Bruery 2015 RS/HS Allocations

Thanks for clarifying that Matt. It all makes perfect sense and I personally completely understand the way you're handling it. I think the whole SHITshow started because of the statement, which as I recall, was made on Bruery's behalf, that [s.h.i.t] is not going to be released, because it doesn't meet your "standards". I may be wrong here, as I don't remember where exactly I read that, but I think that's where the speculations started. It should've been clarified then that Bruery meant that it's possibly infected and you want to have full control over this beer, right until the last moment when the beer is consumed.
Please someone correct me if I'm wrong about that statement.

 

You're correct, the specific verbiage:

Had they just said from day one that it was microbial instability, infection, whatever you want to call it, it would've been disappointing (and sadly unsurprising), but it would've at least made everything clear. I have zero problem with it being cancelled due to infection risk, and zero problem serving it in the tasting room - recoup funds and let people try it, that makes perfect sense. My only frustration was that they didn't just honestly communicate what the issue was, especially since the chain of events made it rather clear there were things being left unsaid.

I appreciate @mattolesh clarifying it and explaining what happened, hopefully if this arises again in the future we can get an immediate clear explanation, rather than an ambiguous statement buried in a food pairings email.

 

I get that you personally have a urge to know issues immediatly but the Bruery as a business doesn't owe you anything aside from the bottles included in your membership (and in this case a refund). This scenario is one of the many possibilities accounted for when they announce a 'Projected' lineup with a fat asterisk stating that it is subject to change. It is getting to the point in these threads where I expect someone to complain that they were not informed employee-A missed a colonoscopy appointment and now they are clearly pouring from the tap at a sub par standard. I fear that if people keep this up they are going to stop divulging a project list entirely and just tell people monthly what is on sale as it is released. As a collective beer enthusiast group we should hope to avoid this.

They don't need to give you an open look at their books and operating procedures, they are solely vested in protecting and expanding their business (as they should be). In this case they are mitigating the fallout from another potentially compromised beer; it is good now. If they hold a beer back, you can/should assume it is for good reason. I feel like people around here assume Patrick, Matt and co are sitting in the back room laughing their asses off while drinking secret beers withheld from the public. There is/was clearly a systemic issue that bogged down several recent releases and as a result they moved all wild production to a new facility. It will take time to flesh out all the beer already in production that is at risk but I'd think it is time to assume we are on the downswing of those issues as they move into Terreux.

Sorry for the rant (not directed at just you), I didn't have a beer yet to filter my keyboard.



Anyone crack Port/Madeira Black Tuesday yet? I'd like to hear some thoughts

 

Picked up my beers and the 32oz growler tonight. The growler is really nice. Only used it as a water bottle so far but it feels really well made and keeps cold really well. I look forward to filing it up with some Bruery beers soon.

 

Did the same. Was a little bummed that they aren't set up to actually fill the growlers yet; guess that's coming in a week or so. Still, really like the Hydroflask.

 

Not to be a dick here, but have you ever shipped packages through any carrier at all? People seem to think shipping any item of any size/weight should be dirt cheap, but even at $14 the Postal Service is loosing money. Yes your box shouldn't take up too much room on the plane/boat/truck/bike whatever they're using, but it's one of hundreds of boxes that are just the opposite, and every square inch and every ounce costs the carrier money. Add in the cost of the box, packing supplies, invoice, tape, everything else that goes into shipping a package, especially from CA to IL, and the price is pretty fair. I'd hate to see how you react to ordering something bigger/heavier like a starter for your car or a bookshelf. It costs me $45 roughly to ship a 12 bottle shipper from CA to GA, with an account, with me providing the box and packing. My cost on all of that is roughly $10, so it's an easy $55 to ship 12 bottles across country. Without a shipping account, it's almost $70 through FedEx or UPS. Your gripe othat $14 is 'insulting' just seems a little unrealistic to me.

 

Do you honestly not see a problem with how they communicated the issues surrounding SHIT? As I already said, I have no problem with the cancellation, nor do I have a problem serving it in the tasting room to recoup some of the money. I'm not entitled to anything beyond the beer or a refund, but when your model is predicated on people spending money in advance - both a membership fee and buying allocations for those that aren't local - you either need to brew consistently great beer that people will buy blindly or be willing to communicate what's going on. If you don't, people are going to get gunshy about buying beer.

Do you believe people would sign up for a Bruery membership without a projected beer list?

You're creating a strawman argument, no one is asking for access to their books or anything near that deep. Do you really think that asking for an honest explanation of a beer's cancellation is analogous to the level of questioning you're portraying?

No...? I'm actually guessing that Matt sits behind his desk and cringes when he opens BA because he knows he's going to have to read a bunch of posts wondering what's going on and decide if he should say something or just let the speculation continue uninterrupted. And yes, I realize that I'm one of the causes of that, that fact is not lost on me.

Empirical evidence doesn't support that assumption.

If you or others are genuinely optimistic about what's going on at the Bruery and don't mind the lack of communication, I'm not going to try to change your mind, but I would think you can understand the view that others have taken in wanting to get a bit more clarity.

 

I appreciate Matt's response too, but honestly, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to understand what happened with SHIT. The beer wasn't up to their standards without monitoring and refrigeration, so they didn't release it. They wouldn't offer a subpar beer at all and the beer is still fine under the correct conditions, hence them pouring it specifically at the brewery where they can control and monitor it. Did Matt really need to explain that? The assumption the Bruery is hiding something or avoiding the topic is stupid, and it was clear to me as soon as the refunds were announced exactly what had happened. I don't see why people can't understand that without someone holding their hand.

 

@Xul Dude we get it already, they didn't communicate the issues well enough based on your standards. Just let it go and have a beer. Your really being a Debbie downer.

 

Yeah, seriously dude. Was anyone HAPPY about the way it went down? Of course not. But it wasn't like they were being shady and it wasn't that difficult to figure out it was infected. They gave you your money back and apologized. That's more than most companies would do.

Thanks again Matt for the explanation. Hopefully these people will chill out and just enjoy some great beer!

 

I agree with Xul. Matt's communication was exactly what was needed several weeks ago.

 

Really? no fills yet? I was hoping to get one tonight. This is a disappointment.

 

I was told when i picked up mine on Thursday that it would be a couple weeks before they would start filing the 32oz growler.

 

Last night I was told they will start filling 32oz growlers this coming monday!

 

I think you misunderstood my post. I completely agree with your whole "rant". I responded to Matt with my opinion on why there was such a mess on BA regarding s.h.i.t bottles, so if they would like to avoid it (which I'm not saying they should!), then they should've had a different approach.
To me, as a Bruery reserve member it didn't matter at all and didn't change how I feel about my membership and the Bruery itself, I actually personally like how they handle "things" in terms of customer relations.
Oh, btw, the Port BT was available at the BT party wasn't it? I'm curious how is it from the bottle though. Port is definitely my favorite barrel Bruery uses.

 

They were more than forthcoming when it came to the issues with FDR, RDF, and Couverteur so to be cryptic with what went wrong with SHIT was a deviation from what had become the norm. I can understand the frustration especially when they started doing pours from the tasting room. FDR and RDF were both sold with a drink by date whereas SHIT was withheld altogether and it wasn't sent down the drain. We pay a good bit of money to The Bruery every year so they need to step their game up when it comes to accidental souring and funking and maintain a level of transparency that will keep members coming back. They aren't hurting for members since RS sold out so fast this year but no business can survive if they alienate their customers. Huge thanks to Matt for giving us the full story and at this point I think we can move forward and talk about something besides SHIT. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how the separation of the clean beer from the sour projects works out.

 

Did they post where the Terreux place would be since I assume that is also where the tasting room would end up being located?

I won't go into "will both releases be available in both locations" yet since Terreux was projected later this year. So I can jump on that band wagon when it happens.

I am just curious about the proximity for both locations. I could have sworn I saw an address, but for the life of me I cannot remember where.

 

Brueries

 

It's 3 miles to the east.

 

its exactly 5k so people can do their 5k drunk runs.