I Like Beer

I like beer. I like it a lot. (Possibly too much, but that's a different story for a different QotW.)

Having drunk a lot of it over the years, I can tell the difference between beer I'm not a fan of, and beer that just doesn't taste like beer should.

People ought to complain if the beer doesn't taste right.

A while back, I met a chap in a slightly swanky bar/restauranty place for drinks on his tab, and it being lunchtime, I started with a pint of Greene King IPA - just about drinkable, but dull (well, that's GK IPA for you). Next to it was a pump for Old Speckled Hen, a good tasty pint, so I was planning on trying that next. As I'm finishing the last of my IPA, two suits wander up and ask for two pints of the OSH - good timing thinks I, as that'll mean mine won't have been sitting in the pipes for hours.

The pints are poured, suits take a sip, and wander off, ostensibly happy. I get a pint of it. It's Sarson's, utterly rank - sharp and horrible, easily detectable from a casual sniff, so naturally I have a moan and switch back to the IPA. Boo.

However - what on earth were the two suitmonkeys playing at? I think it's highly unlikely the beer went from nectar to gnatpee in two pints, so they must have been drinking stuff that'd take the enamel off your teeth. WTF?

Again, another pub, with a mate of mine, I plump for Hobgoblin, he goes for a different pint.

Mine's good, I ask how his is, and he replies that it's not really that good. (We're nearly a quarter of a pint in by now.) I ask to taste it, and sure enough, it's properly off. I take it back and get a replacement, no problem.

Folks - if you're going to drink beer, do it properly. Also, complain properly. Sometimes you might not want to if you're in a pub you're not used to, but as a landlord mate of mine observes, he can't taste every pint he serves.

Beer is a bit of a living creature, and will vary in quality over the course of an evening. The staff will usually appreciate you giving them a warning that the barrel might be getting towards the end. (Or certainly ought to - and if they get funny, you want to find a different pub to drink in.)

Life is too short for bad beer, and by complaining nicely and at the right time, we'll be affected by it less.

Cheers!
(BrianHequator was stretching owls, on, or around, Fri 3 Sep 2010, 12:48, 4 replies)

Yes.
One of the most significant differences between a decent pub and a shitty pub is that a decent boozer won't mind giving you another one, whereas a shitty one that is ripe for a change of management will refuse...
(anvil, Fri 3 Sep 2010, 12:51, closed)

Word
Beer needs love, just like the rest of us.
(itsOnlyGoingToGetHairier, Fri 3 Sep 2010, 13:37, closed)

You are my
Dad AICMFP
(Psymon_Spark Jesus Saves! The rest of you take 4d6 damage, Fri 3 Sep 2010, 14:27, closed)

this proves the existance of multiple universes
i have had (almost) exactly the same thing happen to me
( spimf ™ is whoever you want him to be, Fri 3 Sep 2010, 16:45, closed)