Bruery Hoarders Society

How come it doesn't say (Society Member Exclusive) next to Black Tuesday is this a beer you can just pick up from the brewery when it is released?

 

I think it's brilliant. The Bruery is basically getting interest-free loans and guaranteed sales. Brilliant.

 

What's the worst that could happen?

 

How's 2009 working out for you?

 

The only way I can see this not backfiring is if they go to the "no entry fee, buy what you want" model for the RS that they wanted to do last year.

 

But the model is working amazingly, why would it backfire if they continued doing what was working?

 

Yeah, the only way this backfires is if people butthurt about not getting invited to the awesome club quit the not-quite-as-awesome club in droves. But if that happens my guess is plenty will be willing to take their spots.

 

I have a feeling that the guys plunking down $300 for RS will feel slighted that they don't get all the exclusive beers.

You said it in your last post...
"Kind of disappointed after spending thousands of dollars at the Bruery, ordering max allocations 90% of the time, I didn't get an invite."

I think that type of disappointment may lead to people leaving RS altogether.

 

I'd be interested to learn how much a person would have to give the Bruery in order to bet an invite. I read a few places where people spent thousands of dollars a year for the past few years and received no invite.

That just amazes me. Some people spend more money on Bruery beers as a RS member than they spend on all other breweries combined. I may be guilty of this, and it's embarrassing. Especially since the more beer I drink from other breweries, the less special the Bruery's beers become to me.

Rather than get another RS membership next year, I will likely save all the money I would've spent on Bruery "exclusive RS beers" and put it towards some beercations.

 

Have they explained what the criterion for the invite are? Maybe they're only sending it to members that have exercised their additional discounts and bought more than just the allocation.

 

Pretty much - buying futures has been a well-entrenched practice in the wine world for many years now, especially in Bordeaux, where it's by now an integral part of wine-buying and wine-reviewing (any wine-reviewing publication worth its salt will have extensive tasting notes of upcoming vintages while still in the barrels). For the more highly-touted wines, especially from good vintages, you're also buying "en primeur" to secure a better price per bottle than you'd get once the wines hit retail - and when you might be talking about $500 or more a bottle, case savings can be substantial (makes the pricetags on most beer "wales" look puny by comparison). The Bordeaux chateaux, of course, LOVE selling futures - they've got your money, and lots of it, several years in advance of having to actually fork over any tangible product.

 

is there anything in beer that you're not bitter and angry about?

 

I think that type of talk is the same type of talk we heard from people never buying Goose Island again after the InBev purchase. Sounds nice, but the product/memberships are still going to fly off the proverbial shelves.

 

As a new RS member this year, I am not surprised at my lack of an invitation. That said, it would be nice to know the criteria for invites.

 

I heard you get kicked out of the club if you drink the beer you are suppose to be hoarding.

 

Like I said in the pre-trade thread, nothing is ever promised tomorrow, today. Or instead of citing Kanye, maybe a James Brown song reference is more appropriate (Sayin' it & doin' it)

Sure, some people are saying they won't be in RS a year from now, but we'll see what actually happens when it comes to pulling the trigger or not.

 

As far as I know they haven't. I said in conversation with a friend that it's probably only going to people in LA who stop by provisions all the time. I mean, if multiple-year RS members who typically max out aren't getting invites, then that's really all that's left.