Equilibrium Brewery

Whenever I go up, I usually shoot to get there around 1PM and I'm always in and out with no line. Collabs and first time stuff tends to sell out, but they usually have some leftover cans Saturday afternoon and sometimes into Sunday. As far as I know, they always seem to have crowlers available.

 

Nah man, definitely not your fault. I knew that it probably wasn't going to sell out, but based on the hype on Instagram along with the fact that I was up earlier than expected, figured it wouldn't hurt to go early.

It also sucked because my girlfriend and I planned our day around going to the release and had to skip a stop at Industrial Arts because of how far back in line we were and how long it ended up taking. We figured that 10:30 would have been early enough to be not too far back on the line, and it probably would have been if it was a standard line or if we got a ticket.

I love the idea of the ticket system, I think it's so much better than the standard line system. It would have been so nice if we could have gotten a ticket at 10:30 and drove to a coffee shop for the hour rather than standing in a freezing parking lot watching people get shitfaced. My only issue was with how seemingly under-wraps it was. We felt very out of place, almost like intruders on some secret club.

I didn't notice anyone walking around handing out tickets outside of the raffle tickets they were selling. I do have Facebook, but I don't really think you should need to be apart of a private (?) Facebook group to understand how a release works. I kept tabs on this release on Instagram and didn't see any mention of tickets.

 

I mentioned something similar in the Hudson Valley thread because personally, I don't like this trend that seems to have started with certain breweries. The ticketing system only works well if there is are trained employees involved. People on the Facebook groups now complain about how the Other Half line should be more like EQ not realizing the differences between the two. The whole "we must cater to the people drinking on our sidewalk/ parking lot in the wee hours of the morning" attitude needs to stop in my opinion.

 

when you start drinking at 6am outside of a brewery what do you do with the rest of your saturday? personally I would be tired/hungover by 1pm and not have much left for the rest of my day.. in essence waiting a full saturday. Granted i also dont fit the hazeoboi profile but i just dont see how they can lose a full day like that every weekend. maybe mom goes foodshopping and stocks their basement apartment with gusherS?

 

Also sounds like a lot of hazebois double up as parents too - how (or rather why) they pull that off is beyond me

 

that is one impressive feet.. absolutly deserve a tose' for all of that.

 

So what profile do you fit?

 

appreciate you asking @Jimmyfont - If i was to wait outside early in the morning in a cold line, have a few beers..I would be pretty tired and drained for remainder of my day and slightly lethargic...so to me; it would be a full lose of a day.

 

Lol . Salty much.

 

FWIW EQ got its grants through the state, not Middletown directly.

 

It's a fairly new brewery and the location is ridiculous.

The beers are good. I agree about the fanboys, it's way way over the top.

Just go on a Thursday night and pick up a crowler or (if there are any available) some cans. It's a non-experience but the beer is good especially if you like low-bitterness hazy fruit bombs, and you will experience zero waiting and zero gamesmanship.

 

The town did give them the building though...

I still think they need to hire some more staff to deal with the line/ wristbands rather than rely on their overly eager fanboys to do the work for them. (And a designer, but I’ve beaten that horse enough.)

 

If you are going to criticize them, at least get it right. They used part of the money from the grant to purchase the building from Middletown. Even so, why does that bother you exactly?

It actually seems like the only issue was advertising the ticketing. That's an easy fix. You actually care who you get that ticket from? Strange.

Claims of an epidemic of exploding cans are unfounded. The 1st Photon batch appeared to have had a few issues. Add this recent post and they are all I've read about exploding cans. Please feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken. Those cans mentioned were not cared for either. Granted, cans should not explode.

There is also no doubt they have stirred business in Middletown, even outside their direct sales. See the local bottle shop and restaurant for direct examples. I'm also quite sure Chino at Holy Dog would have something to say about an increase in business.

It's mind-blowing to me to see the criticism of how EQ does their release. Could things improve? Always, like I just mentioned above, but they have done a tremendous job creating a really fun culture with the bottle share, samples, giveaways and food. Honestly, what scares me the most is the liability they are opening themselves to. They are doing it the best they can with their supply vs demand and have plans to expand to get more beer to more people easily. What more do you want from a brewery? Yeesh.

Oh yeah, and the beer is world class.

 

I think you’re confusing me with the other guy. I don’t understand why so many people in the thread are so riled up by legitimate constructive criticism of the way a new brewery does business.

http://www.recordonline.com/article/20141201/BIZ/141209927 Firstly, this article clearly says that the brewery was given to them with a note on the mortgage and the other portion will be forgiven. The other grant that they got comes from the state, so yeah I think my criticism is valid considering my tax dollars help their business. (But that’s besides the point)

Secondly, the ticketing thing is an issue as seen on this thread. It’s off-putting and shouldn’t be happening. The fact that it has spread to other breweries shows that.

Just look at places like Sand City, where the town got tired of people lining up early, drinking and causing problems. Eventually the town will have to do something so I agree that there is a liability issue there.

Do you know what I want from a brewery instead of a bunch of drunks shotgunning beer in a parking lot at 8am on a Saturday morning? A taproom...

 

You don't like the redesigned labels?

 

I think they’re great, and the flask logo they’ve been putting on merch is nice too!

 

Caring or about how or why these people have found themselves in business is kind of silly.

The beer is good. World class is an exaggeration. The facility is unsatisfactory. The insular secret-club culture is laughable. Very few people want to listen to people who are either insiders or pretending to be insiders spout hyperbole out their blowhole about a new brewery who are doing their best work pumping out knock-offs of a style that someone else invented and that happens to be universally popular at the moment. You're going to see blowback when you do this - it's inevitable.

I like a lot of their beer. The comments about Saturday releases are legitimate. I would also add that they need to give a little more thought to bottle limits on new releases.

Perhaps pumping the brakes on the praise and the grandiose language may help.

Enjoy folks.

 

Not what I read. $250k for the building. They put down $35k. Will be forgiven most of that if they meet certain stipulations, including making investments into the building. Not sure why that bothers you to even bring it up. Did you usually frequent Middletown before EQ?

Why do you hate the ticketing? It's a good thing. I see zero wrong with it. Why is it off putting? What's the difference between that and getting on a line?

They actually changed the line share so it occurs entirely on their own property.

The taproom criticism is valid. They wrote themselves into a very bad lease with that restaurant considering they own the building. They do have plans to open a taproom and move the release to a new space in Middletown. Their relationship with the town is way way different than Sand City. The liability I worry about is someone leaving driving drunk or hurting themselves while drunk on their property.

 

Isn't there a person explaining the downsides of the ticketing process right here above you?... isn't not having the system visible and well-known and having people miss it a tangible problem that is being fairly criticized?

 

Yeah, didn't you read above? I acknowledged that, but it's at easy fix. A few signs and you're all set.