Quad City Brewpubs
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - 03:13 PM
Carrie and I went to visit her parents in the Quad Cities this past weekend. (They actually live in Hampton, IL - just outside the Quad Cities.) If you haven’t ever been there, there’s more to do than you might think. Particularly, if you’re a beer nut, there’s a few brew pubs in the area. My favorites are Front Street, Bent River and Blue Cat. There are others in the area, but those are the ones I recommend.
Despite their really poorly designed website, Blue Cat is (in my opinion) the best one in the area. Not only are the beers good, but they have a great menu (and the food is really good, too). If you’re looking to go out for a decent meal, it’s definitely the one I recommend. We went there for dinner Saturday and couldn’t have been happier. I had the Big Bad Dog Old English Ale with dinner (the 1/2 slab of BBQ Ribs, which was tender and delicious) and the Arkham Stout. My only complaint with Blue Cat is that the choice of beers is limited to six - three regular brews and three that rotate on and off the menu. I realize that they’re probably limited in what they’re capable of offering at any given time, so I’m not going to hold it against them.
For lunch on Sunday, Carrie’s step dad, Joe, and I went to Front Street. The menu’s not as expansive as Blue Cat, offering typical “bar fare”, but the beer’s good. Again they’re limited to only six beers on the menu at a time, and I believe only one is a rotating “special”, with the others being always offered. I had the special, which was a Brown Ale, and samples of four of the other beers. I brought home a growler of the Bucktown Stout - which in and of itself is worth going there for.
We didn’t go to Bent River this time around. They have a wider selection of beer than the others, with some interesting selections alongside the more traditional beers. This place has more of a local bar feel to it, the kind of place where the regulars hang out, and they have live music on the weekends. If you’re planning a tour of the area’s brew pubs, don’t skip this one.
Outsourced Support Sucks
Friday, May 25, 2007 - 06:39 PM
I’m not even talking about tech support here. It’s pretty obvious why outsourced tech support sucks: the people you’re talking to usually know absolutely nothing about the product you’re calling about, they’re just following a script and a troubleshooting flowchart. Anything that requires any actual thought beyond that, they simply cannot help you with. It used to be, when you called a company for tech support, you got someone who actually worked for that company, and actually knew a thing or two about the product you were calling about. That’s not the case anymore.
No, I’m talking about outsourced customer service. It’s bad enough tech companies have people answering the phones who know nothing about their products, but it boggles the mind to think that companies think it’s okay to have people representing them, as customer service agents, who absolutely do not care about that company or their customers.
When you call an 800 number (or 888, or 866, or whatever) for a company because you have a problem you need resolved, it would help if the person who answered the phone (after navigating the menus to get the option you need (an even worse experience if it’s a voice recognition system)) actually had any interest in helping you with your problem. The thing is, these outsourced customer service people just don’t care; not about the customer they’re speaking to, and not about the company they’re representing. In fact, they’re probably on the phone representing Company A one minute, and Company B the next. It really doesn’t matter to them if you walk away from the call a satisfied customer or not.
At any rate, I really wish the companies utilizing these outsourced customer service centers would wise up. It may be saving money in the short term, but in the long run is it really worth losing customers over?
Days Go By now on iTunes
Wednesday, May 16, 2007 - 03:41 PM
If you haven’t yet picked up your copy of “Days Go By”, you can now download it directly from iTunes.
Pale Ale
Tuesday, May 15, 2007 - 06:17 PM
Brewed a Pale Ale this past weekend. Actually, it’s the recipe featured in the “Replicator” column in the current edition of Brew Your Own magazine. I’m a little worried, because it’s been kinda warm the past couple of days, and the little stick-on thermometer on the primary has been around 74-76 deg. (F). I hope the higher temperature doesn’t stress out the yeast and cause any off-flavors.
Apart from that, I’m going to try the Brown Ale this weekend. It’ll only be two weeks since bottling, but I like to taste here and there as the beer progresses. Plus, I’m really impatient! Seriously, though, I do usually taste the beer after only two weeks in the bottle to see how it’s coming along. I usually taste a little bit at bottling time, but I actually haven’t with these past two batches. I did with the Vanilla Porter though, and it tasted fantastic even then! (I still have a few of those left. Maybe I’ll go stick one in the fridge so I can enjoy it this evening!)