Dans, The craft beer experts..NOT

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Truman42

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I went to my local bottlo on Friday, which just happens to be a Dan Murphys, and I was looking at their craft beer range trying to see if I could find something new I hadn't tried before.
I passed over the KISS beer without even picking it up for a look and was standing there when an employee walked up to me and the conversation went like this.

DM: Hi mate can I help you at all?

Truman: No thanks Im right, Im just trying to find a craft beer you stock that I might not have tried yet.

DM: Oh okay well let me see if I can suggest something thats worth trying. Here what about this have you had Budwieser before? (picks up a stubby of bud)

Truman: Umm no thanks not really into that.

DM: Well its a very popular craft beer in the USA. So it must be a good drop. What about this one (Shows me something called Budvar and tells me its the European version of Budwieser so its also a great beer as its made in Czechoslavakia, where beer was first invented.)

At this stage I was trying my hardest not to say "Are you for ******* real??"

Instead I said...Mate they're not craft beers, they may be imported but they're not craft beers and in their country of origin belong in the fridge over where you guys have all the other mega brewed, watered down, flavourless crap, like VB and MB.

He then starts to tell me "I think you will find your wrong there and they are in fact craft beers"

So I just grabbed a SN Pale Ale and porter and left.

Was still shaking my head as i walked out. :D
 
Your problem started after you said no Truman, should have stopped there lol
 
So he was trying to sell you a beer he has never tried?? By him saying must be a good drop would seem he has never had it! !
 
why cant they just **** off when you say no thanks Im right
 
They usually do when I say no. Then again I am not exactly a happy looking bloke 90% of the time
 
I avoid staff in these places for this reason alone :lol: staff I think they get from McDonalds <_<
 
mate i think it stems for the lack of training they get on the beers, and unless you get someone who actually knows something about beer your will be hard pressed to get the help you need.
it might be worth your time to email dans about this as they are currently doing a big push on product knowledge atm.

saying that come to the one i work at and most of the staff actually know something or will seek out someone that does if they cant answer your question.
 
remember the term "just browsing" always gets them to leave you alone.
 
barls said:
mate i think it stems for the lack of training they get on the beers, and unless you get someone who actually knows something about beer your will be hard pressed to get the help you need.
Spot on there, Barls.

I worked at Dans in my uni days and asked a few times to get a bit of beer training. Never happened.

My solution - I'd get a new beer at the end of each shift, take it home and enjoy it. Self trained.

There is little product training at places like that. Hell, it was even frowned upon when I sampled a couple of wines (made use of the spittoon, of course) on the tasting table one time. I wasn't trying to drink on the job, I was only attempting to broaden my knowledge.
 
barls said:
it might be worth your time to email dans about this as they are currently doing a big push on product knowledge atm.
I actually did contact Dan's once in relation to a beer which I was looking for (FIGJAM by Burleigh Brewing) and that I was annoyed at the fact that I could order it online (from my local store) but when I went in I was told they had no idea when they would be seeing it. I later one found out that there was a few cases out the back but staff were too lazy to actually go check. I got onto head office and they took a good 2 weeks to get back to me by then I had got my beer (ordered online and picked up from the same shop) and they still did nothing but tell me they could put aside a case.

All in all they were no help at all and I have come to realise if I want to find a beer its easier to look online and check stocks of my local shop and then order to pickup on my way home from work.

RANT OVER
 
You might find they care a bit more now after seeing some of the complaints come through.
 
Guys, its Woolies. I cant even get them to stock grapefruit in our local "fresh food people"! I must say though, Dans is a price oasis down our way with the nearest in Bega and well worth the fortnigthly of so trip.

Wes
 
I rather like our local Dans, but also agree there is precious little knowledge about beer. The craft/specialty/imported beers seem to be the same pretty much in every store I visit. That tends to indicate to me their selections/purchases/imports are made on a corporate office level, rather than a local level.

However, the local wine guy, Michael, certainly knows what he is talking about, and has put me onto some very good drops. In fact, I got talking to him when our local store first opened, because I recognised him as the wine guy I'd spoken with at the Dans in Hornsby and Thornleigh in Sydney, before he was transferred up here. Talking with him is very slow, because he has a speech impediment, but he does know his wines, and he is a really nice guy.

Having said all that, Dans' wine selection ultimately craps all over their beer selection, even though that is still better most bottlos. Let's just be thankful for small mercies.
 
Dans wine selection compared to their beer is kind of like a department stores female clothes section compared to males.
 
tricache said:
I actually did contact Dan's once in relation to a beer which I was looking for (FIGJAM by Burleigh Brewing) and that I was annoyed at the fact that I could order it online (from my local store) but when I went in I was told they had no idea when they would be seeing it. I later one found out that there was a few cases out the back but staff were too lazy to actually go check. I got onto head office and they took a good 2 weeks to get back to me by then I had got my beer (ordered online and picked up from the same shop) and they still did nothing but tell me they could put aside a case.

All in all they were no help at all and I have come to realise if I want to find a beer its easier to look online and check stocks of my local shop and then order to pickup on my way home from work.

RANT OVER
Aren't you on the gold coast.... and I'm guessing you weren't in goldclub (/it wasn't formed yet)... because otherwise you might be missing an obvious avenue of supply

I think the most disappointing thing about Dan's and First Choice (at least my local ones) is even relatively high volume craft beers get mishandled to the point they taste like crap. This means that everyone we say "you should try something other than XXX Gold" to goes in, grabs a bottle of something like Burleigh 28 Pale, tastes it and rightly says "that's rotten, I'm going back to gold". I'd personally rather they didn't stock it than stock it poorly.

Ed
 
Sadly most "craft" beers in Australia are bottled and I think I remember Ross posting about how they can brew good beers but often have SFA expertise in bottling plant and the logistics chain. He should know, having trodden that path himself. So you can get a Margaret River or Geelong beer that probably tasted great at the brewery tap but by the time it gets to the Oodnadatta Dans branch it's often ratshit.
On the other hand the likes of Budvar are right up there with bottling and distribution.

For example I was in Dans at Port the other day (the one that Warra refers to) and as usual I grabbed some Kozel, Brok and Zywiec - it was all in magnificent condition and luuurverly. I've never been disappointed by any of these brands and I've bought them in many Dans locations from the Sunny Coast to Sydney.

I also think it's a bit of an urban myth that they deliberately leave pallets out in the sun to rot - of course at some stage there's a few in the yard while the forky is inside doing some rearranging and if you are driving past you could obviously say "look at the bastards, at it again". However my regular Dans in SEQ was Chermside in the Shopping Town - not a stand alone Dans - and there the loading docks have to be cleared pronto - same at North Lakes where they have no "yard" to leave pallets in. So there should be a noticeable difference in quality between stand alone stores and shoppingtown stores, if indeed the myth is correct.

Haven't found it yet.
 
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