I have never had a bad experience with Sammy. In the tastings I've been to he brought out some pretty epic stuff, at the Hopfenstark even at Volo he bought me and my neighbour a pint, he has out of the blue sent me e-mails saying that he has beers for me if I want them asking for nothing in return.
I will not judge Sammy or any of you on here based on second and third party information.
I know people have problems with Sam for whatever reason and I'm not here to change your mind. I'm just showing the other side of the coin.
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We have a trivia question in order to register to prevent bots. If you have any issues with answering, contact us at cass@bartowel.com for help.
Introducing Light Mode! If you would like a Bar Towel social experience that isn't the traditional blue, you can now select Light Mode. Go to the User Control Panel and then Board Preferences, and select "Day Drinking" (Light Mode) from the My Board Style drop-down menu. You can always switch back to "Night Drinking" (Dark Mode). Enjoy!
Okay - being EMBARRASED in Toronto
Membership has it's rewards.sprague11 wrote:Next time I'm at Blue Monk, I'm gonna shout "Ladies and Gentleman.... my name is sprague11 from bartowel and I'm here to DRINK!"IPA_Lover wrote:Does everyone walk into an establishment and loudly announce they are a bartoweler or something?
Brands are for cattle.
Fans are cash cows.
The herd will consume until consumed.
Fans are cash cows.
The herd will consume until consumed.
I think that this situation has been going on for too long and it has finally come to light.
Sammy - come and answer the comments. I know you're looking as I know you've been attempting damage control.
Jon, you're a good guy but please don't demand that this thread be closed just because you've put your final 2 cents in.
I have PLENTY more anecdotes but as many people have mentioned before me, this thread is very polite and restrained.
Sammy - come and answer the comments. I know you're looking as I know you've been attempting damage control.
Jon, you're a good guy but please don't demand that this thread be closed just because you've put your final 2 cents in.
I have PLENTY more anecdotes but as many people have mentioned before me, this thread is very polite and restrained.
"A pint is too much, but I do not mind pickles" and " even more synthetic (and natural) aroma."
I think Harry summed it up in the very first post no? We would like Sammy start doing the following:boney wrote:So then, what was the purpose of this thread?
- buy actual PINTS (not free samples, not thimbles, not sniffing the friggin' tap)
- tip well
- buy food
- try to talk to the owner, and NOT insist on free shit because I'm self-deluded enough to think I deserve it (hello????? are you LISTENING HERE unnamed "celebrity"?)
- NOT walk out on my bill (this sickens the fuck out of me, frankly)
"Everything's better with monkeys!"
-
Jon Walker
- Seasoned Drinker
- Posts: 1899
- Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2001 8:00 pm
- Location: Wherever you go there you are
Thanks but...I wasn't expecting my word to be the last (clearly it wasn't). In fact I said MY last word on the matter, not everyone's (which now I've contradicted). I just question what is to be gained by this kind of ongoing public character assassination? How does it enrich our collective love and discussion of beer? It's polarizing and clearly the condemnation of the man is not universally supported. So maybe it serves the common good to agree to disagree and move on.Garthicus wrote: Jon, you're a good guy but please don't demand that this thread be closed just because you've put your final 2 cents in.
I don't always piss in a bottle but when I do...I prefer to call it Dos Equis.
Earlier this week I received a personal message from Sammy. Just to be completely above board with all this I wanted to share my response with everybody.
Sammy,
I apologize for my post. It did not feel right sharing those stories (which are true though!) over a public, open forum. For that I feel bad. As I said, it's not a great medium for this kind of discussion. But I do also feel that it was, if not necessary, certainly warranted.
There have been many people over the years - both bar owners and our fellow beer reviewers - that have shared stories about your behavior that reflect poorly on you. I'm not sure if you realize that. I spoke openly about a few of my own experiences. I think if nothing else this post was meant as a means of bringing the complaints people have about you to the surface, in hopes that you would maybe acknowledge them or change that kind of behavior in the future. Also, I think, so that others would take heed. I hope you understand that.
I will admit, however, that although the grievances are many - know that a lot of BarTowelers have respectfully withheld sharing their stories here, which is understandable - admittedly most are quite minor and they do paint an unfair picture of you. As many others were quick to point out, you can be a very generous person and, in all honesty, I happen to think you're a good guy and a lot of fun to be around. It may sound out of line with the tone of my post, but I don't have anything against you personally and I wish you only the best and look forward to (hopefully) sharing some beers with you again in the future, as we have done many times in the past.
But please understand that I shared the post I did not only to support a good friend who started being cut-up and left out to dry for having the stones to post something so brutally honest and rash, for frankly going right at what has increasingly become the elephant in the room over the years. I also posted because I just don't think you're conscious of your behavior sometimes and how it can come across to others. I'm about to submit my Master's thesis that focuses on craft beer drinkers and producers as a community, and how what underlies that community is a political and social ethos - rules and regulations, ethics and values. These are the things you break when reviewing from samples without actually swallowing (that review was nuked) or swapping out different beers for a trade at the last minute (happen to me personally) or walking away from a brewpub with 15 reviews from 15 one-to-two ounce samples (don't you think the brewmaster deserves a little more respect?)
I'm sorry you feel it was libel - and you're right, that bus trip to Blue Monk is one of the most embarrassing moments in my life and certainly better forgotten - but my post wasn't intended to be "libelous", it was a direct message to you, aired publicly so that others with like experiences may chime in too, intended to at very least address these issues. How much it could possibly accomplish? Probably very little, I admit. But at least now it's been said. And at least now we now that you're aware of the impressions you've left with others, and hopefully that's enough to discourage you from repeating some of those actions in the future.
I'm sure I sound like a hypocrite in saying that I hate it when people use the internet to attack others, and that I think any kind of argument over an internet chat room is counter-productive if not silly, but I it was never my intention for any of this to come across as malicious or malevolent.
That's the last I'll say on the subject. Sammy, I hope you've taken something away from all this. And I hope you at least understand the purpose of the post.
Sammy,
I apologize for my post. It did not feel right sharing those stories (which are true though!) over a public, open forum. For that I feel bad. As I said, it's not a great medium for this kind of discussion. But I do also feel that it was, if not necessary, certainly warranted.
There have been many people over the years - both bar owners and our fellow beer reviewers - that have shared stories about your behavior that reflect poorly on you. I'm not sure if you realize that. I spoke openly about a few of my own experiences. I think if nothing else this post was meant as a means of bringing the complaints people have about you to the surface, in hopes that you would maybe acknowledge them or change that kind of behavior in the future. Also, I think, so that others would take heed. I hope you understand that.
I will admit, however, that although the grievances are many - know that a lot of BarTowelers have respectfully withheld sharing their stories here, which is understandable - admittedly most are quite minor and they do paint an unfair picture of you. As many others were quick to point out, you can be a very generous person and, in all honesty, I happen to think you're a good guy and a lot of fun to be around. It may sound out of line with the tone of my post, but I don't have anything against you personally and I wish you only the best and look forward to (hopefully) sharing some beers with you again in the future, as we have done many times in the past.
But please understand that I shared the post I did not only to support a good friend who started being cut-up and left out to dry for having the stones to post something so brutally honest and rash, for frankly going right at what has increasingly become the elephant in the room over the years. I also posted because I just don't think you're conscious of your behavior sometimes and how it can come across to others. I'm about to submit my Master's thesis that focuses on craft beer drinkers and producers as a community, and how what underlies that community is a political and social ethos - rules and regulations, ethics and values. These are the things you break when reviewing from samples without actually swallowing (that review was nuked) or swapping out different beers for a trade at the last minute (happen to me personally) or walking away from a brewpub with 15 reviews from 15 one-to-two ounce samples (don't you think the brewmaster deserves a little more respect?)
I'm sorry you feel it was libel - and you're right, that bus trip to Blue Monk is one of the most embarrassing moments in my life and certainly better forgotten - but my post wasn't intended to be "libelous", it was a direct message to you, aired publicly so that others with like experiences may chime in too, intended to at very least address these issues. How much it could possibly accomplish? Probably very little, I admit. But at least now it's been said. And at least now we now that you're aware of the impressions you've left with others, and hopefully that's enough to discourage you from repeating some of those actions in the future.
I'm sure I sound like a hypocrite in saying that I hate it when people use the internet to attack others, and that I think any kind of argument over an internet chat room is counter-productive if not silly, but I it was never my intention for any of this to come across as malicious or malevolent.
That's the last I'll say on the subject. Sammy, I hope you've taken something away from all this. And I hope you at least understand the purpose of the post.
