The Bruery: explain how they've done it.

Yes it is...its a yam version of a pumpkin beer. You never taste the pumpkin in pumpkin beer, you taste the buckets of spices that go in there. Autumn Maple also has those spices I hate so I know I won't like it but I have the brett version I've been meaning to crack open...hopefully the brett mutes the spices.

Its funny I love spices in food, just not in beer just like I like actual coconut but put it in beer or shrimp batter or w/e and I hate it.

 

good beers, great catering to beer geeks, limited releases, outstanding viral marketing, solid expansion plans, great/responsive customer service, and the ability to sink their talons into 'hype' better than damn near any other brewery out there.

 

Haha, that's funny, I think that Madura and Jai Alai are both mediocre at best. I've had both multiple times and never been impressed.

 

Palates vary...I think other beers people like are mediocre at best too. Then again I don't live in Cali where I can just buy world class hoppy beers on shelves or at bars. I think if I did I'd never want jai alai either. Maduro I actually really love, its probably the only brown ale I consistently buy.

 

Nor does beer. Both exceptions. Exception, coincidentally, is the root word for exceptionalism.

But the point is valid, the "model is more similar to CA wineries than it is breweries." Saying "wineries generally don't charge you to join their wine club" does not change this fact.

 

There's something about Maduro that makes it taste like cigarette ash to me. No idea why, at first I thought it was an off bottle but it's happened both times I've had it. Very strange.

 

While it may not be identical most wineries charge a set amount for a year which includes several of their wine varieties
Similar to how the bruery charges for RS membership which includes a few beers.

It's not identical but they are very similar. I've always found that interesting about the Bruery and if
Interstate shipping becomes legal, I'd love to see most breweries do this.

 

Much the success can be linked to proximity to LA. Such a massive metro area with a rapidly growing beer scene has rewarded its early producers, primarily The Bruery, with success. Only there for 4 years, but the surly veterans of LA LA Land's brew scene. Timing often trumps a great business plan and good product.

Not to mention that Orange County, their actual home, has higher than average median income, and most craft beer drinkers seem to fall firmly into that demographic. And that that area is one that closely follows many trends.

 

What makes it a pumpkin beer?

 

The yams of course

 

Hmm weird...maybe you had bad luck and got a shitty batch where they burnt the malt or coffee? I definitely have not tasted any cigarette ash certainly wouldn't like it, I hate the taste of cigarettes even though I'm a social smoker sometimes. If not then thats funny how you pick up that and I don't get the slightest trace of it, I can usually taste at least a small hint of what people say they're tasting and don't like about a beer.

 

I didn't mean for people to interpret me saying that its literally a pumpkin beer...it has the same spices that in a blind taste you would say this is pumpkin beer because you associate the spices taste with pumpkin beer, not pumpkin taste. Doesn't matter if you substitute yams or w/e else you want in there. If you throw in a bucket of those spices pumpkin beer gets I'm gonna think 1) pumpkin beer and 2) this needs to go down the drain.

 

They've done the right things in the right order.

• Produce fairly interesting and big beers in 750s distributed to a large amount of people with sexy labels
• Produce a highly alcoholic barrel aged imperial stout that is very limited release
• Produce a vertical of beer released every year
• Create a beer purchasing society where barrel aged and sour beers that are very limited and highly sought after are sold.

 

Tickers gotta tick, and they make the kinds of beers that people really wanna tick. That, and they never stop making new beers - they've already put out quite a few this year between Provisions and RS. They make more new one-offs every year than most breweries try in a decade, and if there's on thing beer geeks love it's seeking out a new beer. I enjoy some of their stuff but the regulars really should be in 4 pks.

 

You didn't mean the literal words you wrote to be taken literally?
I'm not understanding the 'interpretation' part?

Seems more akin to taking something at face value rather than interpretation.

 

Reserve Society was genius and well-executed. The Bruery also knows their audience very well. Their beer quality is consistent, which is impressive for a young brewery making so many beers. While they make a few ho-hum beers, the majority of them are above average, and they have many that are downright excellent. They also know how to use a barrel, which is proving to be increasingly difficult as so many other craft breweries try to expand into barrel aging with mixed results.

They're not necessarily the perfect brewery, but they are a very very very good one.

 

The Bruery is currently diminishing their brand but putting out too many new beers that lack the quality or consistency that they had in the past.

 

Most wineries (in CA, at least) charge nothing for club membership, but you pay for the wine you order when they do club shipments - usually 2-4 times a year. You can usually change what comes in your shipment, or opt out of them entirely. Anyway, I pointed out this difference because I think The Bruery actually has the superior business model in this regard - they get the money up front, and then most of the member's initial investment comes back to them in free/discounted beer over the course of the year.

 

I'm unaware of very many breweries with clubs that you can join to get special access to their beers. I also wasn't arguing against his point.

 

Sorry for assuming everyone else also assumes pumpkin beer = spices, not pumpkin. Next time I'll type "pumpkin" like the description if that makes you happy