Garrett Oliver on the Crimes Against Beer

Totally agree on lack of knowledge and bad glassware. When I ask places what they have on tap. they often say, "Everything." Then they actually list "everything" and it's all BMC variants. I don't think I've ever been to a bar that served me in a proper tulip like I would like.

I don't mind the lack of press and haven't experienced overly chilled or dirty glassware personally.

I find myself agreeing with pretty much anything Garrett says - he knows his stuff, and has a great way of delivering it

Eh, he's talking about restaurants, I think it's expected that they'll know more about wine than beer. That'll change organically as customers get more savvy, which is happening quickly. And a lot of those are things that won't happen at good restaurants, especially beer-centric restaurants which are popping up like weeds now. I don't think he's quite tilting at windmills here, but it's definitely a bit quixotic to be complaining about these things when the natural forces of customer opinion are pushing them in that direction anyway.

Although maybe getting some press in food and wine will change a few minds in the industry. Who knows?

I agree with everything except #5. More press is exactly what craft beer does NOT need. It's spreading like wild fire with simple word of mouth, and the shear volume of new breweries popping up in every neck of the woods out there.

Agreed. I think its getting even worse because more locations, gas stations, restaurants are jumping into the Craft Beer market because they see the growth and potential profit. These places are actually doing the market an injustice because they know very little about the product and how to care for it. I had to dump a 6 pack of Lagunitas Pale Ale because the store had let it sit for over a year and it was really oxidized. Not the fault of the brewer, just the store not paying attention to their product.

He's pretty much spot on, if a bit gloomy in his outlook. I think it's coming around faster than most people think.

Anything that helps people understand not all beer should be treated like macro light lagers and be respectfully dispensed is a good thing.

I think with #5, he's not referring to the relative popularity, but its treatment by media outlets. He specifically refers to wine columns, and here I have to agree--wouldn't it be nice to see the local paper review a few beers every week, locals, just to give it a credibility boost? People who read that won't become fanatics necessarily, but may just take notice of craft due to its presence in a "legitimate" (i.e., not digital) source.

Just got a bottle of 60 minute...not only was it old as hell (should have known better bad on me) but I got it in a chilled glass.
Didn't bother to ask for a new glass though, I don't like to be a PITA.
Am I mad about it? No, it wasn't a craft beer place. Honestly I was surprised they even had it.
Give it time, normal restaurants will eventually catch up. For now you've gotta know the place is about the craft beer, and there are more and more popping up everywhere.

Depends on context really. In an high end place I would expect better.

That brings up expectations I guess. Also depends on how much of a beer connoisseur you are.

Do the right glass means a big deal to you? to me not really.

Clean is clean, I drink all my beer from a glass, but I am not a clean freak. I been known to pour a different beer in the same old glass, who cares? I also do not expect to walk in the chilli's or outback and expect them to know beer, I just do not. Heck I do not expect most bars to know. should I? hell I am happy they have what I want for a price I can pay. In this country most places seem to server most beer in shaker glasses...sometimes the hefe gets a special glass and the fruit lambic maybe have one also. big deal as my mother used to say it all goes down the same pipe. Its just beer, its not wine and I am happy there is NOT all the BS wine has.

"We have EVERY kind! Bud, Bud Light, Coors Light, Miller Lite, Michelob Ultra, Amstel Light, Stella, Guinness, and I think we just ran out of Sam Adams."

I agree with what Garrett brings up. Your average restaurant knows far more about serving wine than they do about craft beer. Yet, these same places promote that they have craft beer to draw in customers. Knowledge of their offerings is something I've come to expect; unless the place is a craft beer destination its hit and miss that the server will know much about the beer they are selling. Glassware I'm less accepting of. If you are going to serve higher end beer then have appropriate and clean glasses. Same with the temperature. If a place is going to keep *all* their beer at 40 degrees then why bother selling craft beer. I've actually seen this improve in the last couple years.

I disagree on the premise that you cannot commit a crime against beer. You might commit a crime from being overserved. You may use beer to commit a crime, ie serving a minor. But nowhere on this earth has beer been given rights, civil or otherwise. If we're going to get serious we either need to stop using cliche's or recognize that beer needs a set of civil rights. Don't give me The Reinheitsgebot argument either, that's more of a principle.
In all seriousness, there is a time and place to expect #1,#2 and #4. #5, i think a lot about this in general. Just this information age we live in, the 24/7 news cycle and the internet's rise to give everyone a voice. But that goes beyond this discussion. I think #3 is spot on, i can deal with a server or even a bar tender not knowing a lot about what they have on tap, and I can deal with a 16 oz pint glass, I can admit that i'm not well schooled on the overchilling issue especially when I go out. But if I have a dirty glass, that's when I get annoyed. Or a fly in my beer. These things happen, and frequently i have it shrugged off by the server. I don't think you can expect a chain steak house to be as dedicated to beer as for example Sunset Bar and Grill or Lord Hobo. For my part I rarely go out and order a "special beer" anywhere other than a craft beer bar. There's places that get it right, and there's places that don't. But I do support anything that gets a conversation going. Cheers.

The temperature thing doesn't bother me, if you serve me a RIS at 33deg I'll just wait to drink it until it warms up, glassware style I also don't really care about. If you serve me a barley wine in a pint glass it's not the end of the world.

Just give me a clean glass that isn't frozen with beer that's gone through a clean tap system and I am right as rain.

How about breweries selling sub-par products to customers.

While I certainly agree with you, I do think restaurants should have an important role in actively educating people about beer. Just as restaurants have proselytized for movements like slow food, they can advocate beer.

Sure, some big cities in the US are already seeing this happen. But, there's a long way to go. London has an amazing culinary scene, but I defy you to find many places that serve and are knowledgeable about good beer (beyond Bar Boulud, maybe). It's curious, considering how strong the microbrewing scene is here.

Dirty tap lines is one I notice a lot at some of the more "popular" restaurants/chains. They aren't doing craft beer any favors by leading people to believe it is supposed to taste like wet socks mixed with hops.

#1 on the list trumps all others. The only thing worse are folk who are wilfully proud of their ignorance.

Absolutely agree with everything he says and it is great to see this go more mainstream.

maybe there would be less crime against beer if interviewee's didn't come off so smug and elitist. these "crimes" are way oversimplified. it all starts with education. craft brewers should be proactive and start with educating and not finger pointing.

Nice article! Birch and Baley's Church's Key in DC is a pretty phenomenal craft-brew bar!

It is unfortunate when every other server and most bartenders at the restaurant where I work come to me to ask questions during their shift. I know there is a lot to know about beer (and I certainly don't know ALL of it, nowhere close) but it is our JOB in the restaurant industry to know our products. If you can describe every ingredient in every dish and how it is prepared, then why don't you take the time to learn a LITTLE about beer? Say, the difference between ale and lager.

Often I hear my co-workers say: "Ales are the dark ones." D'OH!!

I think the restaurant needs to seriously push beer knowledge.

I would like to see more press but specifically ones that aren't about the best beer in the world or something only 5% of the population has access to.

I agree. Several years ago, the Hartford Courant published a column by a local attorney and it was a great read. Think it was only once a month but he would review several beers, usually based on the season or around some other theme. This was actually prior to the craft bandwagon. Now I only see wine reviews in the paper.

Garrett can seem pompous at times, but He knows what he's talking about. I do take issue with one thing he said in # 5. There is no way "craft beer" is more popular than wine. Beer is more popular than wine but craft beer is at best only 10% of the beer market.

My dead pan response to that? "I'll have a 2006 Lou Pepe Kriek then..."

I have been met with many odd stares.

Pretty much agree with all of this.

I found it interesting that he blames the brewers (partial blame) for improper glassware at restaurants.

I can live with improper glassware if it's nothing too special.

What really gets me though, is dirty and chilled glassware. I was out last month and had a beer served to me ice cold in a frosted glass. No joke, it gave me a brain freeze. It's not helping craft beer gain any more fans if it's served to people too cold to enjoy.

I also would have liked if he offered what he thought might help fix these provlems

That is a good point.

Complete and concise, I like it.

Fixing the problem? Read what he's saying, do the opposite of what's being done now.

After he came on here and ridiculed the bullshit of Shelton Bros. and stood up to them, I got a new respect for Mr. Oliver. This article just underlines the sincere intelligence of one of our best brewers. Cheers! Garrett

I don't really care about glassware or temperature. Beer tastes great out of a shaker and if it's too cold, you can let it warm up for 2 minutes. I only ask that I get clean, non-chilled glasses of beer from clean tap lines, and that you at least have a cursory understanding of what you're dispensing. I don't need vivid descriptions and recommendations and food pairings, but at least know enough to not stare at me for 5 seconds wondering if I ordered a craft beer or an oddly named cocktail.

The craft beer explosion is a very recent occurrence. You can't expect people to treat it like wine when they were raised to think that wine is fancy and expensive and beer is cheap junk to get you drunk. As the younger generations turn 21, I think we will start to see a more dramatic shift in thinking.

While I don't consider it terribly recent, you're right that it even took good wine to become a little more accepted in the 'States -- recall the term "wino?" There was a time when cheap wine was the choice of the street bum.

That said, I don't think it took as long to turn many people around to the difference between good and bad wine as it seems to be taking to turn people on to good beer vs. bad.

I'm lucky that there are a few places around me that are embracing good beer and helping others to do the same, but there are twice as many places who read off the list of BMC on tap before they get to the "weird crap."

I wonder how he feels about Lagunitas serving their beers in custom mason jars if he has an issue with restaurants serving in "jelly jars". For most styles, it isn't going to hurt your drinking experience , but you won't be able to be as ostentatious as you might like.

I like the mason jar glasses, especially the Lagunitas ones, those are pretty nice.

The whole mason/jelly jar trend is a bit annoying to me even if some brewers are latching on to it. I dislike drinking out of them.

Bootlegger's Brewery uses mason jars at their brewery tap room and I quite enjoy drinking out of them as well. It allows me to appreciate beer as a social lubricant and not just an art to be dissected and presented in a myriad ways.

Amen to that