Twin Cities Bottle Hunt - 2016 Edition

Correct.

 

KBS in at MGM Mankato. Singles for a bit over $7 out the door.

 

Quality issues? I went to the taproom for the first time this last weekend & everything was good or better.

 

Yeah, they seem to have everything locked in OK. It basically comes down to whether you like what they're putting out or not but I haven't noticed anything 'off' or of poor quality.

What they bottling and what's the price point?

 

Agree, i will try one thou to see.

 

Do not know the price point.

 

KBS is a great beer and in 12 oz for $6 ummmm yes please.

#minorityreport

 

I only went to the grand opening. While I really enjoyed some of the beers, there were way too many that either were underattenuated or had off flavors. The wit was the most offensive of the bunch. Nearly all of their issues stemmed from not being patient with their fermentation and definitely could have been alleviated if they didn't rush to have 9 beers on tap at opening. I heard the taproom has been pretty empty lately, so hopefully they can win back customers with these bottles.

 

Between the four of us we probably sampled ten of the beers they had on tap, not an off-flavor or underattenuated one in the bunch. A couple were pretty dull (the dark beers in particular) but the Belgians were really good, as were the sours, though they weren't very sour at all. The place wasn't full, but there were probably forty people in the big space.

I've pretty much given up on going to brewpubs right after they open. I've had too many poor experiences, then people tell me later "Oh, they're much better now!" which is just irritating. Don't open if the beer ain't ready!

 

Small capital-intensive startups can get quite hairy, sometimes. Finaces may dictate that it is a matter of opening now or not at all.

 

Yeah, I agree to a point, but brewing beer is no different than most things in life. Not everyone can be awesome at it right out of the gate. I think many small breweries open quickly, just get product out, and a lot of people find it dull. However, good breweries take feedback from customers and try to evolve their process, putting out better beer as they grow, learn, and perfect their craft.

If your expectation is that every time you go to a new start up brewery it is going to be world class and check all your own personal boxes as to what makes a great brewery...well, you my friend should get used to disappointments.

That said, if over time, you are noticing that a brewery you consider dull is not changing, then by all means, cut ties. Spend your money where you want and on what you want.

 

I understand that might be the case in a tiny percentage of cases, but that's just poor planning.

I don't want to clutter the hunt thread with this, but I don't buy this argument. At. All. We don't make the same lame excuses for new restaurants, new food on grocery stores shelves, new cars, or anything else. As a consumer, if I pay hard-earned money for something, anything, including beer, I expect to get a quality product. Period. If brewers can't get their shit together for their opening, they shouldn't be opening. If they haven't "learned their craft" or have enough cash to weather a mistake or two, well, they've just lost me as a customer, perhaps permanently, because of bad business planning or bad brewing. Too many other good beers out there to pay for crap, no matter how young or old a brewery is.

We all love beer. That's why we're here. But the excuses for putting out a lousy product just encourages bad behavior.

 

Yeah, I get your point, not trying to convince you to do something or spend your money in a way you don't want to. You don't have to buy my idea because, frankly, I am not selling it. I am totally fine with you having your owns ideas.

However, to say, you are not willing to go to new breweries until they are "ready" means that you are willing to let others do the work for you. Others will sample beers, share feedback, talk to the owners and brewers, share ideas, make the relationships, help shape the future of those breweries, and have a part in a bigger process. Then, you can stroll in months later and just enjoy "good beer".

The beer world needs people like that too. If that is the roll you want, so be it. I ain't mad at cha. Do your thing. Whatever floats your boat.

 

I understand your frustration, but this is unrealistic and naïve. As someone who brewed at the opening of a smaller brewpub, I can say that this problem is unavoidable. It takes a while to really get used to new equipment and processes, for the yeast to acclimate to the new equipment, and to find that sweet spot for each of the different beers. Plus, until you actually use the equipment, it's difficult to tell if there are any minor problems with it that need addressing. There also are myriad other issues that can impact a newer brewery: inability to acquire raw ingredients (especially specialty/rare hops), prohibitive cost to acquire all of the ingredients you would prefer (special-ordering that few grams of specialty malt needed for the first "test" batch is significantly more expensive than substituting some two-row, which is already on hand), lack of knowledgeable FOH staff to explain the beers, trying to get the water just right, etc. There's no way to avoid it.. the beer won't be as good at first as it is a year later. It's just a fact of opening a new spot. No amount of waiting to open will change that. Like ANY job, there is a learning curve.

Could you dump out the first 10-20 batches of beer? Sure. But that's thousands and thousands and thousand of dollars down the drain (literally), and most smaller brewpubs don't have that much capital. In fact, most have debt that needs to be serviced and rent due and utilities due and wages that need to be paid. Very, very few breweries open with all of the capital that they need; most have just enough to get by.

The long and short of it is, you shouldn't ever really judge a brewery until they have been open for a bit. If, for you, that means not going until later on, then that's the choice for you. But many of the best breweries around right now wouldn't be around today if not for those local patrons who saw the potential--even if the beer wasn't quite there yet--and kept supporting their local brewery while the brewers learned from their initial mistakes. I didn't know the name of a single person who came only to our occasional bottle releases of RIS's and sours. But I knew the names of the people that had sat at our bar from the very beginning and told us kindly that our beer was getting better ("this batch is the best one yet").

For me, seeing a brewery progress--even if that means drinking shitty beer occasionally--is worth it.

 

Isn't this a bottle hunt thread?

 

I look at places like Indeed and Bent Paddle that opened with top notch quality products right off the bat and wish more would follow suit.

 

Yeah; maybe take further discussion of this issue here: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-brewery-bad-beer.404350/

 

So... Any KBS today? Last batch of Pompeii make it up here yet?

 

This.... Anyone got eyes on Pompeii?

 

I'm told KBS will be at Sids in Bloomington at 2 pm. No idea of cost or limits. It hit a couple of the Richfield stores yesterday.