Bruery 2017 RS/HS Allocations

Hey guys. Just wanted to jump in here to provide some information in response to questions about price increases in our Tasting Rooms. Raising prices is certainly a sensitive topic, and it’s something we don’t take lightly (or take on frequently). We’ve been reviewing our draft pricing structure and evaluating what other establishments are doing as well now that benchmarking options have increased substantially as of late. We believe the modifications we made are competitive and remain a fair value for our beer, commensurate with the brand (type of beer, ingredients, vintage, barrel treatment, etc.)

Some specific comments have mentioned increases to taster prices. Along with the increase, we’ve bumped up the taster-size pour to 3-oz. The option for a 32-oz. growler fill of bottled brands now mirrors the bottle price (current bottle prices are remaining as-is). The Society half growler will get you about 6.5 oz. more of beer for the price, if you prefer to drink it fresh.

As always, thanks for the feedback. Your support means a great deal to us and we aim to be transparent with you. You’re able to see our draft list on our websites and Untappd 24/7.

Semi-related to the topic, we’ll be doing a daylight savings time growler sale promotion from Friday to Monday. You’ll get $5 off your first 2-L. growler fill and $10 off a second.

 

We've made a few updates to help today's event run more smoothly. See you there!

 

While I understand everything you have said this wasn't the way to increase prices. Increases of 20-30%+ at one time are going to have an immediate impact of people buying less. I would totally understand an increase of $0.25-$0.50 a taster and increasing new growler fills a couple dollar now and then a couple dollar in 6-9 months.
I enjoyed coming to the tasting room when I am in the area. Now, since I get whatever beer in bottles I will probably pass on the bruery and go elsewhere so I can try other beers (I have limited time to drink). I already have stock piles of Bruery beers so even my purchases have become limited.
Also, this year we are not guaranteed tickets for the anniversary party which also saw a 15% increase in price, if that sells out, I will be done with RS at the bruery. I never thought I would be that entitled bruery member, but after 3 years of membership, I am one. The first three months of this year are off to an awful start on a customer service level.

 

Allocations are up, its the 3 expected beers and Valise for Reserve

 

BruerJoel's profile pic looks like an evil businessman laughing at his price gouging ways.

 

Same with HS, along with the anniversary tickets. No brainer there, bought my 4 without even having 4 ppl confirmed to come along, hahahaha.

As for the price increase, man, it sucks to see additional money on a ticket that goes towards a charity. I hate charities. Helping others sucks and should never be a thing...ever... /s

 

On the horizon, Griffon Brux and M9. Erection achieved.

 

No wishlist for extra tickets...cmon!!
Joking

 

Hahaha, if that would have been a thing the butthurt would almost increase exponentially along with the "not guaranteed" aspect. Ah hahahahaha, almost kinda wish it was a thing now so that I could buy extra and just pull randoms from the RS line to come in an hour earlier with me.

 

Strike 1: The reason why I frequented The Bruery was because it was reasonably priced compared to a place like Bottle Logic, where a flight could easily put me back $30 before tips. Using other places as a benchmark rather than just raising based on rising costs is not a good idea. I think you'll see a lot of people who frequented The Bruery due to the value in comparison jump ship.

Strike 2: Another reason why I love the Bruery is because I could try a bunch of stuff... I'd rather pay less for a 2oz pour and get to try more things than get such a draconian increase, even if you bump the size of the pour. With over 40 beers on tap at both locations, I can bet I'm not the only one.

Strike 3: I've never purchased a growler of something that mirrored the price of a bottle... same for a in-house pour. I've also never paid more than $30 for a growler of anything, regardless of size. When you purchase a bottle of something, you're not just paying for the beer, you're also paying for the packaging, processing, and the fact that it should be able to age. By increasing your growler prices, in many cases by OVER 50%, you've taken away any value (perceived or not) that a growler should afford the person who purchased it.

Man, if only the Angels had that kind of pitching...

I hate to say it, but I really think you guys made a huge mistake with this one. I can understand having to raise prices, and would have supported a $.25-$.50 increase on tasters, a $1 increase on full pours and an increase of a few bucks on growler fills (especially when you're only getting a 1 L fill). But I simply can't afford to frequent the Tasting Room with these kind of increases. And that's a shame because the service I always get is top-notch (which I pay for by tipping generously). I also would say VERY bad timing on this one: Many society members are seething about one thing or another and the Terreux TR hasn't really gotten off the ground... I think you guys just pissed off a lot of people at a time when you need them the most.

I LOVE The Bruery and always love coming to the Tasting Room... you guys have been my cheers bar for the past couple of years. I'm very disappointed that it seems like I won't be able to do that as much anymore.

 

Not cool. @BruerJoel hangs out in these threads to help answer (sometimes difficult) questions, be it direct or in the thread itself, and if you ever meet him in person he's incredibly nice and willing to answer questions. The Bruery isn't one man, and while we may not agree with a call, you have to give him credit for putting himself in here. Attacking someone who is just trying to be informative is lame as hell.

 

I'm pretty sure that's part of his job description. Not a justification for being a dick to him (although I took the comment about his profile pic as a joke), but giving him "credit" for doing what his employer pays him for seems a bit silly. Yeah, dealing with angry beer geeks probably sucks but the Bruery has derived a ton of benefit from BA and other beer forums over the years*, it's reasonable to expect them to take the bad with the good.

* There's an argument to be made that the pre-release praise for BT '09 from Overlord and a few other posters is a non-trivial component of the Bruery's meteoric rise but in craft beer terms, that's ancient history...

 

Yeah I totally agree that it greatly benefits them to remain active with parts of their fan base wherever they may be (social media, forums, etc)...and they have to take the good with the bad. Not sure what may be included in Joel's job offhand, but so many breweries ignore forums and social media that it's refreshing to see employee's monitoring and commenting in threads. Case in point is the SMM stuff from last month, and the now expanded hours for today's event.

 

Just wondering why a 5oz glass of Rue d'Floyd is $8 = $40 for the same oz as a bottle. Same goes for the Mash variants: 5oz @ $8...pretty sure this bottle is $22.99!? Black Tuesday pour now equates to a $45 bottle. So even though the taster size has increased with the price and the growlers we get an extra 6.5oz...the full pour has stayed the same but the price has been jacked up?

 

Yeah, but with the dramatic increase in prices across the board, it's kind of like a 1 step forward, 2 steps back situation. We're applauding them for increasing access to the tasting room but a significant segment of their customers now are more hesitant or adamant about visiting the tasting room.

 

Oh I agree that I'm not a fan of the increases at all, and find it quite puzzling as to the large jump (especially for growler fills). It will hurt my ability to get as many growler fills as I have in the past for sure.

 

$45 for a growler fill of Dodie? Odds they sell more than 1 of those ever?

 

If by saying his picture represents their new business mentality is attacking him... well it isn't. I didn't say anything about him personally. His profile pic DOES look like Dr. Evil laughing.

if you really need to take issue with that you should stay off the Internet. There is much worse stuff out there.

 

Everything you said is on point.

 

@BruerJoel

Are the anniversary ticket refundable/transferable? I have may be traveling in late april/early may for work that I can't control. So I can wait to confirm travel plans and risk tickets selling out or risk wasting the money on tickets if I have to travel.