Frustrations at the Brewpub

December 11, 2008

Guest Post: Mark Brushaber

Beer sales are unquestionably tied to marketing.  Budwater isn’t #1 in volume because it’s #1 in flavor.  Budwater is #1 in volume because A-B never stops flexing its considerable marketing muscle.

 

So, why do so many brewpubs, whose survival and growth depend upon an educated consumer, choose to ignore that aspect?  It’s as if they feel they’ve done enough by just putting the product out there.  The selling of it is seemingly just a needless hassle.

 

Obviously, our local breweries don’t have large marketing budgets and can’t throw flyers all over town, so it seems critical that the people who do find their way into the establishment are met with servers who’ve received some sort of introduction to beer.  Yet, in many cases, this isn’t happening.  I find it increasingly frustrating that so many breweries have a staff that is unfamiliar with the beer offerings.

 

Now, I’m not anti-server.  Restaurant work helped me through school, and I understand that the work can be stressful, and turnover among the ranks of restaurant/bar employees is generally extremely high.  It’s clearly unreasonable to expect your local pub to have a team of certifed Cicerones on hand.  But I don’t think it’s too much to ask that the employees be familiar with the beer menu, and at least be able to speak to a general description.

 

At one particular place, I usually have a waitress who doesn’t even know what the seasonals are.  (Actually, a better word than frequently would be ALWAYS.  Every visit.)  One time, I was told one of the rotating taps was an IPA.  Naturally, I ordered it, giddy with anticipation for a much-needed hops fix.  When it arrived, it looked and tasted nothing like any IPA I’d ever had.  It was kind of dark, and a little too sweet, and not very aggressively hopped.  It tasted really good, and I wasn’t about to send it back, but it definitely was not what I was expecting.  I asked the server if she was sure this was an IPA.  She double-checked with the bartender and came back to assure me that it definitely was an IPA.

 

I knew the brewer, and knew that he wouldn’t tap an IPA that more closely resembled an amber.  (Well, he might, but he wouldn’t call it an IPA…)  At this point, I was confused, and my baloney detector was beeping furiously.  Either the server and the bartender were both frighteningly naive, or my three of my senses were completely shot.

 

The brewer happened to be in that day, and he wandered by my table so I stopped him.  I explained that this was the most “unique” IPA I’d ever had, and asked what the story was behind it.

 

He looked at me like I was from Mars and said: “We don’t have an IPA.  I’ve brewed one, but it’s in the tank and won’t be ready for two weeks yet.  You’re drinking our guest tap, which is Arcadia’s Nut Brown.”

 

Now folks, that’s just plain nutty.

 

This was a fairly extreme example, but similar events occur at many locations.  It’s not entirely turnover related either, because several places have employees that have been there for a long time and still can’t speak to the product.

 

For many of us (or perhaps all of us) on this forum, the product sells itself because we are seeking something unique, so my rant may seem a bit pointless.  Those of us on here generally walk into the bar and read the blackboard, but if you’re not familiar with beer styles, the blackboard may as well be written in Swahili.

 

The risk to the brewery is that not everybody comes in seeking something unique.  Not everybody understands that a craft beer can change the way you view the world.

 

Look, the waitstaff and bartenders are the customer interface.  They’re the salespeople.  They are the frontline.  Maybe I expect too much, but it seems counter-intuitive to put a product out there and not train the salespeople.  If they’re not properly trained, how are they going to convince the guy who came in looking for a Coors Light that he should really try the amber because it’s sweet, crisp, unobtrusive, finishes clean, and will literally make your tastebuds dance in your mouth if you pair it up with the artichoke dip?

 

How do they stop him from walking out and wandering over to Carl’s Craphouse for $5 buckets of Bud and an all you can eat hot dog buffet?  (Ugh, I just threw up in my mouth.)

 

Am I alone in my frustration?  It’s odd to me that a brewery would decorate its walls with its various awards, yet fail to impart the significance of those awards to its cast and crew.

 

Let me put it a different way, then I’ll conclude this rambling missive.  If the salespeople don’t understand the product, the customer may be inclined to think the employees don’t care.  From my standpoint, if the customer service folks don’t embrace the product, why should I?

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Onward and upward,

 

Mark

Posted in Brewery/Brewpub