing I ever did, was me and my girlfriend tried Bennigan's last year because we didn't know what it was and we were tired of eating sushi and Mexican food all the time. So I go in, see their beer menu of the usual Bud/Miller/Coors, and asked what their craft selection entailed. The server said "Monk Works", which I had never heard of, and I assumed was some kind of a Belgian-styled ale. Being a crafty guy I was willing to try anything once, so I said that was fine. She said she'd go check to see if that was it because she wasn't 100% sure.

She comes back with a cheater pint filled with red ale and said, "Oh sorry, I meant Smithwick's." I paid over $6 for that beer, and a 6 pack of them is under $9 most places...

I felt like an idiot. But why the hell she poured it without my consent is beyond me, and I was pissed.

I guess I had the last laugh, though. The food and service at that place was awful, and a few short months later they were shut down.

 

If a bar has constantly rotating taps and 50+ taps than how in fuck could a server have knowledge of every product? Not to mention the fact that many bars like that also have hundreds of bottles. If we paid peopled enough for that to be a full time career job than yeah sure, but until then Im happy to have a bartender that makes at least some effort and is kind.