http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1719619463/the-clamp-and-gasket-0 another brewery possibly opening in the southside of Chicago. Pledge prices seem iffy for what you get return. still let's see another spot open up in Chicago. http://clampandgasket.com/
Like the idea of a training facility being incorporated. And Bryan can make some good beer. Good luck to him!
I agree... Prices / Rewards don't make sense... The amount they need to raise is high, too. It's going to be quite a challenge, but I wish them well.
Don't get me started on these Kickstarter things again... A glass that cost $1 to make and a tour of a brewery for $100?!?!?1111! How come the goal hasn't been reached yet??
Isn't Bryan the former Flossmoor brewer who now works at Half Acre? The silver lining to this is that he's a super nice guy and a talented brewer. Perhaps once they're up and running he can release his Hi-Fi Rye under another name, perhaps Barrel Aged Shmi-Fly Brye, or something.
the pipeworks kickstarter was pretty decent. i just wish i knew of it before it finished. to be fair, i think this kickstarter recently started. not sure how to check when it started.
Totally agree with you that B Skimos is a great brewer and a really good guy. I would rather take a chance on a local guy with grassroots funding, and have a real craft brewery. Versus the creeping commerialism and the money-men just trying to cash in on a new trend. The rewards for donations are just a way of saying thanks.....go to Groupon if you're looking for deals.
2BD: Kickstarter isn't for charity. If you want to give them money, you can already do that. Kickstarter is a way for product and service providers to generate capital, in exchange for products and services. And this one doesn't make sense... the Pipeworks idea fits perfectly: "We will hold a bottle of each thing we make for you, for up to a week" that sort of thing. Reserve society-like. Lot's of BAs are down with that. Just charge $100 and call it a day... It costs them nothing to do it, because we're still paying for the beers individually. How many people would have a problem shelling out $100 for that sort of brew access, compared to shelling out $100 for a pint glass (usually $5 at a brewery) and a brewery tour (usually free, or if there's a fee, it usually buys you beer) This is what most people reading this thread or reading the kickstarter are thinking. No one really wants a $25 coozie. No one really wants a $50 sticker and pint glass (hell... many people on this site abhor pint glasses anyway!) We all want beer. So sell access to beer, and you make your money quickly. We WANT you to succeed, because we WANT good beer. We even want to PAY for good beer. Most of the rewards are at very unfortunate price points. Compare his class price to Solemn Oath's class. I think they've missed the boat.
I don't believe Solemn Oath had public funding. C & G pledge rewards levels don't seem all that dis-similar to Pipeworks. Yes, PW had bottle purchase rights, while C&G is slanted more towards home-brewer learning sessions. And both seen to have (had) the same $40k goal. Comparing the results of a week old campaign to PW, which started in 2011 isn't even close to being an apples to apples.
"Kickstarter is a way for product and service providers to generate capital, in exchange for products and services." No, it's not. Kickstarter is a funding platform, what you described is no different than a retail transaction or any other business, which is the "ends" of the funding platform.
Bay01: this really isn't something worth arguing over. I agree, my definition is incomplete, but I presumed that we all came here understanding that the idea is "getting funds in advance" in exchange for things ranging from a thank you, to a product or service. It is not a whole lot different than a retail transaction etc, because the promise of an exchange of goods/services for money is the bottom line. Brewers using this platform have an obvious solution, in my opinion. I don't think it's particularly tricky. The tricky part is being a talented enough brewer to be able to do the right things with your funding... that's not a problem I expect for C&G. I see their problem as making it really challenging to raise their desired number, and vastly reducing the likelihood of generating a sum significantly over that which they aimed. I have friends who have raised triple their intended sum, and as someone who owns a small brick and mortar business, I can tell you that would be a dream come true. But it's also not worth getting into a debate over.
Looks like it ended with them not getting even remotely close to their goal, and this is an understatement.
