Crooked Stave 2014 Cellar Reserve

Problem with this is the allocations have to be bought buy the person who owns the membership and not the trustee. So if a person buys the membership and sells it on ebay and the person buying it is just assigned the trustee of the account then they would get the 20 bottles of beer that come with the membership but wouldn't get any of the extra allocations.

 

How do you know that this hasn't happened yet? Could have easily happened before with CS, maybe more privately than publicly but still.

With anything in high demand, like concert tickets & GABF tickets, people will also figure out a way to beat the system. Sucks but life.

With regard to this set-up, would people have been MORE upset had they just had a sign up date and time like many others do, and had to deal with internet issues, server failures, cc issues, and the millions of other issues that people would be moaning about had they not successfully transacted? I'm gonna go ahead and say probably yes. That would have been much worse.

 

If you were there on day one, sitting in Funkwerks when the bartender says they have random guy brewing in their building and you decide to try it, you would have said, "this is junk." But then you would have tried the next couple of beers from the Crooked Stave Brewery and said "these are ok beers, not worth the price, but at least they are better than that first 'batch 1' which had been in barrels for 2 weeks. Then in late 2011, maybe you read about Crooked Staves new reserve society on Beer Advocate and thought "wow, did he really just copy and paste the same email we all just received from the Bruery." Then you would ask yourself if $300 was really worth the beers being put out. Likely you would have said "no." I'm not paying $30 for a bottle of Pure Guava Petite Sour. But you would think about it. Think over the last year or so and how their beers kept getting better and better. You would have seen the growth and what the brewery was turning into. Maybe you would take that risk of joking year one because you didn't want to be left out of something special. And if the beers didn't pan out that year at least you got to try some things and only over paid on a few bottles. Perhaps you didn't buy year one and thought about waiting to see if it was really worth it. By the time year 2 came around I don't know how you wouldn't have mortgaged your kidney to get a membership. But that's only if you were there day one.

 

I am just participating in an existing conversation. I am not implying that I am more deserving than anyone, and was just bringing up a hypothetical situation. Nor was I accusing you and your wife of doing anything wrong.
Signed,
A 2014 Crooked Stave cellar reserve member

 

Funny you brought up Funkwerks. I actually did this exact thing while I was living in Fort Collins. My wife, then girlfriend, and I tasted Chad's stuff a long time ago and looked at each other like wtf?!?!? But we saw his operation grow and transform over the last couple years and it has been great. He came to Denver the same year that we moved so it worked out perfectly. I will say though that we do miss the days of going to the barrel cellar on a Friday night and there are only 5 people in the whole joint. I am glad to see them have so much success and people up in arms about not getting into their reserve society is probably the least of their worries. It is a good problem to have.

 

Id prefer that system than a lottery. I prefer my own effort falling short rather than chance.

 

I miss that a lot...more than I thought I would.

 

and I am sure you are not alone in that feeling, but there are probably just as many people that prefer a lottery, as well.

 

I couldn't agree more

 

That's me. Except I couldn't justify the price year 1 (and lament that fact to this day since trying dry hopped L'brett and the first persica). Didn't hesitate year 2.

 

but breaking news....not everyone who wanted to purchase desirable beer got the opportunity, and some people are upset about the logistics of the sale. Story at 6, are your children at risk?

 

Straight from the website. I take the wording of "all memberships purchased must match the name and information on the lottery winnner" as the name on the email address/eventbrite ticket has to be the same name on the credit card? http://store.crookedstave.com/LOTTERY-WINNERS-ONLY-Cellar-Reserve-Membership-2014-CRL2014.htm
ONLY PURCHASE IF YOU ARE A LOTTERY WINNER! ALL MEMBERSHIPS PURCHASED WILL BE CROSS-REFERENCED AND MUST MATCH THE NAME AND INFORMATION OF THE LOTTERY WINNER.

 

No wonder I'm not a fan of most CO BAs....

 

By the way, if anyone wants to split a membership and keep the swag for themselves, you know where to find me.

 

If anyone who got in wants to split a membership, I can offer splitting a Rare Barrel or J Wakefield membership.

 

So 99% of those who are members love the system, 99% of those who did not manage to become one hate the system. Seems about right.

Looks like all the complaints about the price increase was much ado about nothing? Doesn't look like it slowed too many CS fanatics down.

 

New to the RS, just signed up. Never been to Denver but always wanted to go. Thinking about the best way to go about this, aside from of course making an arrangement with a local BA.

So I understand they will hold the beers for us until March 2015. This also includes any extras I am able to purchase over the next year? It probably makes the most sense for me to plan a single trip after all purchases are finalized. It would probably be too much beer to take back on a plane to PA with me, so I suppose I'd still need to ship it anyway. But my hope in coming out is that there would be some special in house event that I could participate in that would take place after all the bottles have been released. I understand there are events planned that we can buy tickets for. Would one of these events necessarily take place after the bottles are released? Or are they just randomly scattered throughout the year. Is there one annual event in particular that really shouldn't be missed?

Thanks.

 

You can pick up EVERYTHING at once even on the last day. Allocations, extras, and goodies. At least that's how is has been for the last two years. You might call to make sure, though.
In terms of a can't miss event, the final tasting party has been the premier event two years in a row. Again, no clue if that will change, but if I were to bet on one in advance, that's the one.

 

OK perfect. Judging by the name of the party, and a quick google search, it sounds like that would be just what I'm looking for - taking place after all bottles have already been released, plus being the premier event.

 

Just keep in mind you might be picking up a LOT of beer. All three of the people I trustee for have purchased in excess of 100 bottles.