Some people think that I’m a minor irritant. Others use stronger language to describe me. Either way, and as you most likely know, I don’t much care how I’m thought of.
Saying that ‘I don’t care’ is really only half of the story. It’s true that what others in the beer world think of me isn’t especially important to me, it would be nice to be respected, even thought of kindly if perhaps not exactly ‘loved’. What is true, is that so many of the things I have said in the past that have annoyed people were driven by a real passion in me that is demanding. When one is around demanding people it can be irritating, but it’s also true that in the presence of these people things tend to get done, and that standards are raised. This has been true in my professional life, and I have attempted to apply it to the beer world whenever I can.
Three things in the last year or so have had me thinking about customers and consumers needing to demand more and to expect better.
The first is an old chestnut, and a drum that I’ve been beating for literally years. On two separate occasions I observed people complaining about non-beer. The first was a blue-raspberry beer that included food coloring, and the second was whatever that is that you see in this Facebook Reel and the accompanying screenshot below.
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These are valid complaints. I am glad that people are pointing out the absurdity of these non-beers, but we have allowed things to get to this point. I’ve been screaming into the void for years and years and years about non-beer, and it’s because people haven’t been doing the same that we have got to where we are today. Our apparent reluctance to push back has created this. We reap what we sow.
I’m of the belief that the reluctance of people to call things out is based in the eternal “niceness” surrounding the small scale (craft if you must) beer industry. There has been some totally shit beer produced for years by many small breweries. Craft beer is sometimes awful, and local is not always best. The “community” doesn’t need shit beer. The mantra of, “if you’ve got nothing nice to say then don’t say anything” has actually hurt the industry. Any criticism has far too often been met with a chorus of, “don’t be a dick”, when in fact the person delivering the criticism was 100% correct. Too often such comments weren’t forthcoming and the industry got away with murder. Some of this was touched upon in Session #145, but Matt’s point there was a little different to the one I’m trying to make here. He was talking about a more high-brow approach (much needed and I’m in agreement with him), but I’m talking about a more down to Earth, honest, and brutal calling out of the bullshit – different things. I remain 100% in favor of (warranted) criticism.
The second issue that got me thinking about what we demand, came up a few weeks ago during an online purchase. A beer that I know well, and one that has essentially been impossible to source in the USA for a while as imports have dropped off a cliff in the last 10 years or so, and one that I love, was advertised as being available from a reputable retailer. This was obviously exciting to me. So exciting in fact that I failed to check-in with the retailer regarding the age of the bottles before purchasing. That’s 100% on me, I should have taken that precaution, and because i didn’t and I know better, I’m happy to take some of the blame here, after all, caveat emptor. However, what was more interesting was the internal response that I became privy to as a result of my complaint to the retailer.
The retailer contacted the importer who included this line in their reply; ” … it is still technically in-code for several more months … “. What struck me about that is that unless that is some internal, locally defined standard that the importer uses, it really is a totally meaningless statement. The beer in question is sub-5%, in a relatively delicate style, that was 2 years and 8 months old, and is one that is described by a person with the title of quality manager at the brewery in question in this manner; ” … drink it as fresh as possible, not longer than 2 years if handled and stored within good conditions.”
Taste is subjective. Many people would be quite happy to drink this particular beer under these circumstances, and it is certainly still “drinkable” in as much as it’s not going to make anyone sick or be problematic in any, pragmatic way, but for me the real crux of the matter is this. An importer happy to use the meaningless phrase, ” … still technically in-code … “, and a retailer happy to sell a product that is known to be way, way past its best.
It’s worth noting that after my exchange with the retailer they gave me a small, partial refund that I was happy to accept, and they reduced the price of the said beer on their website. Both of which were welcome, but what should have happened was the refund to be whole, and the beer to be pulled from sale. The principle, not the $ matter here.
Thirdly, I had what I would call a hugely underwhelming experience with a brick and mortar retailer in a major US city a few months ago. I bought three bottles of Westmalle Extra that were over 4 months out of date. Again, a delicate beer that I wouldn’t want to be on shelves in store that I owned past its BB date. When I let the retailer know their nine word response was, “Thank you for letting us know, I appreciate it.” No apology, no comment about the beer, no offer of compensation, a staggeringly neutral and apparently non-beer-caring reply.
I’ve spent a lifetime caring more about beer than most people. That’s fine, I get it, but the galling part that never fails to annoy me is when I care more than people that work in, and make their living from, high end beer. These aren’t people that work selling beer out of a gas station, or are serving Miller Lite at neighborhood dive bars, but rather folk that should know better, and should care more. You might argue that keeping track of thousands of bottles and best before dates is a tough task, and that’s a practical consideration, but (a) do better, and (b) when it gets called out, let’s have an appropriate response.
So the next time someone tries to pass an out of date bottle off on you, or offers you a non-beer, or gives you a wholly unacceptable response, call them on it. Get your pint topped off, send back that bad pint of cask ale, return an out of date bottle, let people know that you care more than they do. It’s up to us to demand more and expect better, otherwise we’ll continue to get what we deserve.
