It's not half full; It's completely empty!!!

I don't mind an empty bottle,
as long as I get to help empty it

A few months back, a friend of mine (we’ll call him Matt) had a less than enjoyable experience with a six pack of delicious craft beer he purchased from his local grocery store. The incident occurred when he returned from the store only to find that one of the six bottles of Dominion Brewing Company’s Hop Mountain Pale Ale was completely empty. It was still sealed, but totally devoid of beer. Needless to say, Matt was beside himself and being an advocate of truth, justice and the American way, he decided to e-mail the company.

In a matter of days, Matt received a response from the company - the President and CEO of the company. Matt was told that what had happened to him was completely unacceptable and, as an apology, he was invited to tour the brewery in Dover, DE as a VIP on a Saturday morning, prior to the public tours for the day. Of course, as Matt’s beer consigliere, I was also invited to attend this event.

The Dominion/Fordham Brewery facade

The tour began at 9:30am on a Saturday when we were met at the brewery by Dominion’s bottling and packaging manager, John Novotny. After sampling three of Dominion’s and Fordham’s wonderful craft beers in the tasting room, John took us on a personal tour of their facility, explaining the process, as well as every piece of equipment, in profound detail. Along the way, we stopped back in the tasting room for refills. When the tour was over, we once again retired to the tasting room where we made sure to try all of the remaining brews they had available. The President and CEO, Jim Lutz, also showed up and asked us to try an experimental bottle of their Bourbon Stout, complete with malty vanilla and Jack Daniels notes. Of course, we had no problem accepting his offer. Before leaving, we were given complimentary Dominion and Fordham Brewing Company pint glasses and the brewery’s gratitude for continuing to be loyal customers.

This is a story that highlights a reoccurring theme in the craft brewing industry: doing right by the customers. Dominion didn’t have to do any of this. They could’ve returned Matt’s money, or sent him a free six pack of beer (they actually did send him a free six pack of beer in addition to the tour). But, unlike the big beer producers (Bud, Miller and Coors), craft brewers care about their customers and bend over backwards to make sure they remain happy with the beer. At the end of the day, I guess the glass was half full after all.

Here’s to craft-brewed happiness… Cheers!