Brewmaster Makes Good

Hey! I got a nice follow-up on my letter to Brewmaster. 

You might remember my thin stout, as described here, where it wasn’t until I had finished the first step of brewing that I discovered all the grain hadn’t been milled properly.

 So I wrote a letter to the store where I bought the supplies, Brewmaster, and after I returned from Minnesota (and I will post on the mostly wonderful trip I had, truly I will), I got a nice letter from C, the manager at Brewmaster with whom I’d had a less than positive phone conversation. He now claims it was a misunderstanding and they are ready to make good on the batch of beer, which is good news.

 I mean, it’s too late for the stout I’d intended to serve at the office holiday party now. It’s “thin stout” at this point, but we’ll see what it tastes like at bottling time, and my intention is to bottle it, even if it isn’t as hearty as I’d like. Stout Lite, indeed.

 But I’ve got some other brews I can take into the office, and I’ll at least get some grain for my trouble. I don’t intend to take advantage and ask for everything that went into the thin batch; it seems fair to me to just ask for that much grain.

 Ya know?

 Anyway, I was glad to hear back from them. Part of me was ready to drive up to Berkeley from now on and patronize a different store, but to be honest I just don’t like how congested that drive north is , including “the maze” interchange from interstate 880 to I 80, plus driving in Berkeley itself. (Much as I really do like the place, it’s my least favorite city to drive in. I swear there are too many cerebral types driving around thinking more about stuff like quantum mechanics than they are about the traffic around them).

 When I drive down to San Leandro I can take the back roads near the Oakland airport. It’s a much more pleasant cruise, with the dogs in the backseat enjoying “taking the air.”

 So I have to write back to Brewmaster and thank them; not sure when I’ll actually be brewing again, as I’m midway through a batch of three beers right now, the stout, an IPA, and a pale ale to be brewed next, using my hand-cranked mill to finish the grain.

 If you had something like this go wrong like this, would you ask for all the ingredients to be supplied for a makeup batch?