Fooled me once and twice. Shame on you both times.

[JBOGAN]

I am sure we all give breweries second chances and I did today whilst having some time to burn. Stopped in a local brewery that has been around for almost a decade and my first experience was fairly less than pleasing. Ordered a Maibock and it was enjoyable but nothing to write home about so I figured at least they stepped up their game a little. Hell, give me a Kolsch it is only in my top five style list. Took a whiff of said Kolsch and the sulphur aroma was very strong, not horrible it may just be in the nose. Nope, this lasted through almost the whole entire taste.

The server asked me what I thought and I said besides the dominant sulphur it is pretty good. She took a sample and said she noticed it as well, no biggie at this point considering that the staff was able to pick up on things. Then as I waited for my tab the brewer walked over with something in his hand. He had a bjcp Kolsch print out and started to tell me that it was per style.... Sorry, we all have different taste but mine does not include sulphur bombs in my Kolsch.WTF..

 

[Phunhog]

What brewery?

 

[Transamguy77]

I don't want sulfur bombs in anything. It sounds like the brewer can't take constructive criticism and needs to justify why his beer has an off flavor.
I would not go back just on principal.

 

[Dmlsys23]

Agreed. Sulfur is ok in small amounts in the aroma but not the taste! That brewer was an idiot.

 

[brewprint]

I am sure we all give breweries second chances and I did today whilst having some time to burn. Stopped in a local brewery that has been around for almost a decade and my first experience was fairly less than pleasing. Ordered a Maibock and it was enjoyable but nothing to write home about so I figured at least they stepped up their game a little. Hell, give me a Kolsch it is only in my top five style list. Took a whiff of said Kolsch and the sulphur aroma was very strong, not horrible it may just be in the nose. Nope, this lasted through almost the whole entire taste.

The server asked me what I thought and I said besides the dominant sulphur it is pretty good. She took a sample and said she noticed it as well, no biggie at this point considering that the staff was able to pick up on things. Then as I waited for my tab the brewer walked over with something in his hand. He had a bjcp Kolsch print out and started to tell me that it was per style.... Sorry, we all have different taste but mine does not include sulphur bombs in my Kolsch.WTF..

This is interesting that he basically called you out. I'm drinking a Kolsch now and I don't detect any sulphur. It's from Great Lakes Brewing kind of sort of close to you.

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

This brewers an idiot, plain and simple... Ive had a lot of Kölsch, and several of my own, and "sulphur" is not a descriptor I would use of a good one

 

[sudbuddy]

Is the brewer also the owner? I can't imagine how a brewer could ever make it that far with such thin skin. Sometimes you brew a bad beer, it happens to everyone. Take the criticism and move on. It's not like you just said "this beer sucks" and left. You pointed out the problem, which I for one would find very helpful. Plus, coming out with the BJCP guidelines to call you out is a really insecure, asshat move. He should have just come out to have a conversation about the beer, and he REALLY should have bought you one. It's also disappointing that a beer that is so obviously flawed would ever be served to customers. That's a great way to hurt your reputation and I would much rather dump a bad batch and lose the money than to ever serve something that does not live up to my standards. Just my two cents

 

[mabrungard]

Easy now. The Wyeast 2565 Kolsch yeast is a sulfur producer and can be pretty stinky. However, it should dissipate by the time the beer is ready for serving. If the sulfur level was objectionable, maybe the beer was too young or there wasn't enough copper in the water to help complex and remove the sulfur compounds.

One thing that we need to push our commercial brothers to do is strive for very high quality and not serve poor or defective beer. Unfortunately, that is asking a lot from breweries that either don't know about beer defects or because of their financial position, don't care about the defects.

While a passion for brewing and beer are important drivers for a brewer, that doesn't make it possible for all brewers and breweries to understand beer faults and their corrective action. The best breweries have access to knowledgeable palates and their brewer knows how to implement corrective action. Those breweries that have neither, are short-lived. Give all breweries a chance and do provide constructive feedback if you can. If they can't make improvements, take your business elsewhere.

 

[madscientist451]

Everyone has different tastes, perhaps the OP is more sensitive to sulfur and the brewer doesn't notice it as much?
However, business need to be focused on what the customers want, not what BJCP rules say.
I'd say the brewer blew an opportunity to find out what a customer wanted in a beer and what they didn't want.
I like checking out new breweries, but I get tired of mediocre beer really fast.

 

[JBOGAN]

Just put a dortmunder into a lager phase after a extended d rest from unwanted sulphur funk. Three extra days and I now have a palate pleasing lager. There was a meeting at this same brewery for a statewide homebrew competition that I really wanted to attend but out of respect for my mouth I decided against going. Hope the brewer is not a judge Sher wood be a shame..

 

[sandyeggoxj]

It sucks when sub-par beer is out there because it is potentially taking up market share from the other great beer. Most of the breweries in my city suck. Boring, blah, or just plain bad.

 

[Takuie]

I have found when making wine sometimes I get that sulfur taste and smell. When that happens, I have a copper rod I sanitize then gently stir before racking. Kills the sulfur smell and taste every time.

Only had one batch of beer that had a faint sulfur smell to it. Figured why not try my copper rod. Worked great, saved the entire batch.