Prairie Brimstone Bomb

Does this mean I am now part of the 1%?

 

Did I miss anyone commenting on the Holy Grail event last night? Did anyone here actually make it? I did not obviously but wonder how busy it was.

 

I saw posts on FB saying it was a zoo and very poorly ran.

 

There has been some anger flying around on Facebook about it. Looks like it might have been deleted though.

 

It was quite the shitshow. The problem was that (in terms of people looking for the glass), the bartenders at first said there were no glasses, started filling reg glasses first, (about 30 of them or so) then filled the 2 cases or so of Prairie glasses they somehow found...which meant that the people who had been sitting there for a while waiting got the beer, but in regular glasses, while some people who just walked in got the Prairie glasses, if that makes sense...

After being told repeatedly that they were supposed to get glasses with the beer (not by me, I was standing about three people away from it), one of the bartenders turned around, yelled at a customer, and slammed an empty glass down hard enough to shatter it on the bar, which flung glass shards everywhere.

No, the event was not handled very well, but I honestly am not sure how they could have done better. It is not like they shut down the bar for this event, there were other people who needed to get served that had nothing to do with it. The bar is not built to host 125 people looking for nothing but a pour and a glass. Might have worked if they had a separate section with a bartender just for that event, serving just those beers, but that is probably just a pipe dream considering the size of the operation.

 

They didn't have glasses when they started pouring. Glasses arrived afterwards and our waitress said they didn't have many because she only got to give out two. Only group I saw with glasses was the LonestarBev table.

Our waitress was extremely frustrated as the patrons were very rude to her because they ran out of everything so quickly. She was awesome though and kept a cool head. Even thanked us for being great guests.

 

Sounds like @saint0r and I had the same waitress, tattooed chick who was super nice and great at her job? She got yelled at by people b/c they didn't get a glass, get over it. We ordered 4 pours for our table, got 2, and no glasses, oh well, life goes on, Fern was able to score a glass from someone else with half a pour and was nice enough to let me keep the glass. I can say no one who walked up at the last minute got a glass as they stopped entering orders for Brimstome Bomb before 6. It was a s-show, but it was still fun. Got to hang out with @mattisloco and @air, I did a flight of Balcones whiskey as that was the only way to get the whiskey glass, and got a pour of Brimstone Bomb to split. The mac-n-cheese was the highlight of the night.

 

Yeah it makes perfect sense. They were waiting for a particular group of people to get there before they started handing out glasses. Not that I care either way. It's not a reason to drill the waitress that's for sure.

 

^^This. I lay the blame at Easy Tiger's feet (and whatever other establishment is holding these events) when they do not give everyone all the information. If they had posted on FB that they only had a slim and only had two cases of glasses, people would not have had any right to be upset. If you really wanted a pour and a glass, show up 30 minutes before tapping to ensure a seat at the bar. However, not only did they not do this, they also mismanaged the logistics of the crowd they did receive. In these cases, I think people are justified in being upset. However, people should still avoid taking their anger out on waitstaff that likely had nothing to do with the mismanagement. After all, it is just beer. Hopefully, Easy Tiger (and others) can learn from this in the future.

Also, I have been to Holy Grail in the past and it is an excellent place. Their ghost pepper chili is the bomb. However, if they cannot handle a sizeable crowd of people "only looking for a pour and a glass," they either need to not have these types of events or deal with negative feedback when the event turns out to be a shitshow. Or just plan ahead and run a smooth event.

 

I thought the beer was great though. Barrel took the edge off and had slight smoky flavor then a bit of pepper.

 

Please read all the previous posts before posting.

"They can only make so much beer" - I made it very clear in my previous post that my issue about WTF!? was that they ran out so early, and YET had enough of the same beer to pour it ALL WEEKEND in the main hall of GABF. This tells me that they (1) underestimated how much they would need for GABF (which is hard to believe, since it was a ticketed event so they knew exactly how many people would be there), or (2) intentionally only brought a small amount to WTF!? and saved the rest for the general festival (shitty move since people paid a very expensive price specifically for tickets to WTF!?)

Prairie WAS the first line I got into. It was gone by the time I got to the front.

I dont think its "unfair" or "unreasonable" to suggest that they should bring enough beer for events, but I'm also not as obvious of a Prairie homer as you (maybe I'm tainted by the infected vanilla and coffee Noir bottles I bought.....)

 

I blame Patrick, and his posse of glassware hoarders

 

I guess I made the right decision to stand at the bar at Holy Grail so I was one of the first 8 or so people to get a pour but in a regular glass. It was packed nut to butt and I can't say how other people there made out but other than not getting a special glass despite being one of the first people I can't complain. In any case, I ended up getting a Prairie glass after asking them nicely. The bartender just poured out the beer into a regular glass to give me the empty Prairie one.

So overall it was a decent experience for me and I thought the Brimstone Bomb was pretty solid. Not as much whiskey notes as I would have liked but I loved the smokiness of it and I think it had a more intense chocolate flavor than regular Bomb.

 

GABF...they have to have a certain number of kegs every day already allocated (or something along those lines). So, every day there will be the beer available.

 

Right. So the argument 2 people have made now about how "limited" this beer is and how little they made being the reason they ran out doesn't hold up. Bad planning seems more likely

 

I do too

 

That is bullshit, assuming that is what was done. Don't care who you are...you want a glass, be there early and in time for the event. Wasn't there, and usually wouldn't comment. However, that's got me worked up and hot just imagining myself in a position where I was passed over on glassware I shows up for. Fuck that.

 

Bad planning indeed... it's especially odd since quite a few bottles of Coolship Truck hit bottle shops around Denver in the week or 2 after GABF ended...usually this happens when there are "leftovers" from WTF (bottles that weren't finished) that Crooked Stave Artisans then distributes around town.... not sure why Prairie wouldn't have just served those bottles at WTF...

 

That's crazy, are you sure? I spoke with Chase briefly tonight and he said that only 60 cases of Coolship Truck were made. That's a crazy find if they were really just selling them at stores there.