Information on Alt Platz (Portsmouth, VA)

[beerking]

I posted ratings on this brewery on ratebeer, and beeradvocate. They were poor reviews, but factual (second worst brewpub I have ever visited, only slightly better than Gettysbrew).
The owner and brewer, who has a "no ratebeer" symbol and disparaging remarks about the website on his website, sent me the following profane and abusive e-mails in reply. I am quoting them directly, except for censoring the profanity.
I leave it up to the members of this community to decide whether this SOB is worth patronizing.

Quote:
"From Beer Advocate:
on Sun Nov 25, 2007 19:36 UTC, Bazooka wrote:
SUBJ: F@#$ you and your CU#$%$!!!
What absolute and total idiots you and Dianne are- if you had any inclination of how much the brewing community in this area actually despises her and assholes like yourself you would be inclined to seek another way of wasting your time.
Your posting was comical- everything was wrong from beer styles to prices and the fact that you complain about my prices and endorse the gouging the bier garden throws out is pure fun! One note I will from this day forward relish in joy of meeting you again and hopefully her to convey my love to you-What a complete and total fucking loser you are- you wave meaningless banter around about beer like you actually believe what you are spewing!!!!
Get a life f#$% knot- and try to continue to educate your journeyman beerself- Just a poor homebrewer that cannot complete any taks of any value-
And That is all- F#$% you and your mother-and ratebeer- it’s trademark not copyright- douchebag-
Please do come again- Please

From Rate Beer:
From: Phantoms4Ever

Time: Thursday, November 29, 2007 7:56:50 PM
Reprisals are a bitch you
And by the way f#$% you and your mother you lousy Bitch!!!!!!!
LMAO- a f#$%ing beer moron- you had none of the styles, prices or alcohol limits correct- and the mere fact you are trying to pretend you know something of beer- is just a joke to all our customers- I show everyone the idiotic ratings as you try and build a system of an entire 7 beers- what an amazing individual you are! Also funny !
Start a new hobby like having gerbils placed in your ass and let them run around and maybe- just maybe they will emerge with your limited intellect too!
F@#$ing Noob!!!!!!!!!!
See you soon I hope- at a beer festival- or a beer supply store or even the bier garden- who knows-
that’s the fun-"

[chazwicke]

Yikes!! Thanks for the warning on that place.

[jesskidden]

Originally posted by chazwicke
Yikes!! Thanks for the warning on that place.

I've read similar things about that brewery in the past. The website is pretty, uh, interesting -

http://www.altplatzbrewing.com/

[newportstorm]

Don't know you. Don't know Alt Platz brewers.

But reading your reviews, you seem to be in the great minority in your "opinions" on their beer. And it sounds like your first reviews of Alt Platz beers were removed from Ratebeer due to lack of merit - more a general grievance than useful criticism.

Taste is subjective, but when looking at the whole picture (reviews, thread on RB, thread here, etc.), you seem to have an axe to grind. Maybe it's legit, but why not just post your reviews, stop patronizing the brewery and be done with it?

[chazwicke]

I do know him and respect his opinions. Beerking has some excellent credentials as well. He has long been a well-known certified beer judge. (I think since the 2nd ever test was given.) I know that he has been requested to judge beer competitions from many years at GABF to being flown into Alaska to judge their competitions. He is very active in the beer world, has been a home brewer since the very early 80s and has presided over several beer related clubs and tasting events. Taste is a subjective thing but I do trust Beerking's reviews for the most part. I know him to be a good guy who takes tasting beer and judging seriously. He has an in-depth knowledge of all things beer. I don't know the circumstances surrounding the incident but I'll take Beerking's recommendation. Beerking knows good beer as well as just about anyone I've known in the craft beer world over the last 30+ years.

[newportstorm]

All well and good. The reviews may be spot on. If so, review, post, don't go back.

The reviews that were removed, combined with posting on at least 3 beer boards simply seemed like an axe grinding session to me.

[MeridianFC]

I'd wager a goodly portion of folks here post on three boards (here, BA, and RAB. A few maybe Pubcrawler oriented). So that doesn't strike me odd. That his reviews seem out of line with the others does, though there is a very small sample group to choose from.

I can understand a brewer/publican wanting to stick up for their work, but the response, on balance, seems way out of bounds.

[beerking]

First, Thanks, Chazwicke, for the support.

Second: What I did. After visiting the location, I posted a review on BA, and thought nothing more of it. Much later, I logged onto BA, and found his profane, abusive e-mail waiting in my "Beer Mail" account. This prompted me to do 2 things: 1. Report his abuse to the moderators at BA, and 2. repeat my review on several other sites, esp. including ratebeer.com. The initial reviews there were copies of my location review on BA, but I posted them as beer reviews, since there did not seem to be a place to do a location review of his business on ratebeer. Once they were removed (without notification), I went back and reviewed the beers themselves.
After he sent me his second e-mail, on ratebeer, I decided more people needed to be aware of this guy, and posted his e-mails, with censoring for profanity only, on numerous beerboards, this one included.

Third: I have only been to his location once, and have never seen him outside that one time. The "Diane" he mentions is how he apparently figured out our visit. She is the Beerdrinker of the Year, and a good friend of mine (not related, we are both married to others). She is very active in the homebrew club I founded in Tidewater 21 years ago, and all the brewers in that area know her. I also know all the brewers in that area, and have good relationships with all of them.

I have posted both good and bad reviews over the last ~15 years, going back to when pubcrawler was the only place to do so. I have only had to post a review this bad once before (the aforementioned, thankfully out of business Gettysbrew). If you search my reviews on BA, you will see that I have positive reviews there. I even made a point of reviewing locations I had been to recently and could review positively on ratebeer when I posted the reveiw there, to ensure I was not only posting bad reviews. (My earlier reviews on ratebeer seem to have disappeared when my membership lapsed during my 13 month deployment to the middle east).

I have been told by 2 others that they were "banned for life" from his buisness when he learned they were raters on ratebeer.com.

What I am considering: This individual's second e-mail appears, in my opinion, to be a physical threat against my person. I have informed the Director at RB, and am considering taking the matter up with my local law enforcement authorities.

Thanks, everyone for your time, and for hearing me out. I just think we should all be aware of this guy's actions before anyone decides to patronize him. If you do decide to, no harm, and I wish you luck.

[Mill Rat]

I believe that one of the lessons here is that whatever you post on the internet or send in e-mail can and will be used against you, whether in context or not, and distributed to those you never intended to view you spleen-venting. There are ways to handle disagreements, and the method enployed by the Altplatz guy can now be considered a poor example. I am pleased that this board is free of that sort of diatribe, and will cease to frequent it if that changes. Thanks to all for a friendly cyber-confines.

[newportstorm]

They now have a forum. Feel free to join in, light a fuse and watch the fireworks from afar.

http://forum.altplatzbrewing.com/user/Discussion.aspx?id=67608

:D

[beerking]

This is probably due to his being banned from rate beer and beer advocate due to his abuse of thier systems.

:D