Returning your drink

[Conrad]

Another good post by Pete Brown today.

Pete's Pub Etiquette: "This beer's off" (http://petebrown.blogspot.com/2011/02/petes-pub-etiquette-this-beers-off.html)

I know AEM had a similar issue when he returned a beer during the Birmingham meet up.

I have yet to return a beer, anyone else got similar irritations?

[gillhalfpint]

If I find beer tastes strange I let Ray taste it before taking it back, might just be me not liking the flavour unless I know it tastes of TCP or suchloke.

Bar staff usually taste and either replace (fine) or say this is how the brewer intends it .

If I lost and had to keep the beer, I usually watch the pump for the next sale and their reaction, and often find a complaint being made so wander up to the bar with mine for exchange too. One of the perils of being a female real ale drinker - you don't get taken seriously.

Must admit I rarely see the beer get taken off sale after a complaint has been made.

[arwkrite]

Thinking back over the years I have had to return a fair number of pints. I see no reason to feel awkward when doing it. When you buy something you expect to get the best , not something likely to make you ill or spoil your day. Just why Licencees have been tagged with the same name as second hand car dealers in this sort of thing I find it difficult to imagine. Very rarely have I ever been refused a replacement pint. Would you return to a pub that sold you bad beer ? It really is a silly attitude by any bar person to ignore a complaint of bad beer and could cost them dear when you and your mates get up and walk out.

My advice is do not be timid in your approach. You are all experienced drinkers so you know a bad pint from a good one. When you complain be confident and say outright, " This pint is off".
They want to argue the toss then cut your losses and walk out. If I know the pint is not as it shoud be no way will I drink it or put it on my chips.



Arwkrite......... in a definitley dont mess with me or my pint mood.

[Quinno]

I generally will take a beer back if I've bought a pint and it's bad (smelly, cloudy whatever) though I am always a little reluctant to do so straight away if it's one I'm not familiar with though. But usually it becomes clear pretty quickly.

I don't tend to bother with halves unless it's known 'good pub' who will (or should) take a keen interest. If it's a chain bar or locally local, I tend to just take the hit on the half (unless it REALLY is appalling) and give it a low scores on NBSS as my revenge. Unless I've already had a few, in which case I get emboldened!

Few of my non-CAMRA friends ever do though, unless I'm there and they get me to taste it and rely on my disgust on sipping to do it for them :)

EDIT - AEM and RogerB will recall me taking beers back in Bath the other week, at the Salamander!

[NickDavies]

I've often taken drinks back too and generally people change them without question, though as has been said you might have something else but they carry on serving the same beer to others. Sometimes though if you get the right person there'll be a great deal of to-ing anf fro-ing and pulling through to attempt to get it right. Conversly once, about 30 years ago here (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/27624/) me and my mate were told of the pints of malt vinegar supplied that 'no-one else has complained, if you don't like it you can f... off.' So we did. Looks like that pub hasn't changed much over the years, never been in since, though at least as there's no real ale now you won't be tempted to drink it.

[Brewguru]

Not only took a beer back last night but managed to get the barrel changed - I witnessed the old one being taken out and a new one wheeled in!
- see my review here (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/57798/)

[Al 10000]

I always take a beer back if it tastes off and the response is usually positive from a landlord and the beer is changed no problem, but when you get bar staff who dont know what they are doing thats when i have hit problems.
I went in a pub called Deacons London EC4 and had a half of Bombadier the person who served me was'nt English when i had a drink it was far too warm so i asked him to pull some beer off he said no i car'nt do that but i can put some ice cubes in your drink if the landlord had been there i am sure he would have pulled some beer off.

[NickDavies]

I always take a beer back if it tastes off and the response is usually positive from a landlord and the beer is changed no problem, but when you get bar staff who dont know what they are doing thats when i have hit problems.
I went in a pub called Deacons London EC4 and had a half of Bombadier the person who served me was'nt English when i had a drink it was far too warm so i asked him to pull some beer off he said no i car'nt do that but i can put some ice cubes in your drink if the landlord had been there i am sure he would have pulled some beer off.

A warm pint can be difficult. 4pm on a hot weekday afternoon in a quiet pub can be very hit and miss, they might not have sold anything for a couple of hours, beer sitting in the pump and pipes at about 35C all that time. The other danger is the 'first one out' - that 11am sharpener will fail to hit the spot if it's been hanging around for 12 hours because they're too tight or too lazy to pull any through. Except in some Wetherspoons where the first several dozen out will have been take care of by the 9AM brigade.

[Maldenman]

If I get what I take to be a bad pint, either cloudy, off, containing line cleaner etc I will generally return it, the exception being when I know full well that there is no chance of anything better. Then I either put up with it or leave it. Generally if the beer is cloudy I will ask it to be changed there and then, although any self respecting landlord/barman should notice anyway. Besides at that point you generally haven't parted with your cash yet so if you get a negative response its time for an about turn.

If you bought a sandwich say from a shop and it was mouldy or smelled off you would return it without question. I don't see a difference.

[trainman]

I almost always take a poor beer back but do so in a slightly apologetic fashion ("I'm sorry but I don't think this one's quite right..."). I think that can get the staff a little on your side rather than risking a too brusque "This beer's off...".
It helps the argument if the beer looks cloudy - even an unknowledgeable bar person should be able to identify something wrong by appearance alone (wheat beers aside).
Like Quinno, I have pals who might seek my (unqualified) opinion before returning their own beer, but they do at least do so these days - an improved attitude I like to think I've helped instill.
So why didn't I hand back that cloudy Oakham Citra at St Albans Mermaid yesterday? I gave the barman the benefit of doubt as he did at least warn in advance that it was 'coming up hazy'. Tasted kinda ok at the start but, by the end, I'd have been better changing it. I did change a half at Lower Red Lion, given another taste of same then changed for another beer with good grace.
If in a pub first knockings, I do like to see beer pulled through, then your pint pulled - always a good sign, and best practice for each line.

[Al 10000]

A warm pint can be difficult. 4pm on a hot weekday afternoon in a quiet pub can be very hit and miss, they might not have sold anything for a couple of hours, beer sitting in the pump and pipes at about 35C all that time. The other danger is the 'first one out' - that 11am sharpener will fail to hit the spot if it's been hanging around for 12 hours because they're too tight or too lazy to pull any through. Except in some Wetherspoons where the first several dozen out will have been take care of by the 9AM brigade.

I have been in lots of pubs and when i am on a pub crawl i always start at opening time and often wait for a pub to open and when i have entered the pub the landlord/lady will either pull a couple of pints off or say i have already pulled a couple of pints off.

Beer should be served at the correct temperature whatever time of day is,if you went in a restaurant and a meal was served cold but cooked properley ime sure you would take it back.

[NickDavies]

I have been in lots of pubs and when i am on a pub crawl i always start at opening time and often wait for a pub to open and when i have entered the pub the landlord/lady will either pull a couple of pints off or say i have already pulled a couple of pints off.
.

Landlord/lady .... but if it's some wretch of an M&B assistant manager opening up you might not be so fortunate.

[Farway]

I took several pints back in summer last year [Red Lion, Horndean], it is a chain and must admit I felt sorry for poor barmaid in a fatherly sort of way, as all the beers were pouring extra frothy Sarson's and she was obviously out of her knowledge zone as to what to do, apart from pour yet more frothy Sarson's

Luckily a trained bar manager was on hand, diagnosed fault as cellar cooling duff, and stopped serving beer until fixed. I settled for a cider that lunchtime

One other experience last year was a new to me brew in a new to me pub, it was awful, I asked chap next to me to taste it, he reckoned it was OK [he and others were drinking it], so in that case I had to assume it was just cr@p beer. I may go back in another 40 years, in the unlikely event I live that long. I left my pint and the pub

[gillhalfpint]

I had to laugh at the offer of ice cubes to cure warm beer. Maybe candles on the tables are the cure for cold beer.

[Strongers]

I'll usually take a dodgy pint back, but by the time I've noticed a bad half it's mostly gone down the throat so I don't bother as it would seem unreasonable on my part.

I've not really had any problem getting a replacement pint when I have asked, but there have been many pubs where I've thought better of mentioning it.

[Paris_Hilton]

I always take off beer back.

Also, I always take back good beer in dirty glasses,, which I have done here

http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/57831/

and here

http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/55755/

recently.

Usually I am given a new pint in a new (not always clean) glass, which is fine.

On one occasion here

http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/33144/

the beer from the first glass was poured into a second glass and topped up (see my review).

[runningdog]

I find the whole thing is getting out of hand...not the thread, just trying to get a decent pint and what to do about it. Maybe I'm just getting picky in me old age........:whistle:
By and large I have little trouble getting another, hopefully fresher, pint, but then I tend to drink in the same half-dozen or so pubs so I'm usually well known to the staff.:D
Several times over the years a barman has stopped pulling a pint because 'it doesn't feel right' and I've grown to recognise the signs so at least I'm usually warned about mostly empty barrels.
Also, in my local JDW especially, I get asked to try out a beer before the first one's sold or to give another customer advice on a beer:love:
A long time ago I made a conscious decision not to drink duff beer anymore, it's not always been easy, but I find being quiet, unobtrusive and determined usually works. My advice is don't enter into specifics unless they are obvious and if no improvement is forthcoming then switch to lager, let 'em pour it then tell 'em you've changed your mind, they'll have to put it back. If you're quick you can be out of the pub and gone by the time they react. What always amazes me is the way they continue pouring the pint even when you're legging it..........:drinkup::drinkup:
:D:drinkup::drinkup:

[Pangolin]

Could be an age thing - amongst others I recollect many years ago when real ale was much rarer an extremly vinegarish half of Courage Best (complete with earwig) on gravity out of a barrel, which I managed to get down (I left the earwig). Nowadays it would be straight back to the bar, but I agree the "sorry it's not quite right" approach is usually the most effective.

[aleandhearty]

I think I must have been lucky down the years, as the number of truly awful pints I've had I could count on one hand. However, the real problem I've found is what John Bonser(?) calls 'dilemma' pints, where they're not quite right, but possibly not worth returning to the bar.

Unfortunately, in my experience, some of the better real ale venues are just a gulity as bog standard pubs in rejecting customer concerns. One well known pub in Leeds springs to mind. Also, at the National Winter Ales festival I returned a beer after myself 'oldboots', 'ROBCamra' and a respected real ale pub landlord all thought it was off. The clip was reversed for a while, but it was disppointing to see the beer being sold a little later. Presumably someone had re-assessed it as OK. I'm pretty certain it wasn't a replacement barrel. If it's a lottery at a CAMRA festival, then there's probably no wonder there's some confusion on the high street.

'trainman' joked about the problems with wheat beer, but I had a 'saison' beer a while ago that was cloudy with supposed lambic sourness. If it had been another style, I'd have suggested pouring it down the sink, but I was assured it was true to form. Hmmm.

[Brewguru]

'trainman' joked about the problems with wheat beer, but I had a 'saison' beer a while ago that was cloudy with supposed lambic sourness. If it had been another style, I'd have suggested pouring it down the sink, but I was assured it was true to form. Hmmm.

I remember some problems with "wheat beers" at Durham beer festival when I was up north. One beer in particular was cloudly and phenolic, a quick call to the brewer who said it was in the style of the beer. Not an expert on these types of beer but if its unpleasant and to your disliking then surely you can take it back.
Also had my first Cantillon lambic at the same festival which is a totally different experience, :eek: as long as I didn't drink it expecting a "normal" tasting beer I found I quite enjoyed it, but probably wouldn't drink it out of choice.

[ericonabike]

Well - I've at least learned that diacetyl exists! After nearly 40 years imbibing, reading about and brewing beer, I can say with some certainty I'd never come across it before. Is it a new term for an old problem? As for taking beer back - a judgement call for me, in the same way as a complaint about food orany other aspect of an evening out would be. Risk hassle or just leave? Mostly when a pint's gone back it's been replaced without a problem though. But one time at a pub in Cambridge where the landlord was acclaimed for his range of real ales, he practically had me tarred and feathered at the bar for suggesting anything could be wrong with one of them. And right now I suspect you're thinking - perhaps ericonabike's taste buds aren't all they should be - whcih is why it's a judgement call...