hoptualBrew
Well-Known Member
I spent the past few days taking the girlfriend out to a mini beach getaway & stopped in yesterday at a local "brewery" for a bite to eat and some drinks on the way back home.
When we showed up, the "brewery" was more of a sports bar with flat screens all around than a dedicated brewery. We sat down and I asked which of their offerings were on tap, to which I was told only 2/5 were available. I ordered their hefeweizen. It came out in a pint shaker, nearly as clear as a bud light which made me anything but good things. The beer was probably the worst representation of any style I have ever drank to date. I sent it back because it literally had no taste. I tried to explain in a nice way to the server that it just wasn't cutting it for a hefeweizen. After digging a little deeper to see who the brewmaster behind the scenes was, I was told he has traveled and brewed in San Diego and "knows what he's doing".
As a homebrewer, beer advocate & lover, and hopeful future professional brewer - I was actually mad when I walked out because of the idea that this "brewery" was putting out such horrid examples of the styles. Some poor beer drinker whose never had a good hefeweizen who drinks this as a first would probably not go back to the style to have quality examples like Paulaner, Weihenstephan, Hacker-Pschorr, etc..
So my question is, is how do you advocate for beer in examples like these without coming off as a pretentious beer snob?
When we showed up, the "brewery" was more of a sports bar with flat screens all around than a dedicated brewery. We sat down and I asked which of their offerings were on tap, to which I was told only 2/5 were available. I ordered their hefeweizen. It came out in a pint shaker, nearly as clear as a bud light which made me anything but good things. The beer was probably the worst representation of any style I have ever drank to date. I sent it back because it literally had no taste. I tried to explain in a nice way to the server that it just wasn't cutting it for a hefeweizen. After digging a little deeper to see who the brewmaster behind the scenes was, I was told he has traveled and brewed in San Diego and "knows what he's doing".
As a homebrewer, beer advocate & lover, and hopeful future professional brewer - I was actually mad when I walked out because of the idea that this "brewery" was putting out such horrid examples of the styles. Some poor beer drinker whose never had a good hefeweizen who drinks this as a first would probably not go back to the style to have quality examples like Paulaner, Weihenstephan, Hacker-Pschorr, etc..
So my question is, is how do you advocate for beer in examples like these without coming off as a pretentious beer snob?