Just went to take a look at this beer on untappd and the most recent reviews are gold https://untappd.com/b/hidden-cove-brewing-company-trinal/1322369
Well after reading all those I kind of want to get one myself. Can't be that bad! Really not a good response on social media for a representative from the company. Pretty good reviews on here though.
I think untappd have just temporarily frozen the brewery so they can deal with the harassment. People had started flagging beers for deletion as well as making negative comments
Not any more they aren't. This got up the dander of all the beer dorks and they are bombing that beer with 1 star ratings. Most aren't even smart enough to comment on how they acquired the beer. Their response could have been better but brewers are humans too. This is another case of beer geeks confusing their personal opinion on a beer for the truth. A better response would have been along the lines of "we are sorry you didn't like the beer. When your palate develops further and you acquire better beer sense, feel free to come by. First one is on us." I personally don't like most Brett beers, so I'm not going to rip one for demonstrating characteristics of a style just because it's not my favorite.
It looked like Hidden Cove deleted the original negative comment and apologized. I'm not sure if it was before or after the negative backlash though. Untappd, like BA, is great in that it democratizes feedback. It is also the worst for that very reason. There are a lot of people who don't know anything that will make comments about beers and breweries will be like WTF. However, you rarely see them respond directly like HC did. I see an occasion venting session on my feed, but brewers generally understand not to engage.
It's funny because I have checked in a couple hidden cove beers neither of which were good. One was a flat rating and the second I bashed a bit. They toasted both. I assumed them as one of those spots that toast all check ins while not reading or caring about content.
FWIW, Hidden Cove's owner / brewer posted on Facebook an hour or so ago explaining and apologizing for his response. He says he reached out to the original rater / poster but has been blocked. I've had a few HC beers and while they may not all be 5 star, 1 star may be a bit low. I didn't have the beer in question, but to me it would have to have some very serious flaws to rate a 1.
