Pour Decisions/Bent Brewstillery Merger

So it's a buy out?

 

Pour Decisions mediocre beer? Haha. No.

 

pd is one of my favorite new breweries, but that is just my opinion which you clearly don't share.

Hopefully this will be for the better, Kristen doesn't strike me as the type of guy that would take irnstructions/orders. I could very realistically see the relationship heading south if the new boss tries to micromanage Kristen's brewing. I'm just pissed because I was going to head to the taproom tomorrow for my birthday.

 

I'm guessing this is why I spied pour decision bottles at zipps? Always liked Pour Decisions brews. I'm glad they are bottling more because that taproom was sketchy.

 

bottle of what?

 

Sketchy? What on Earth are you talking about? Let's see, we have a brewery, an onsight bar that you can buy said breweries beer from. What is "sketchy" about that?

 

It never felt inviting. Again, I like beer, glad they are bottling, but that was the least inviting taproom I've ever been in.

 

Authentic brewery ambience, knowledgeable patrons and bartenders, food trucks, great beer....what else are you looking for? It's not Hooters, but I'd hardly call it "sketchy".

 

I've seen bottles of Maroon & Bold around recently.

 

Probably not a huge distinction between merger vs buyout, but it still sounds like slightly more of a merger than a buyout according to this definition. In the end, not horribly important. Kristen still brews the beer, I'm good. I'm just hoping he retains full creative control and gets to do what the heck he wants with the beer.

 

anyone else see the Perfect Pint interview? http://www.aperfectpint.net/blog.php/

As a big fan of PDBC, I have to admit some trepidation here. For some of you out there who didn't regularly visit the taproom, you will no doubt be happy to see more of Kristen's beers available in stores (and improved beers under the Bent label). No doubt it will result in more sour beers on the shelves out there, but personally, the taproom was a reasonably convenient location for me and increased availability will not affect my consumption of their beers.

Lacking inside information and not being a business person, I can't quite understand how PD benefits much from this merger. From the interview, it sounds like they are counting on Mr. Blume's business expertise to make their lives easier, yet it really seems like a strange merger of conflicting brewing philosophies - rebellion against defined styles vs. historical/traditional styles. And if you're more of a fan of how the latter was being executed at PD, you have to wonder how things will change now with Blume in charge (described as the "President" in the interview).

Thoughts?

 

Dark Fatha is one of the most heinous beers I've ever had.

 

After having the blond (& a Dark Fatha in the fridge, thanks for the recommendation Stimulus199), once I see these on the shelf with the Bentstillery name, I'm going to hesitate to pick them up. I'm sure they have reasons, but why shuck the name of the brewery whose beer people actually liked & keep the one making crap?

 

The more learn the more worried I am about he and Kristen butting heads. He seems to have more than a little ego involved in this project, "my image, my image, my beer..." he talks of business acumen but does he have enough to abandon his mediocre beers despite his emotional attachment to them.

This does make me wonder about a possible business plan within the craft brew boom. With the number of people with money and no talent building breweries and hiring brewmasters, what would they be willing to pay for an established brewery that has a market presensence and has gone through the growing pains and regulatory hurdles.

 

Reads more and more like a buyout.

 

Just a bizarre move. Seemed to me like pour decisions was making alot of traction in the twin cities. I had been seeing them at bottle shops and bars more often.

 

This is my concern. Businesses fail, so there's no way to know if Pour Decisions would last another 5 years anyway, but that is the same with every other newer brewery out in the market today. But I feel like this is a venture that is being set up for failure, despite the promise of an expanded sour line (which is awesome).

I really hope that Kristen is at the Beer Dabbler, but what am I going to ask him, "are you okay, man? Really okay?" Because, how is he going to answer that? He has a line to toe and he's got to try to make this work first, even though I think everyone is completely skeptical of this.

 

What was wrong with it? I had a sample at ABR and it was boring, but not offensive. Was there something wrong with the bottled version?

 

I just think the overall situation sounds iffy. The Bent guy sounds like a big dreamer without a real plan. Especially with distilling - "oh yeah, it sounded cool, and I read a book." It takes a lot more than that to run something like this. And he wants a "trifecta" of distilling, brewing, and wine making? Unrealistic. I think the whole thing is gonna crash and burn.

 

There must have been some difference between the ABR sample and the bottled version. I shared a bottle with a friend of mine, and both of us ended up drain-pouring. It was our first drink of the night, so our palates were fresh.

The beer tasted like stale homebrew; a bit of roasty-ness up-front, but almost seemed like it had been diluted with water. One-note flavor. Really thin mouthfeel, offensive aftertaste. Really, really rough. At $8.99 a bomber, I was pretty pissed.

hopazoid, care to chime in? Looks like you had a pretty bad experience with the bottled Dark Fatha, as well.