Why would a brewery release a bad beer?

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by raynmoon, Feb 16, 2013.

  1. Yeah the have to make some of their money back! I can almost taste Friendship Brew thinking about bad beers...
  2. this exactly, and as BA's we are not entitled to have beer soley made to our taste. we just happen to really enjoy the product enough to make it a hobby. i work at two different locations of the same beer store, 98% of my customers are not BA's and i sell everything that comes in and very rarely do i have people coming back in to tell me how god awful "X" beer was mostly everyones just excited at all the options that dont taste like aged watered down piss they have been drinking.

    DFH and Rogue get shitted on, pretty regularly on this forum and its depressing. the guys working/running those breweries absolutely love beer. probably more than any armchair brew hobbyist on this site. respect their experimentation and sucesses, with out those guys you wouldnt have the world of craft as it exist today.
    jimcivis, WynnO and powpig2002 like this.
  3. lester619

    lester619 Savant (375) Wisconsin Apr 17, 2009

    Yup. Someone has to buy it first to know that it sucks. If a beer turns out shitty, they most likely won't brew it again. But nobody is going dump the whole thing and waste all that time and money.
    StubFaceJoe likes this.
  4. stayclean

    stayclean Savant (360) Wisconsin Mar 17, 2012

    People like different things. It's crazy.
    Andygirl likes this.
  5. beerinmaine

    beerinmaine Aficionado (225) Maine Jun 20, 2009

    Yet I know plenty of people who liked the first two...and even a few who liked Black & Red. Taste is subjective. If BA tastes ruled, no BMC product would ever be released, but that's an imaginary world.

    Less subjective is a truly "bad" beer, i.e. one that is infected, polluted, uncarbonated, or otherwise not as the brewer intended. I don't know of examples of breweries knowingly releasing those. Problems like that usually appear after things are bottled and on the shelf.
  6. Daemose

    Daemose Savant (480) Texas Oct 3, 2011

    I do. Daily.
  7. SenorHops

    SenorHops Savant (385) Rhode Island Aug 10, 2010

    My friends all love IPAs, which is what I mainly brew. I share my beers with them regularly. Most of the time they prefer my beer to some of the more highly acclaimed beers on the market. They feel my beers have more hop character and I agree. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying all commercial brews are bad, but let's face it, some are. Just look at an IPA with an average score of 76. I think it's safe to say that beer is not good to most people.
  8. The concept is cool for sure. But I drank one last night and did not enjoy it at all. There's a reason that this recipe was burried all this time :D
    ceazaleo and YogiBeer like this.
  9. lester619

    lester619 Savant (375) Wisconsin Apr 17, 2009

    I get that "good" and "bad" is completly subjective depending on personal taste. I think we are talking about when a brewer knows that a beer didn't turn out and taste the way it was intended to. It doesn't mean that someone might not still like it.
  10. thats a score from the small percent of people that actually rate and write reviews within a small minority of a beer drinking populace ive had a good bit of great beers(to me) that score in the low to mid 80's on BA. you gotta look at the numbers and where they come from bruddah!
    jimcivis likes this.
  11. Ask Weyerbacher.

    (And I am a big fan of Weyerbacher).
    phillybeer7779 likes this.
  12. Horbar

    Horbar Advocate (570) Rhode Island Feb 24, 2012

    There's a lot of trash to dig through to get to the treasure.
  13. The hate that I see towards Rogue and DFH on this site really amazes me. Other than Sierra Nevada and Great Lakes, Rogue was the first craft beer brewery that I really enjoyed. I still enjoy it. And I've only had one type DFH beer, Raison D'Etre, but I freaking love it. I'm drinking one right now, this is delicious. And I had a Rogue Double Chocolate Stout on Valentine's Day, it was nearly as delicious. When I saw the topic title, I figured it'd be about breweries releasing beer that had somehow already been skunked. No, it was basically someone saying "Why do breweries release beer that I won't like?"

    Which would be the equivalent of me getting on IMDB and seeing someone say "Why are movies made that I won't like?" I don't get it. Everyone has different tastes. If the beers were that terrible, they wouldn't sell and they'd stop being produced.
    jimcivis likes this.
  14. loafinaround

    loafinaround Savant (380) New York Jul 16, 2011

    to each their own! I don't like the majority of craft brews... my tastes are rather specific. Is madame rose junk? I know it's not. It's good stuff... to someone else's palate.
    Ubiquitously bad beer (as in skunked/oxidized) is another issue. Don't think any brewery would survive too long distributing bad bottles.

    ex of to each their own: my local shop owner says that BA's favorite bacon donut beer is a top seller for him.
  15. BigGene

    BigGene Initiate (0) Florida Oct 30, 2010

    I didnt read all the posts,, but didnt DFH dump a whole batch of 120 a few years ago because it did not taste right. It wasnt infected it just wasnt right. If they were really money whores they would have released it under another name not publicly say and film that they had to dump it.
  16. WynnO

    WynnO Advocate (535) Florida Oct 24, 2003

    If the quality isn't there it won't be "bad" beer---it will likely be undrinkable, that is, something went wrong with the process---sanitation, yeast, ruined ingredients, etc. Any brewery releasing such beer won't be around long enough for any of us to bitch about it. IMO. That's what I call BAD beer.

    Taste-wise? One needn't qualify "bad" with "subjectively". The use of "bad" or "good" implies subjectivity already. Once that word enters the conversation it is defensible only to the person who utters it.

    I am often asked, "Is this a good beer?" IMO there is no way I can tell them yes or no. I would feel guilty if I caused them to spend money on something they hated. The only thing I say is, "I like it (or dislike), but it impossible to say whether you will."

    I *will use* "good" and "bad" in conversations with my beers buds whose tastes I know. With everyone else it's "I can't say."

    Someone mentioned beers that are "offensive to customers". How can a beer be OFFENSIVE? Interesting word choice.

    Beer is totally awesome. A friend and I were in one of our favorite 40-tap craft beers talking about it. Looking up at the tap list we pondered, "Can you imagine any other product like beer?!" With such few ingredients it is virtually unlimited in what can achieved; and if the pub owner has the resources he or she can essentially never repeat the same list of 40 beers offered. 2000 breweries in this great country alone, each having 1 to x number of recipes. It's totally unbelievable.

    It is definitely one thing we humans did right! :)

    Profchaos20 likes this.
  17. Lare453

    Lare453 Champion (790) Florida Feb 1, 2012

    I know shitting on dfh is the hipster thing to do now, but I like a lot of what they produce, noble rot, fort, 60, 90, 75, and a bunch of other good stuff.

    I know that is the brewery that got a lot of people into craft beer.
  18. See Lost Abbey, and Angels Share
  19. jRocco2021

    jRocco2021 Savant (405) Wisconsin Mar 13, 2010

    awe isn't that cute BUT IT'S WRONG!!!!! heres why
  20. jlenik

    jlenik Savant (435) New Jersey Jan 22, 2009

    I hope this is in reference to Idiot's Drool. Those who bought it or traded for it were truly the idiots...
    phillybeer7779 likes this.
  21. Jfriz25

    Jfriz25 Savant (295) Wisconsin Jun 8, 2012

    I'm still trying to figure out how Mikellers Black Hole peat extract was ever released.
  22. I went into my usual place in PA. And I asked for Black and Red. The woman behind the bar say are you sure.... and I said yes

    I struggle thru it during lunch.... but I will drink it again.
  23. TheFunGuy

    TheFunGuy Aficionado (210) Virginia Dec 27, 2011

    Port City had a several day power failure during a hot time of the year. They said the insurance didn't cover a batch and they released it, trying to get their money back. However, they labeled the batch as such.

    I assume other breweries release brews that are not great for similar reasons.
  24. That is what I was referencing.
  25. nc41

    nc41 Advocate (745) North Carolina Sep 25, 2008

    Eh... beer is subjective at best, there's beers guys love and I hate. There's some Rogue beers that are pretty good, and some that I don't like, DFH is quirky enough but 60 and 90 are pretty good, most others I don't like at all. But for me this is true with a lot of breweries as well, I don't like Laganitas IPA, but Sucks is completely different. I like Dales and Gordons, and hate Gubna, and Deviant Dale's. And so it goes.
  26. 7ate9

    7ate9 Savant (265) Virginia Apr 26, 2007

  27. cavedave

    cavedave Champion (940) New York Mar 12, 2009

    I agree with all the points you make but gotta take issue with this little nugget.

    I can safely speak for myself, and every other BA I have met in person, and every member of my hb club, that none of those folks running/working in breweries love beer more than any of us do. They may love it the same, they may love it less, but they do not love it more. No one loves it more, no one can love it more.

    And if this isn't true for you also, you need to step up your game bro.:)
  28. Casedogg43

    Casedogg43 Savant (490) Indiana Jan 4, 2012

    While it seems we share the same taste.

    I have friends that love some of those same beers. And while I can't figure it out, nor do I want to try to. Their taste buds may be numb!
  29. Blueribbon666

    Blueribbon666 Advocate (560) Ohio Jul 4, 2008

    I liked Midas Touch, in fact being not the biggest IPA guy, I buy DFH's non-IPAs a lot mostly out of curiosity personally the Chicory Stout is my favorite. As for Rogue I really enjoy the Dead Guy Ale & Shakespeare's Oatmeal Stout...not every brewer is going to bat a thousand across the board for every beer they put out, even to one person. There's no accounting for taste.
  30. Why do people on beeradvocate think they know more about brewing, selling or marketing beer than Sam Calgione?
    jimcivis likes this.
  31. Jason

    Jason Founder (1,365) Massachusetts Aug 23, 1996 Staff Member

    Because in the interwebz anything is possible ... it is not just on BeerAdvocate either.
  32. Ain't that the damn truth....
  33. Because you tasted it on the wrong day, and because you're taste buds weren't up to it. More often than not, I've noticed this to be the case because taste is a very subjective and moody topic. But sometimes, the brew just isn't working for whatever reason and is truly off. I've had more than a few brewpub attempts where a good idea was all that was left and the beer was ok.
  34. TheFunGuy

    TheFunGuy Aficionado (210) Virginia Dec 27, 2011

    I enjoy Dogfish Head beers, even more because one of the Alehouses is one mile away.

    That being said, some of his beers are so yucky tasting I think it goes past specialty marketing. That being said (yes, I did it twice), he is very successful, so his opinion is worth more than mine. Also (I was going to say it again, but resisted) I stopped going to the Alehouse for a few months because the show was so bad with the fake deadlines and timelines I felt insulted.

    Anyways, my main point is that Dogfish Head, I think, does things like that for marketing after thinking it through, even when I don't agree with it. However, I think smaller guys do it sometimes because selling the lot at half price after a screw up means they can make payroll and have enough left in the line of credit to pay the taxes.

    Other guys likely do it literally to make waves and publicity knowing it is really bad beer. Car companies pay for a super hot actress to jump their SUV hybrid in a movie, small guy brewery releases a DIPA oyster and cod infused beer with cumin.

    Those decisions, to market undrinkable or almost undrinkable beers, doesn't make sense to me, but I could be missing something.
  35. HOP_KING

    HOP_KING Aficionado (210) Illinois Jan 30, 2013

    Some Brewmasters just aren't very good at what they do.
  36. jtg5678

    jtg5678 Savant (290) Illinois Nov 27, 2012

    Very simple: there's money at stake.
  37. rlcoffey

    rlcoffey Savant (490) Kentucky Apr 20, 2004

    I dont know who you stole that from, but Im stealing it from you.
    TheBeerTruck and JohnnyMc like this.
  38. Yes. I don't mind if the beer has style issues or is not exciting to a Ba, but something that has big technical flaws should not be sold.
  39. jtg5678

    jtg5678 Savant (290) Illinois Nov 27, 2012

    There should be a community, on the internet, that helps guide us to higher-quality beer.

    This seems like such a naive thought to me. There are products in every industry that range from low to high quality. Surely the world be a better place if every manufacturer/producer refused to sell products not of the best quality, but that's not what capitalism generates.

    EDIT: If you're talking about flaws specific to a batch, such as infection, I agree, but that's a given.
  40. I don't care for Midas Touch (though it is cool) and I haven't had Black&Red, but my girlfriend loved the latter. There are people with tastes different from yours.

Share This Page