Until yesterday, Auckland-based craft brewery Behemoth had maintained a perfect record of five-star rating on its Facebook page. That was before they decided to relaunch their Dump the Trump IPA, earning the ire of pro-Trump Facebook activists and receiving almost 150 one-star ratings within the last 24 hours.
"It's pretty crazy, you hear about these groups, but it is nuts they would target a little brewing company all the way here in New Zealand," said brewery owner Andrew Childs.
Reviews range from comparing the beer to various types of animal urine to blasting the company for un-American values. One particularly un-self-aware fan argued, without a shred of irony, “You don’t live in America so you are excluded from an opinion on it.”
Although Childs admitted to finding the comments entertaining, he said the impact that the ratings had on the overall score did annoy him. However, plenty of local fans have come to the rescue.
One reviewer tried to defend himself by claiming that he had tried the beer several months ago – commenters were quick to point out that the beer had only been available in New Zealand for two weeks which means he was drinking a beer that was two years old, and hardly a suitable sample.
“We have seen our fans come to defend what they do and the beers they love drinking,” he explained. “We’re not too worried as the beer speaks for itself.”
