Penrose wild release Oct 14

So this is the 2nd time I think they've released on a weekday. I missed the last one since I work during the day and more than 1 hr from the brewery. I had no issue rationalizing that they're trying to hit the locals. It's something lots of breweries do, and I think it's a great concept and message to send. I was at this one and went because I wanted to make a day of it by taking my wife to lunch without kids in Geneva. It just worked out to take the day off.

I was surprised by the allocations for both of the weekday releases, and I think they're going to adjust this down to match the weekend ones. It's certainly based on production volume, but also on the mule factor. Allocations of two on the weekend certainly become 4 very quickly on the weekend release. While this may not be the case all the time, I certainly believe it still happens. That said, I think all the other releases have improved since the very 1st one. And it's nice to see them acknowledge the issue quickly via social media.

 

Entitlement much? Do you honestly think the majority of their customers are going to get pissed off and stop buying their beer just because this bottle release was during the work day? I doubt Penrose would care if people that snobby weren't customers any more. If you really wanted those bottles, take a PTO day from work and make the trip. Otherwise, get over it...

 

A weekday release is fine, but offering bottle allotments that lead to a sellout in a half an hour is pretty lame in my book. I did take a half of a vacation day off and got there an hour after it started. When I found out there was none left, I had one on tap and will most likely never go there again. What a waste of time
Too many great breweries that have their act together for releases. And they don't take cash for one tap beer? Is that even legal?
No more trips to Geneva for me.

 

LOL. I can't wait until I get into the later years stage. My wallet can't wait either..

 

Eh. Always frustrating when a special release is at some goofy time and sells out immediately. Doesn't shock me that Penrose does this. Went there once and sampled everything on tap, none of which was noteworthy. They have all these special release (empty) bottles around the taproom just taunting you.

 

solemn oath does the same thing...

The fact that you are complaining about that in itself proves the point that people will get mad about anything. You had your beer, so you had plastic on hand, yet you still ignorantly complain about a measly policy that didn't effect your day one bit.

 

yeah, thats what those bottles are there for...to taunt the customer.

Perspective much?

 

It is not entitlement at all. It is clearly offensive (especially to the regular patrons) to the locals and fans of their beer, that they release their beer very early on a weekday and with such a high limit that only a few non-weekday working folks get all of it. It was completely unreasonable to expect the vast majority of their normal customer base to be able to make it to that release. I would quite certainly be pissed, as many are.

 

Okay then if you're that hurt by it, instead of complaining about it on the internet, write them an email...

 

i was surprised how high the bottle count was, too, but the thing that bothered me was all the line jumpers who went straight to the "i'll just have it on tap," area and then were walking out with full bottle allocations. sucks that people waiting their turn were shut out. not penrose's fault and sucks that there are people who have no respect for the brewery or other beer enthusiasts.

that said, both of the beers released were definitely worth the trip!

 

Obviously not, I am just grumbling. That is how it feels when the beers are unobtainable short of taking a day off work.

 

<Still wearing old man hat> Yes, it's said too much, but come on folks, it's just beer. There will be more, better, cheaper, more expensive, tastier, more fruit-forward, less fruit-forward, more sour, less sour <insert sour style here> with apricots or whatever to be produced soon from the myriad of breweries bottling "special releases" around the country.

This increasingly rapid selling out of product recently, whatever the limit is, has gotten significantly out of hand. Once you get to the latter stages of the list above (as I believe I have) it is incredibly interesting standing back a bit and observing just how dumb all of this is/was in the grand scheme of things. Not saying this perspective is "better" or "worse", it's just different, and I think my blood pressure and overall mental health is all the better for it.

Just a few thoughts.

<Continues to wear old man hat, shakes cane at kids riding by on bikes for going too fast>

 

Haha

Best line of the week.

 

They do the weekday releases so locals have a shot at getting it. It was originally done as a benefit to their regular customers that we're getting shut out of the Saturday releases because people were coming from all over. You have to remember, Geneva is a small town, and the support of the town is essential to all businesses, not just Penrose. The weekday releases aren't a 'fuck you' to the city, they're a 'thank you' to the locals.

I don't have any affiliation with the brewery beyond living 6 blocks away, but I hope that people who drove an hour for a 1pm Wednesday release that was bigger than they anticipated don't let that hamper their choice when they see Tom's beer on tap somewhere. It's interesting stuff and worth your time, especially their saisons and one-offs. It's great beer to drink all day.

FWIW, 13 sold out before I bought any and I got some 14 that I'll be splitting between the people that get together on a weekly basis in Geneva that didn't get any.

I know it's frustrating when you have trades lined up and think you're guaranteed to get some beer and the a line splits and it sells out and you walk away with nothing. I have a trade that included 13 and 14 that I will be subbing out some beers for and I'd be lying if I said i wasn't a bit salty about how it went down, but turning a one-off experience on a unique day into a hill worth dying over is stupid. Give them a shot on a day when there isn't a release. Their beer is meant to be enjoyed with friends around big wooden tables for a few hours on a Saturday afternoon, not in an overcrowded taproom with a bunch of anxious people in business slacks.

As I said above, both beers were on tap from open until close yesterday. And those that went a little later could also get the first pours of Coffee Navette with FreshGround coffee.

Come out to Geneva and spend an afternoon at Penrose and enjoying the town and then reasses how you feel. Hell, first round's on me.

 

One thing to remember, XII was 12 per person on a Tuesday at 1pm and maybe 20 people were there when they opened. Bottles lasted until 7pm. XI was an 8 per person release on a Saturday with enough left over for everyone to get another 8 if they wanted. XIII/XIV release was completely unexpected (the power of apricot I guess).

Talking with Tom and Eric afterwards, they thought the combo of XIII/XIV would last longer then XII. They only had 2 people working the bar that day because of the expected low turn-out, but when they saw the line everyone in the building who worked for them had to jump behind the bar to help. Going forward, they seem pretty set on never listing allotments until the moment of the release so they can better manage bottle counts. They are pretty pissed at themselves for messing this up and don't want it to happen again. In retrospect it should have been 1 or 2 each, but they will make it a point to not do this again.

For those wondering, they pick weekdays with the hope of having bottles last through the day and into the evening and even the next day, but not so that the bottles are still there 5, 10, 15 days later. A balancing act they messed up this time, but acknowledge the mistake and plan on fixing.

 

If there is anything I've learned in the last few years is that the difference between a weekday vs weekend release is fairly insignificant for a limited release which has a higher level of demand. No offense but to think a weekday release is going to in itself allow bottles to linger around for an extra amount of hours/days is naivete with regard to the state of craft beer today. An 8 hour round trip drive is just another beer run these days. And how does a weekday vs weekend impact not having bottles linger around for 5, 10, 15 days later? Release on a Wed, the 5 days includes 3 weekdays and 2 weekend days. Releasing on a Sat, the 5 days includes 3 weekdays and 2 weekend days. Not quite getting that point, sorry.

And it's pretty clear it was the 6 bottle allocation which f#$'d up everything today not necessarily the day of the release.

And their official comment which mentioned the following,

"Although we recognize we should have reduced allocation amounts in an effort to get beer to as many people as possible, we also had no expectation that a crowd of this size would show up in the middle of a workday."

So when they saw the crowd of that size show up in the middle of a workday, they couldn't make a call and reduce allocations at that point in order to get beer to as many people as possible?

ETA: I didn't go to the release and had no intention to go to the release so I had no skin in this game.

 

When you take into account the XI and XII release, it wasn't expected to have a high level of demand. Using those releases as examples, if they would have done 1pp for XII, it would have been there for probably 1-2 weeks. That was the point of my comment, the bottle count was high enough to make sure it doesn't go past the weekend but anticipated to last a day or two (that obviously didn't pan out).

As I said, they know they messed up. When they took a look outside of the brewery initially (15-20 minutes before 1pm), it wasn't that big of a line. But when they opened the doors and their was a huge line out into the road, they should have adjusted at that time, but didn't. Partially because they had already promised the 6pp of each, but more because they didn't take a moment to re-assess. Huge mistake but lesson learned.

 

I was also in line and got shutout. Got there about 12:30-12:45. I saw the line and figured they must've Brewer a lot and was not worried about leaving empty handed at all. I'm not too upset i don't live far and got both on tap. However, one of the employees (might have been tom) walked around to us and told us if we were staying for drinks to go up to the bar because they sell bottles there too. I stayed in line thinking I miss heard but about 4 people around me went up to the bar and got full allotments. How could they not know when they opened that there were not enough bottles for everyone in line. I felt terrible for the people that got there earlier than me who didn't get bottles while people in the back just walked up and got them.

Again I'm not upset they ran out, that happens. I'm more upset that people essentially were allowed to cut the line and were smirking and bragging about how they beat the line. That pissed me off.

 

Hopefully they learn from this the most (imo). They really should have adjusted on the fly given the circumstances. Pissing off a guy who is there to get six bottles so he can trade or ship off a couple and can now only get 1 or 2 or whatever the reduced allocation is better than pissing off the first customer who goes away empty handed with nary a bottle. I realize a business wants to sell through their inventory and it's a delicate balance in how to handle releases but I believe *most* people would have no issue with a reduced allocation given the turnout. Yeah there will be a few idiots whining across social media about not getting the stated 6 bottles but in the end we're all in this to share and enjoy good beer - the more people who can share & enjoy the better imo. Cheers!

ETA: Next release they should just mention that the allocation will be x number of bottles but they can and will amend the allocation based on turnout. If it's clearly stated, no one should have any issue should the allocation be reduced (save for the few idiots mentioned above )

 

A couple of easy solutions to this:

1. Don't agree to trades for beer you don't have.

And, my personal preference...

2. Drink the beer you buy.