That was a great afternoon at the Winking Judge. Lots of fun & good to see everyone. Maybe this should be in Random Talk, but.....
When a brewery that was a ground breaker in the beer scene not so long ago sends a local bartender or server to man their booth at a hallowed beer festival, that's one thing worthy of comment. I would at least hope that someone from Production or Sales would be present. But when that same person is asked "What do do think of the beers yourself?", and replies, "I dunno, I don't drink", THAT'S CROSSING THE LINE! By that I mean the 'line' that separates a brewery that cares about its beer from one that is losing touch. Maybe there was a conflict and nobody from the brewery could attend, but if I were running that brewery I would have cancelled attendance at such an event. That's my JUDGEment.
I felt sorry for her. She was out of her element and left early at 5:45 to go to her regular job. Didn't look as if she was having a good time.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: the.brewer on 2003-10-05 08:04 ]</font>
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: the.brewer on 2003-10-05 08:05 ]</font>
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: the.brewer on 2003-10-10 08:39 ]</font>
Looking for the original Bar Towel blog? You can find it at www.thebartowel.com.
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!
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!
Crossing the line
-
the.brewer
- Posts: 190
- Joined: Fri Jan 17, 2003 7:00 pm
- Location: Toronto
Bumped into someone the other day who said that they didn't totally understand what I was saying in the above posting....so, I have just edited it. The amazing thing is that the original post was done at 8 am, so one cannot even blame any incoherence on the influence of beer...or then again, maybe that's the problem.
-
Rob Creighton
- Bar Fly
- Posts: 851
- Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2003 8:00 pm
- Location: Dundas, ON
Hey Mike,
It is hard to imagine any micro throwing a hired gun or a novice into the wolves at the judge but it does take me back to hearing "Miss Algonquin" telling the sampling public at a large show that we "naturally oxygenate" our beer and later a women comes up and sticks her finger into Miss Algonquins ample chest and asks, Are those real?". Maybe it is rocket science.
It is hard to imagine any micro throwing a hired gun or a novice into the wolves at the judge but it does take me back to hearing "Miss Algonquin" telling the sampling public at a large show that we "naturally oxygenate" our beer and later a women comes up and sticks her finger into Miss Algonquins ample chest and asks, Are those real?". Maybe it is rocket science.
-
borderline_alcoholic
- Posts: 378
- Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2003 8:00 pm
I assume that Creemore was the brewer in question and while I would agree that they could have done far better as regards this event, I think that it is reasonable to let your beers speak for themselves sometimes, if nobody is available - not that I am entirely convinced that this was the case.
Certainly, I was happy enough to try their Urbock again, and I tried to be fairly pleasant to the girl. FWIW, I also felt bad for her being "thrown to the wolves".
Certainly, I was happy enough to try their Urbock again, and I tried to be fairly pleasant to the girl. FWIW, I also felt bad for her being "thrown to the wolves".
-
the.brewer
- Posts: 190
- Joined: Fri Jan 17, 2003 7:00 pm
- Location: Toronto
I checked with Paula our territory manager in Hamilton. She confirmed that we (Creemore) did not attend the Fall festival in person. She had attended the Spring fesitval and worked out the beer (etc) with Bill from the Judge for the Fall event since she had a conflict that weekend. We had no hand in picking (or even knowing) that there would be staff assigned to our beer. I'm glad that BA had a chance to try the urBock...that's the intent. It appears as though we were 'lucky' enough to have someone with our beer that passed 'JUDGEment'.
Michael and Rob understand the limited resources of breweries and the infrequent availability of enough staff on weekends. There are far too many events to cover them all. You do what you can within reason. I respect Michael's opinion and the fact that he showed restraint in not naming the brewery that raised his ire.
I encourage people interested in the industry to communicate directly with the breweries first if there are concerns, questions etc. Most of us either know people at breweries personally, or would discover that a brewery's occasional failings is more than offset by a willingness to engage the beer lover.
Michael and Rob understand the limited resources of breweries and the infrequent availability of enough staff on weekends. There are far too many events to cover them all. You do what you can within reason. I respect Michael's opinion and the fact that he showed restraint in not naming the brewery that raised his ire.
I encourage people interested in the industry to communicate directly with the breweries first if there are concerns, questions etc. Most of us either know people at breweries personally, or would discover that a brewery's occasional failings is more than offset by a willingness to engage the beer lover.