Joel G.
Yelp
**BEWARE**
Liquid Gold is no longer offering drink flights.
Yes, you read that correctly. A business that bills themselves a Tap Room
is refusing to allow customers to pay to sample their beers.
The really sad thing is that this place should be getting a 5 star review. In fact, if this review had been written before COVID, that's
exactly what I would have given it. (Not to worry - I would've updated the review with this one anyway)
It's nice and clean inside, dog friendly, and they have a large rotating selection of all different types of beer. Like, really large. As in 25-30 beers on tap at any given time kind of large.
I love beer, and I visit breweries and tap rooms in the city all the time.
I live in the neighborhood, so I was thrilled when Liquid Gold opened and
used to go there quite a bit. With all of those beers I would usually go through at least 2 flights before I would settle on "the one" to drink for the afternoon.
I was excited to go back after CA fully reopened, and even went online and
saw about a dozen beers I wanted to try. Then I get there and the bartender tells me they no longer offer drink flights!?! Are you guys insane?!?! You expect me to pay full price for full pours on several beers and I'm SOL if I don't like any of them?
He said they "might be offering small pours sometime in the future". Really?
So you "might" offer a second way to rip your customers off? Small pours
are generally 5-6oz. They are for restauarants, so people who don't want
a full beer can still have one with their food. I don't need an extra 2-3 ounces, at an additional charge, to find out if I like the beer or not. 3oz tasters at $3ea are perfect, which is why every other brewery and tap room in the city offers them.
The price isn't even really the issue. I know COVID really screwed things
up for businesses and I'd be willing to pay a little more just to help
out, especially to a place like this. But offering up a selection like that and refusing to let people pay to sample them is beyond ridiculous.
I completely understand why they would put drink flights on pause during
the lock downs. It's not practical to make a bartender carry them inside and outside all day long. But now?
I actually waited a few weeks to write this review. I wanted to make sure I
wasn't overreacting, and take some time and see if I was missing something. Well, in that time I have been to several other breweries, and talked with a couple of dozen people about it, and it turns out I'm not alone in my anger/confusion.
I got a variety of responses, and not one of them was good, nor could
anyone come up with a logical reason for them doing this.
Wake up guys. You're not a regular bar, with selections like Bud, Anchor, Shiner Bock and Racer 5 on tap.
I just looked at your website and you have 29 beers on tap (I'm not counting
the 2 ciders), none of which can be found anywhere in the neighborhood, and many that likely can't be found anywhere else in the city.
This used to be one of my top 5 places in the city to visit, and I would
recommend it all the time.
I was so happy that you were able to survive the lock down, but now I will be
steering people away any time the subject of beer comes up.
There are plenty of other places in the city that actually understand the
type of business they run and don't force their customers to pay for full pours for beers they've never heard of.
Thanks Liquid Gold. Now I get to walk by you every week on the way to Trader Joe's and be reminded of how great you used to be before losing your minds.