The Bruery reserve Society

I think the initiation fee is reasonable given the beers that are included. I'm buying in for another year, but I expect I'll spend considerably less.

 

Personally, I'm beginning to think Bruery is overrated. They certainly make some great beers, but not several hundred dollars a year great. I'd much rather put that money towards other breweries than have it all going to one place.

 

I'm not renewing my membership. Looks much better on paper than it translates to in good times drinking the beer in my opinion. I still love Bruery. One of my favorites, just not worth the price.

 

There is more to it than the beers that come with membership - the value of being in the society is also tied into RS allocations not released to the public.

While I thought our 2012 allocations were pretty weak, I also joined for 2013 and beyond, for some of the new releases and the Bruery barrel aged program, which is just starting to really develop. Some of the planned 2013 offerings look outstanding, especially that BA Apricot Strong Ale:

-- Sour in the Rye
-- Bois

-- Bois Aged in Rye Whiskey Barrels*
-- Bois Aged in Brandy Barrels*
-- Bois Aged in new American Oak Barrels #4 Toast*

-- Kumquat Sour In The Rye*

-- Barrel Aged English Barleywine with Portola Coffee* (Name pending)

-- Blueberry Sour* (Name pending)
-- Barrel Aged Apricot Strong Ale* (Name pending)

-- Cherry Oude Tart*
-- Grey Monday*

 

Right, in order for it to make sense, you have to consider the opportunity to purchase those exclusive beers and whether that's worth something to you. 9 bottles of different styles that you might not be a fan of for $295 is hard to justify otherwise.

Maybe if you have a bunch of people go in together because they each want to get a few things from the exclusive allocations, then it would make more sense. I would do that.

 

In 2012 I joined the Reserve Society and what I did was split it with 2 friends almost as if they were buying options from me. I paid $200, they paid $50 each. I'd select what I want out of the monthly allocation and then they'd be able to purchase whatever I didn't.

That being said, even though I'm quite a fan of The Bruery beers, their yeast strain is really prevalent across all of their different style beers and I decided to go with the Reserve Cellar membership at Crooked Stave instead this year.

 

The cost of the membership is reasonable given the included beers and the access to every release. Also lots of guaranteed Black Tuesday and Chocolate Rain. The problem comes when you start blindly buying 6 bottles of this new beer and 6 bottles of that new beer, and neither of the new beers turn out to be anything special. The Bruery doesn't make many bad beers, but some are certainly better than others, and most people don't really need 6 bottles of Filmishmish. Bottom line - split your membership or just don't over order.

 

I'm joining this year because I'm tired of "trade gouging" when I want to get so much of that stuff. It's a hell of an investment (particularly getting it from CA to GA) but I'm sick of what people are demanding in trade. I'm pretty sure I'm going to come out ahead in both cost and avoided headaches.

 

Although the special releases I've tasted from The Bruery have always been good, I'm not sure how I feel about the "Reserve Society." Seems kind of goofy to me.

Since I'm not out in Cali is guess my opinion doesn't matter anyway...

 

Would love to be able to get into the RS but unfortunately I'm in Mass.

Anyone in CA with a RS membership or looking to get a membership that would like to split one please BM me!

 

The RS 2013 looks far more solid this year than the 2012, that being said the allotment sizes are big and costly so I suggest you split the membership or open up allocations to your drinking buddies and/or good trade partners.

 

I got some paper on it.

 

What's the initiation fee? I can't imagine it being high enough to not be worth it for guaruntee BT, CR and those beers posted above..

 

You think Bruery trades high? Try being in Cali and trading for mid-west shelf beers...

 

I agree, except that it leads me to the opposite conclusion. You're essentially paying for allocations of beer that you don't even want. In other words you're giving your money away. Yes you shouldn't pay for beer you don't want, but that's basically just a stop-gap measure to avoid losing even more money. It doesn't recoup the money that you've already spent on the membership.

I don't think the principle of the RS is wrong, but IMHO the current price is way too high.

Anyway, splitting a membership is definitely the right solution.

 

I'd split a membership with someone for sure. I wouldn't go all in. I've just started getting into some of their beers, and I like most of them. But being in GA, I'm limited on what I can get from them.

 

For $300, you get 10 bottles of beer that retail for about $250 total, plus a nice piece of merchandise that is worth a good chunk of that remaining $50. (This year it was a hoodie) You also get 15% off everything else that you buy, plus guaranteed allocations. 6 bottles of Black Tuesday and 2 bottles of Chocolate Rain alone cost about $250, so with 15% off right there you get another $40 in savings. You could stop right there and justify the costs pretty easily.

But there are a lot more beers, and everybody has their own couple favorites.

Point being - it doesn't take much to recoup the costs, and you certainly don't need to come close to maxing out your allocations to justify the savings.