Louisville Restaurants Forum

I had written a lengthy reply to El Presidente's public service announcement urging everyone to remain calm but then I saw that Ken was tired of us arguing about beer so I thought perhaps I'd leave this with a pic.

Not saying this was taken at AtG but I think it does make my point. Also there may have been a wee too much citra in that ale as it sorta smelled like....well you know what citra smells like right? Cheers!

Edit: This is a proper pour and I never get this at AtG without special request or in some cases insisting!

Shane -- the kittie ale seems to be a proper pour, lots of head, but its mostly above the rim of the glass.

And I know exactly what citra smells like, and Im thinking you dont. I dont get the cat urine that some get from it, thats just weird (Im highly allergic to all thinks cat, I have a high sensitivity to it, when I was house searching, I walked out of a number of houses after 2 seconds due to the odor of cat urine. If citra smelled like that, I wouldnt drink it).

Also, on your previous picture, you MIGHT have 19 US ozs in that glass, based on my experiments with my NABC glassware.

The Germans go out of their way to put a two inch head on a well poured, Northern style Pils. Of course the glassware is often slim. And over an inch of that is jutting proudly well above the rim, thick, luxurious, meringue-like, gravity defying.... like the breasts of a vestal virgin.... verily..... able to ride the very wings of angels as it effortlessly flouts the earthly laws of physics. Expressing its sovereignty above......


Oh,, sorry.. Got carried away for a second there.

Rob Coffey wrote:Shane -- the kittie ale seems to be a proper pour, lots of head, but its mostly above the rim of the glass.

And I know exactly what citra smells like, and Im thinking you dont. I dont get the cat urine that some get from it, thats just weird (Im highly allergic to all thinks cat, I have a high sensitivity to it, when I was house searching, I walked out of a number of houses after 2 seconds due to the odor of cat urine. If citra smelled like that, I wouldnt drink it).

Yes, that is indeed a proper pour. I wanted to do a side by side with a larger head but that proved too difficult. Not only would a cat with a larger head not fit entirely inside the glass without....hmmm modification, the cat for some reason didn't at all want to be in the glass.

As for citra smelling of cat pee. I don't really get that either but it's a well-accepted descriptor and that glass did smell like cat pee. AtG's ale tastes much better than cat pee I.....imagine.

Obviously, this is just a tumblr pic that caught my fancy. Cheers!

DanB wrote:The Germans go out of their way to put a two inch head on a well poured, Northern style Pils. Of course the glassware is often slim. And over an inch of that is jutting proudly well above the rim, thick, luxurious, meringue-like, gravity defying.... like the breasts of a vestal virgin.... verily..... able to ride the very wings of angels as it effortlessly flouts the earthly laws of physics. Expressing its sovereignty above......


Oh,, sorry.. Got carried away for a second there.

Yes, the first time I ordered a beer in Germany I thought they were just giving the American poor service. Then I went over and watched them poor it. It took several minutes during which they walked off several times to do something else. If I ordered a Pils and it came in a Pils glass I would expect a thick luxurious head.

Sovereignty is well-expressed at Against The Grain with the portraits of the mighty looking down on their patrons.

The Germans say a perfect Pils takes seven minutes to pour. The Dutch can't be bothered and cut the head off with something called a spatel.

Simcoe was always the hop I thought smelled like cat urine. I could never figure out why anyone would use it, but blended with several other hops, it tends to work well. I've had a few beers that were single hopped with Simcoe and it was one of the worst beer experiences I've ever had.

Todd Antz wrote:Simcoe was always the hop I thought smelled like cat urine. I could never figure out why anyone would use it, but blended with several other hops, it tends to work well. I've had a few beers that were single hopped with Simcoe and it was one of the worst beer experiences I've ever had.

Aright, Alright, ALRIGHT! I admit that I don't have regular access to cat pee. I've also never smelled a beer and thought - "Yep that smells like cat pee, yum!"

Once while I was taking the bouquet from a Pils with a towering head that looked just like the breast of vestal virgin I once dated I may have noticed an astringent, slightly amonia-like smell, that anyone who's been in the loo of an English pub will be familiar with, and I might have thought "This must smell like vestal virgin - I MEAN cat pee."

In any case, whether Simcoe, Citra, or actual "except no substitue cat pee" was used by those who spare no descretion in selecting the ingredients used in their beers, the ale I had on cask at AtG was a righteous good ale that in no way reminded me of any kind of pee in taste or odor. I wish I was drinking some now!

Maybe I'll nip down to the fridge in the garage and pull out a couple of bottles of Zombie Dust I got at The Keg last week to go with the Caerphilly cheese and garlic sausage I'm noshing on. Nah, this West 6th IPA is doing the job just fine. It smells hoppy - rabbit pee? Cheers Todd!

Stopped in ATG last night and had 4 laughable pours from three different bartenders, so nothing has changed. The first pour was the worst, with 1/3 of the glass being foam. I really expect more from these guys.

On a positive note, the current Hop beer is fantastic.

I've never had an issue with asking a bartender or server to top off a beer. Most the time I believe it is just an oversight. Busy running around doing 10 different things, they don't mean to rip you off. I know AtG is different being a brewery but just stating in general I'm sure they would top off if you politely requested.

The beer scene is full of great people around here, I bought a bottle of 2009 Avery Czar at Liquor Barn Springhurst, and was disappointed to find it was infected/oxidized when I opened it. I recapped the bottle and contacted Todd Pharris, their head beer guy. He allowed me to return the bottle and pick something else, saying that they stand next to any product they sell. For being such a huge company/store it was nice to get a personal touch. Of course I'm a regular shopper at The Keg as well, but it is a much further drive for me.

Brice Westhusing wrote:I've never had an issue with asking a bartender or server to top off a beer. Most the time I believe it is just an oversight. Busy running around doing 10 different things, they don't mean to rip you off. I know AtG is different being a brewery but just stating in general I'm sure they would top off if you politely requested.

The beer scene is full of great people around here, I bought a bottle of 2009 Avery Czar at Liquor Barn Springhurst, and was disappointed to find it was infected/oxidized when I opened it. I recapped the bottle and contacted Todd Pharris, their head beer guy. He allowed me to return the bottle and pick something else, saying that they stand next to any product they sell. For being such a huge company/store it was nice to get a personal touch. Of course I'm a regular shopper at The Keg as well, but it is a much further drive for me.

Brice,
Your take on this, while very reasonable in most circumstances, just really does not apply in this instance. There were three of us drinking beer, I believe we consumed nine beers in the space of an hour and a half. All of the beers were under-poured. They were poured by three different bar tenders. We all got different beers.

We sat right in front of the taps and watched with resigned amusement as each of the glasses was place up to the tap then, in most cases, as soon as the head reached the lip of the glass the beer was handed over. To be fair there were a couple of instances where a small attempt was made to top up but even these beers had two inches of foam on them.

The place was far from busy when I got there (3:45) even though the bar was in desperate need of being bussed.

The bar tenders were all friendly and I'm sure that they would have done so had we asked for a top up. That's not the point. I do not wish to spend that much time continuously asking for something which should always be done. If it happened occasionally, I wouldn't even mention it. It wouldn't be a big deal.

El Presidente and his junta stalked the place with their typical glower. I also was not interested in a confrontation this day as I had just come from one. More than one tends to put me in a bad mood. I never drink when I'm in a bad mood.

It's interesting that you brought up the Liquor Barn at Springhurst as an example of good customer service. I had just come from there and I was mad as a hornet.

I had been given information from a reliable source that the Elijah Craig barrel proof would be delivered to that store on Tuesday by SWS. I had dropped by there on Saturday to see if they would confirm that. I was told by a very helpful person that I should definitely call William on Monday when he came in to see if and when he was expecting the delivery. I was even told that the product had been built in the system.

I called and spoke with William on Monday at just after 12:00. He said "No way." I said, "What do you mean?" and I told him why I believe it was so. He was very dismissive and said that it couldn't happen because "He hadn't even ordered it yet." This sounded very wrong so I again stated my sources.

Now clearly exasperated he said, "It can't come in unless I order it!"

I was in no way confrontational during this conversation and I suspect that William has to field a lot of these calls (When's the Pappy, Stagg, etc coming). I really just wanted to know when the SWS delivery would be made and if the product would be stocked immediately. I obviously can't hang out at their store all day. William would not help.

So, yesterday (Thursday) stopped by again. I walked up to the customer service desk and waited while William clearly ignored me for more than five minutes. As soon as someone else showed up they noticed me and asked if they could help.

Keeping my eyes on William, I clearly asked about the EC barrel proof. William immediately looked up and said, "Oh that came in on Tuesday and we sold it all yesterday. We only got six bottles." He spoke as if clearly relishing the fact that this limited product had been turned so quickly.

I was livid and I let him know I was the one who called on Monday and recounted our conversation. He waffled back and forth between, "well he didn't order it" and "that kind of product just shows up so he couldn't know anyway."

I told him if that was the case, then based on our conversation on Monday he was either a liar or incompetent for telling me - it couldn't come in unless he ordered it! I thanked him for his help and drove over to AtG where I was in no mood to bitch about short pours!

I finished the evening at Bank St where I got nothing but full pours without having to ask. Cheers!

While the Springhurst LB is a bit of a haul for me, they do have a huge growler wall, and a very solid can / bottle beer selection. I have also found Todd Pharris very helpful and pleasant to deal with.

However, I have interacted with other LB Springhurst employees, and let's just say the experiences were less than positive. One lady would not sell me beer b/c my KY drivers license had expired...I am 36 years old and had an alternate ID stating that my birth year was '76. Still...no beer. I left super-pissed.

Shelbyville Road LB (tons of friendly / knowledgable folks in there) is my go to spot...supplemented by occasional forays to the Keg and LBS.

DD

Re: barrel strength EC

Did they check inventory in other stores for you? I have a friend who works for SWS, maybe she can help you locate some.

Brice Westhusing wrote:Re: barrel strength EC

Did they check inventory in other stores for you? I have a friend who works for SWS, maybe she can help you locate some.

Brice, that's a very nice offer but I suspect your friend, like anyone else in the bourbon distributing/retailing loop has a dozen regular clients/friends who pester her about these limited releases. I wasn't so angry about not getting the whiskey but at the way this one individual treated me.

I've been checking stores for this one since the HH press release. A manager at a four-store chain told me yesterday that he got six bottles last week and sold it all to the same lady. I said, "Why did you do that?" He said, "I can only sell it once." I said, "Yes but you could have made six customers happy instead of just one!" He said, "She's a regular customer and I wasn't going to say no."

That last statement pretty much says it all when it comes to allocated spirits. I don't blame people for taking care of their loyal/regular customers first. But by the time I'm considered one of those, my liver will be too shot to partake!