Bruery 2017 RS/HS Allocations

In the same boat. Got bottles of Smoking Wood Bourbon and Rye from the Holiday sale 2015. The bottles don't have dates, but they were advertised as 2012. Had the Bourbon in early 2016. Loved it. Had the Rye a couple of months ago and really liked it as well. So I jumped on the sale in June. Haven't had the bottles shipped to me yet. Guess I'm going to have to do that soon. Fingers crossed.

 

I thought the mint was a bit too much, though I think the bottle will be better than from the keg. I like their adventurous spirit in these beers. The mint flavor is going to fall off fast, much like the cherries in Geburst. Each week the flavor got better as it fell off. I think this beer will age very well and I want to see how it tastes in 6 months.

 

Do they have the regular growlers for sale at the bruery? & what price

 

Right here.

http://www.thebruery.com/tasting-room-list/

 

I meant the actual growler. Not the fill price.
Only thing on the online store is the "premium growler". Or is that all they sell.

 

No, they sell regular brown Bruery labeled swing top growlers in house for $10. At least it was 10 for me several years ago. They also sell the non Bruery labeled versions for less than $10.

 

I haven't bought any bottles in about 6 months. I was definitely dropping but now that DC pickup is an option, I guess I am back in.

 

@BruerJoel Will regular Autumn Maple be released later this year? Or is Midnight replacing it this year?

 

Midnight Autumn Maple is our new seasonal release for 2017. You'll be able to find some Autumn Maple (2016) in select markets though!

 

Good to know, thanks!

 

@BruerJoel I'm not sure how much you are involved with the RS or HS memberships, but I thought I would share with The Rare Barrel is doing to change up the membership this year. I felt it is a very nice touch and something to consider for the upcoming or future renewal periods.

Loyalty Beer | The Rare Barrel blenders will create and bottle a beer exclusively for Ambassadors of Sour who have been a member for at least 5 years. This blend will be included as part of your membership at no additional cost. All Ambassadors with at least 5 years of membership will be guaranteed at least 1500mL of this exclusive beer. That volume could increase depending on yields. Bottle quantity will be dependent upon packaging size chosen.

$50 Merchandise Credit | One of the most frequent requests we have received over the last couple years was to receive merchandise instead of a growler and glassware. Since many members already have these items and many others are not local and can’t use a growler, we have decided to change the benefit to a $50 Merchandise Code. You will automatically receive this code in a separate email once you have re-enrolled in Ambassadors of Sour for 2018. You can use it when making purchases online. We want to give you the chance to get merchandise that truly suits you! You can still get a growler if you want one but now you can get a t-shirt, a hoodie, a couple of hats or anything else that you like in our shop if you prefer. If you would like to redeem your gift code for merchandise in the tasting room, you can do so starting on January 4th, 2018. If used in the tasting room, please note that it can only be used for merchandise available online. It can not be used for draft beer, food etc.

 

The allotment is also 7500ml across 750s and 500s.

 

Has the RB membership even been around for five years? I think I joined the second year, but didn't have that language about a loyalty beer in my email today (assuming it's just for Founding Members at this point).

 

Nope, they brewed their first batch of beer in early 2013 and put the Founders Club on sale in October 2013 to cover 2014 releases.

 

As someone on another forum pointed out, 2018 will in fact be the fifth year of the membership.

Should've made more coffee after lunch...

 

So I was thinking recently about something that might make memberships more inviting, or at least convince me to try and fly out to Orange County once in a while. Obviously the Bruery has a surplus of a few archived beers, like Smooth Criminal for instance, that come up once every so often for a release or event, what if these archived bottles were made available to society members on site? Like I fly out to grab some stuff and can buy direct a case of 2015 Confession, or some vintage Melange #3, right there in person? I know that archive releases are only occasional and I understand that some bottles are held back for these releases, but if there really is 80 cases of X beer sitting in storage what would be the problem with letting some of it go? Ideally you want to sell it all at some point. I'm not talking about strolling in and buying a case of 2 Turtle Doves, but something we continue to see around but only in a short window, there must be a good amount of it available and it would be great to allow society members, maybe even only HS, to have the opportunity to buy a few extras of whatever beer they have. This would be on site only of course as putting them online opens up the issues of overselling like has happened in the past. Maybe I'm just dreaming here but everytime I open a Confession, Les Ronces, or something we haven't seen much of I get a little sad I may run out.

 

Still tasting great?

 

Oh yes.

 

I love this idea, however I bet one problem they'll cite is that these archive bottles are stored in the new off site warehouse and wouldn't be convenient to get day-of.

I agree that it seems weird that discounted beers aren't listed at all times since one assumes they are trying to clear out. But, since things like Smooth Criminal and M3 age well, and the price actually goes up each sale, my guess is that they're not worried about holding indefinitely.

 

Nope.
You get a shitty bottle opener that is going to break right away and a pin. Nothing you would actually want.