Bruery 2016 RS/HS Allocations

Wee heavy chron 18 and what looks like Wineification 4.

 

Do not be shocked if Kumquats is not available. I suspect, with having no inside info, that it might be pushed into 2017. Yes, all 2016 members will get their bottles, but whenever the beer is ready. They have done this in the past with allocations, not sure about included beers though.

 

Was there ever a beer label for it posted? Seems like almost all of the beers released this year have had their labels listed online with the exception of the remaining included RS beers

 

New 2017 Reserve member here. Missed 2016 sign up by a week. I know Reserve doesn't work like Preservation does with the quarterly drops, and it looks like the included bottles just become available when they are available throughout the year. But how do the other releases work? Is it first Monday of the month? or just by email/facebook notification? I guess I'm asking if it's on a regular schedule or random?

 

First monday of the month, you should receive an email. There are probably a handful that come randomly available and those you receive an email for.

 

if you read through this thread, you will get a good idea how things become available. An allocation is released on the first Monday. Sometimes additional beers become available during the month. Sometimes there will be an additional opportunity to purchase more than your initial allocation.

 

For Hoarders, I think there is another Hoarders Cuvee, the sour one.

 

You know what would be hilarious? If the sour Hoarders Cuvee was SitR w/ Pineapple and Coconut.

 

You can read the blend in this photo—check on coconut!

 

Well, Terreux Hoarders Cuvee actually sounds pretty good.

 

Kind of a lot going on in that one. I'm trusting that they did some experimenting to come to that laundry list of adjuncts....

 

Right up until everything including and following "wheatwine..."

 

White pepper and The Bruery's history with spices has me highly skeptical

 

HA, remember guys, the terreux guys didn't make this blend, the hoarders members did. I had it at the blending tourney last year, and at least in small batch, it was tasty. Very delicate though so a heavy hand could royally mess it up.

I'm sure at this weekends blending tourney they will let us try it. I'll report back with how they did.

 

It might be there ;-)

 

I think I've figured you guys out

 

And? Still sounds terrible. I wish the Bruery would do more BT Reserve style of releases for the Hoarders - smaller, pricier projects that are going to taste really good. Nothing new, intriguing, ground-breaking, etc - just solid ingredients and processes. I know they have more old ales and sweet strong beers than they know what to do with at this point, but give that shit to the masses.

 

I usually don't roll the dice on beers that sounds overly complex, as they usually don't work out imo. However, I did recently cracked my bottle of Melange #11 and actually really liked it. I expected to hate it and brought it as sort of a gag beer to a party, but it was good enough I went back for a 2nd glass. Of course everyone else couldn't get through a pour of it, but personal taste can vary so who knows about this new one.

 

Without saying names, I know for a fact that some of the people wanted cleaner, simpler beers so they knew they could execute them perfectly....looks like the final judging team decided that the more complex one, even though it would be more difficult to produce, was the better option.

The funny thing about your comment, and I find myself also saying the same thing, is the reason we dislike a lot of the stuff they are doing now is the exact reason we fell in love with the Bruery in the first place. They were the place that didn't do IPAs and they were the place that would do all these random outside the box ideas. In 2008-2013, that was great, but since then we've gotten used to them doing these crazy things and now we just want the simple things that are awesome. The Bruery has really just been doing the same thing they've always done but their most loyal fans have had a change in tastes.

At the end of the day, you can't fault the Bruery from doing what it has always done. They will always be the place that tries random shit. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won't.

 

I don't think that's true though. They're weren't following the hot trends necessarily, but they also weren't doing the Dogfish Head throw shit at the wall and see what sticks thing either. The beer that put them on the map was an imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels. Even in 2009, that was far from a risky choice on brewing a beer. And then they followed that up with the same beer with cocoa nibs. There wasn't a lot of question of whether that would taste good, and it was far from revolutionary (remember what the acronym BCS originally referred to in the beer world?).

They were one of the first breweries out here, following LA and RR, to do sours. Biting, acetic sours, which the market has moved on from. Some of their newer sours have been pretty damn good though, so I do think they're trending in a positive direction here. Though combining with a wheatwine is just stupid, imo.

Finally, they really, really, really need to do smaller bottles. I'm not only going to open their bottles in a large group, and I don't always want to drink the same bottle 2-3 days in a row. I know they're branding for the wine segment, but when their beers are more alcoholic and caloric than a bottle of wine, the comparison breaks down.

Finally, I can and will fault a business for not keeping pace in a changing environment. Just because grandma did it doesn't mean it's going to work forever. I fault Lost Abbey for continuing to put out poorly QC'd beers in a much more competitive landscape, I fault Alpine for their abhorrent customer service and their transition to GF, I fault Stone for resting on their laurels with bitter but not aromatic IPAs (getting better), and I fault Russian River for loving the shitshow of a release, even as their beers get worse.

If the Bruery wants to keep trying random shit to stay relevant, that's their call. But I've had enough of the cocktail replicas (rather have a cocktail), the peppery beers, the old ale mixes. Where's BT with Vanilla? Or with Coconut? Or more pleasant sours like Room for Me?