Tipsy's is HORRIBLE

While I agree with you their prices are typically higher than the Davidson's and Lukas's of the world I actually don't think you experienced poor customer service. I don't think they provided you world class service but I don't think that constitutes as poor. They took back 3 of the bottles. The fact they didn't return an opened bottle I think is ok. If it happened to me I'd try it cause the worst they could say is no. I wouldn't be that upset over a single bottle of beer. It doesn't sound like you liked Typsey's anyway so it sounded like it worked out for you. Think about it from their end, I'm sure you know beer but how would they know you from one of those guys who thinks everything is infected. They're actually taking a risk returning the other 3 with all the people recapping beers out there. Not saying it's probable but it's possible. Keep in mind they did nothing wrong. They don't have to return open bottles. People like Chango do it not because they have to but because they want to go above and beyond.

 

Your frustration should really be directed towards Prairie. It's not the liquor stores/distributors fault that the beer was infected, however it's incredibly frustrating to pop a $10 beer to only find that it's undrinkable. I'd say shoot Prairie an email and make them aware. You may even get some free beer in the mail from them if you present a strong case in a civil and informative manner, you never know. At the very least you'll be bringing a quality issue to their attention which I'm sure they'd appreciate if they're astute brewers, which I believe they are. Again you never know maybe other people are reporting the same problem. Feedback like that can only help them eradicate or limit the infection problems they had.

 

No I don't work at Tipsys. However the beer community here is small and stories travel quickly.

 

On the idea of contacting the brewery itself, that's the absolute best way to go. One of the guys here bought a barleywine from a brewery I won't name, that had somehow turned into a sour and tasted like bile. He sent them an email to tell them about, for no other reason than to let them know something was wrong with their production. They wound up sending him a ton of free stuff (tshirt, hat, glass, etc) and an apology.

 

I had QC issues with bottles from two VERY large Colorado craft breweries many moons ago. Both personally delivered multiple replacement bottles to my door. While not every brewery has the capability of doing something like that, all of the ones worth their salt will make it right in some manner.

 

We had the same thing happen a couple years back with a pack that became infected. Just contacted them through the webpage to see if it was a known issue. Turns out one batch was infected. A dude from the brewery picked a new pack off the line and personally delivered to our front door as an apology. Didn't think they needed to do that but I think about it every time I buy their beer now, which is often

 

It seems that all 3 of largest craft breweries in the state take care of their customers...

 

I'm very curious to know which breweries these were. I'd love to buy more beer from breweries who value their consumers so much (assuming I'm not already buying lots of their beer).

 

I edited mine to remove the specific beer and brewery as I didn't want to paint them in a bad light because that simply isn't the case but Domingo nailed it.

 

My situations were a long time ago (upwards of 10 years ago in one case) but it was New Belgium and Odell.
I had an original corked & caged La Folie that was dead flat. First time they ever sold bottles of LF outside the brewery. I sent them a note about it and they pinpointed it to single batch. A couple days later, they had mailed me 3 bottles (back when the idea of a $15 bottle of beer was nuts) and some knickknacks.
The second was a bottle of Odell India Barleywine that had two whole hops right in the bottle. Never seen anything like it before or since. It gushed like crazy and was infected to boot. I let them know and they had a distro guy drop off two bottles at my front door the next day along with a personal note from Doug.

(Edit: In some ways, I think the fact that they did even when they weren't huge and didn't have to makes it okay to name them.)

 

Does calling customers stupid on Twitter count as valuing them?

(Sorry, I couldn't help myself.)

 

Ok then the brewery in my situation was Oskar Blues and the beer was Gubna and occurred just a couple years ago.



They really went out of their way. OB rules.

 

Awesome, thanks for the info! And thanks again for the BM @hopfacebrew about Oskar Blues. As mentioned above, these are some of the most successful breweries in the state for good reason.

 

That rhetorical question seems awfully Primitif, man

 

I had a similar situation with Upslope. The first year they packaged the Foreign Stout I bought a 6 pack that was completely flat. Sent them an email and they offered to replace the entire 6 pack if I brought it to the taproom. Was very impressed with not only how quickly they responded but how genuinely apologetic they were. Now if they would only start putting Craft Lager in 30 racks...

 

I know he's earned a bad rap lately, but I had a situation with a Trinity beer recently and Jason personally responded via email and sent me a very nice box to make up for it. I also say that while Tipsy's doesn't have the most knowledgable beer staff, I've always had good experiences with them and don't think they are overpriced.

 

That's what I would expect to have happen. I don't think it's the customer's responsibility to track back to everybody that handled the product, only the one it was purchased from, which you did. I had a similar experience with a bank that I had been with for many years. A recently new manager wouldn't reverse a bank charge [which had been done for me by every previous manager] because the bank rule was once a year. My wife worked at a bank and knows that rules can be bent for certain customers, which I was since I had alot of $$$ deposited there. Long story short, they lost my business forever over a $10 charge just as Tipsy's lost your business over a $10 refund. What can you do - some businesses are short-sighted.

One other point - did you try to speak to the owner?

 

I read this yesterday and thought "meh, I don't think I'd have handled it that way, but I can understand being pissed"...

Then I bought a 4 pack of Odell Mountain Standard (love that freakin beer) last night at Grapevine and it is... well it's just bad. Solid amount of sediment at the bottom like the yeast fallout of a homebrew, strangely "foamy" head on the pour, and it just doesn't taste like it should. I had Mtn Std earlier in the fall and it was excellent, as always, and I've never had a bad beer from Odell like this.

What do you guys think I should do? The "best by" is 1/15, so I know it's getting close, but I've never had beer get this bad on me before and especially before the best-by date... thanks!

PS - it's on sale at Grapevine right now cause I'm sure they're looking to clear out for Lugene, so I certainly don't feel ripped off, it wasn't too pricey and it's more of a principle thing.

 

Based on my experience with them, I'd reach out to Odell directly. I'm sure they'll take care of it.

Otherwise, Chris at Grapevine is one of the most stand-up dudes in the local beer scene so he'll probably help you out where he can.

 

I bought a bottle of Hiveranno a few years back and it was DEAD flat. I inquired asking if that is how the beer was intended or if I was missing anything. They mentioned that bottle conditioning can create some flat bottles, but Hiveranno as a whole missed the mark and that they would gladly ship me a replacement and shirt. Instead I made a trip to FoCo, for my monthly beer trip, and was introduced to the head brewer at the time and was escorted on a personal tour with more beer to take home. There is never any harm in bringing a beer issue to the brewers attention. If it is truly an oddity they will compensate, otherwise you will get some great information as to why it happened. I was lucky and got both!