Side Project Brewing (2024)

Surprised no one posted this yet. E-mail today says LC parties 17 - 20 January.

 

First time I've ever picked up the solo bottle and the package. Still thinking I'm ending my LC membership at the end of the year though. Hopeful I can swap my extra '24 BBT for a '19 to complete my

Any rumored fun releases left for the year?

 

How many years have you had the membership?

 

Just the one year. Wanted to be a member for years though, lol

I find my interest in craft beer wanning, and my Madera Membership gives me what I want out of a membership (big malty beers and parties I can actually make it to attend.)

 

I wish the LC membership fees we paid were for the party instead of the included acidic beers. Would much rather the fees go to a big tasting at the end of the year where we could try all sorts of fun malty stuff. I didn’t even pick up the included beers because I have no interest, and now the party is going to cost another $150+ (if I go) since not much (if anything?) is included.

 

That's largely why I'm out. You're paying a package fee to not have to buy packages later. If you're trying to purchase every malty beer release, it's probably worthwhile. As someone who typically only springs for BBT, and isn't local to attend events, it's not an appealing option.

If they hint at improvements for LC (party fees included in membership, option for 2+ solo bottles, replacing included acidic beers with malty beers, etc.) I may reconsider and extend my membership.

 

I do like the idea of 2 solo bottles. The longer the bottles are sitting around, you'd think that would be a logical next step, but what do I know?

 

This isn’t going to happen. They already doubled the LC fee to give us more white labels.

 

Unfortunately, I agree. Of all the changes, that's the one I would think has the lowest likelihood of happening, just expressing my thoughts.

 

When is the renewal date? Now that I have a few other memberships I definitely need to be a little more mindful of how my beer money is spent

 

Yeah - payment was due in early March I do believe.

 

I’m more than happy to pickup anyone’s unused member included saisons!! …just sayin’.

FT: virtual high fives.

 

You aren't alone. I know several that are on their first year and strongly considering (or already plan) to discontinue membership as a result of the large membership fee (which is worthless if you only want malty beers), and the fact that LC limits are single-375ml bottles only.

I'd rather pay a $100 membership fee and get nothing than pay current fee and get the white-labels. But, that's not an option.

Some of the people I know would consider staying in if they could purchase 750ml worth of each dark beer without purchasing packages.

If there were more LC-only beers, that would also change the discussion, but effectively everything is public now. Yes, they have to buy packages, but part of the LC appeal years ago was the ability to obtain beers you'd have to trade an arm and a leg to obtain. You no longer have to worry about paying a $400 bottle of Derivation. Now, you can try it if you just buy 2-3 sours with it. And at ~25% of the secondary LC only beers were years ago.

 

Is the LC party going to have a fee? If my memory is right, there was no fee in the past.

 

No, there’s no fee, but if I remember right there’s either no beer included or maybe a sour pour included as you get there. And then they pull out a lot of great beer, but I think it’s marked up since it’s vintage and most was in bottles vs kegs. Ends up being a pretty pricey night to do it right.

 

One more LC spot opening up next year…

 

Man, it's a shame to see the membership from one of the best breweries in the world end up like this. I guess SP is going to force those wild ales/saisons down your throat whether it be through LC or online packages. And again, it's not like all of these beers are bad. Some are really good, but the fact that you can't add what sour beers you want is kind of ridiculous. I know it's more work for the employees to sort these types of orders if they aren't preset, but that has to make your customers happier, right?

I mean, eventually something has to give on the SP side. They will eventually run out of ways to sell these sour beers if the same models continue to be implemented. What's the plan then? Is the brewery already making less wild ales or is production still the same?

 

Wide distribution of the basic white labels.

 

The kind of silly thing to me is that when you go for a pickup, it's not like they have totes pre-filled or something (even during BBT season). They just go from one box to the next, to the next, grabbing to fill the order. It very much feels like they could let you choose the sours without it causing a nauseating amount of headaches for them.