The Bruery Announcements/Allocations

You're doing some serious mental acrobatics to defend the fact that on 12/31, they advertised GB as an RS beer. I fully understand that everything is subject to change, but if you're telling me that on 12/31, they didn't have a handle on the number of HS members, RS members, and GB bottles, then you're implicitly saying that they don't have a handle on their production relative to what they've promised to the HS/RS. Maybe that's the case, or maybe their marketing team was saying things they shouldn't have been saying, I don't know.

As far as brewing it again, sure, they might, but I think most people would logically agree that before Matt posted "hey, we screwed up," he would've consulted with the production team and evaluated the chances of brewing it again this year. If there's a reasonable chance of it being brewed again, he'd likely say "Sorry we're short on this release, but we're planning to brew it again this fall." Am I making assumptions? Yes. Are they fairly easy assumptions to make if you're concerned with good customer service? Yes.

If they end up brewing it again, all the better, but I'm pretty sure you can understand why some people are frustrated.

 

As a first time RS member, I do think it's a bit off putting for the bruery to specifically mention that a beer would be available for RS members only to now say there's not a enough to go around. Definitely a bit unprofessional. That said, I will reserve my opinion regarding the overall value of my RS membership until the year is over. I'd like to think they'd somehow make it up to folks. I think some people need to relax and see how it all plays out by the end of the year. It's only February people.

 

How many RS members joined after seeing reference on Facebook to GB being available on 12/31? I'd speculate that number to be "not many." It's February though...and if GB is the reason anyone signed up for RS13...I'd hold off on believing they won't brew it again in 2013. Why cut the legs out on a body of work that isn't nearly finished? And if they don't brew it again? I'm sure if you complain enough, they'll make it right in the end. The perceived 'bait and switch' isn't awesome, but probably not intentional and potentially not confirmed.

Lest next week comes and everyone here is able to score a GB...all of the pain will be for naught. Best of luck to all RSers and their efforts to acquire said beer.

 

I'm not doing any kind of mental gymnastics. They said that the beer would be in RS, they didn't say THIS BATCH would be in RS (it was listed with BT, do you think that the '13 RS is getting '12 BT? No? I didn't think so). For all you know they did exactly that and were planning on selling it in December, as they had initially planned to do with this batch in 2012. Nothing in Matt's post up there says when they made this judgment, for all you know it was well before that post.

You're not being logical, you're making a bunch of (basically unfounded) assumptions and going from there. If you care about this, send an e-mail to ask them, I'd actually be pretty surprised if they weren't planning on brewing GB again later this year.

 

Not stressed out here at all and happy to be an RS member regardless of how the HS affects this year’s allocations and events compared with previous years. I mostly just find this business model pretty fascinating to watch unfold in real time. The fact that the Bruery previously managed to sell $300 memberships that successfully facilitated and encouraged hundreds of dollars in spending (for many) on their products per month was a pretty amazing thing to behold. And now they’ve gone on to establish an even pricier club with $700 annual fee that involves even more spending. And we’re seeing distribution of their beers altered as a result in very interesting ways that could function as a beer economics study on the effects of pricing, distribution and managing markets, customer demand, etc.

At the time of HS’s inception, I didn’t realize that it would impact the RS, and it certainly seems to be affecting the beers RS members receive now. I see your point about the limited number of older vintages at RS/HS parties and how it makes sense to provide those for HS members only since there may not be enough to go around. But the fact remains that if the HS were to max out on guest tickets, you’d have ~1,000 people with access to these exclusive older vintages that probably would have gone to RS members previously (even if they had tapped out early on in the event). This is no reason for stress or indignation, as RS members will all receive $300 worth of stuff if they were to sit back and ignore allocations and events. Nonetheless, it’s pretty interesting to see and yes, even speculate on how the RS/HS dynamic is affecting things.

With prices on limited beers increasing every year, the HS may be a microcosm of what is happening to limited craft beer in general (i.e., a pay-to-play dynamic that could force many out of beers that used to be in grasp for everybody).

Not to mention, it’s pretty damn entertaining to watch and participate in the class warfare emerging between the HS, RS and inevitably, the PS.

I think that ultimately, the Bruery will have the last laugh (figuratively speaking, I don’t believe they wish to villainously laugh at their customers). I bet that allocations for CR, BT and the like will be smaller than expected by both RS and HS members (if any HS members were assuming that their doubled allocations would be based off of numbers from previous years). What doesn’t change is the ever-increasing amount of money flowing into the bruery’s coffers. If you take a step back, it’s pretty hilarious and mind-boggling that a lot of this debate boils down to people jockeying for the privilege of spending the most ungodly amount of money on a fermented liquid possible.

On the flipside, I’m guessing there will be unlimited BA Five Golden Rings allocations for everyone. Anyone willing to break their bank will be able to bathe in it, fill their super soakers full of it and get their adult cactus cooler fix for a lifetime.

 

If you don't think The Bruery has made any missteps in handling this, be it communication or allocation, there's nothing I or anyone else can say that will sway that.

Just sent this to Matt and will post his response when I get it:

 

Matt responded quite promptly, but has asked me not to post the contents of his response...if he chooses to weigh in later, that's entirely up to him, but I appreciate him taking the time to discuss it with me.

 

Indeed sir! These are the same people that will order it given the "not so carbonated description" and then come on BA screaming like Justin Bieber tweens that the bottles aren't carbed


(had to avoid a "flat" joke there at the end)

 

That sounds ominous.

 

It shouldn't. Suffice to say, if you have a genuine concern, contact The Bruery and ask them...I would hope that Matt doesn't end up with 300 copies of the same question in his inbox, but BAs do love to pile into a line, so...

 

I'll just be over here patting myself on the back.

For my next trick, I'm predicting the HS only beers at the initiation party to be mostly variants of popular beers and not the popular beers themselves (SitR w/peaches, cherry chocolate rain, some BT variants etc etc). It would be fail on a pretty epic level for the Bruery to limit access to what are considered "flagship" RS beers.

 

I get a whole weekend?

 

Yeah, and I can say the same back to you. Plus if you think that everything that everyone at the Bruery ever says represents an infallible divination on the future, then you're hopelessly naive.

 

PS + RS + HS = Rue's Hotpink Fatpants Society

 

Yes, but you do realize that GB stands for Gang Bang. Better lube up, those Bruery beer geeks are going to have a massive tickerection over your ass. Wear your hotpink sweatpants!

 

Had a good convo with rryanc over a couple pints of Citra last night about RR/HS. I think my only complaints with this whole situation are:

1. It seems that the Bruery has no idea how to successfully plan or implement an event without making fundamental mistakes that piss people off. Weekday events, lack of food options, seriously overpriced DD tickets (for what you get, especially last year), limiting tasters, etc. are all problems that can be fixed.

2. Nobody would care about RS/HS distinction if people actually knew what was the requirement to get a HS invite. Plus, it is a stupid business move to not tell people since it would give RS members incentive to buy more beer and get into the HS echelon.

3. The complaints about what HS is getting at the Initiation Party are valid because nobody knows what it takes to be a HS member, and there are a lot of people who spend a shitload of money on the Bruery who didn't get an invite. Those people would've joined the HS if given a chance, so they are miffed that elite HS royalty will be drinking rare walez in front of the commoners at the party. Plus, that venue was crowded enough - are they really combining both sessions into one with twice as many people? Gonna be a mess.

4. Always an amateur move to release a website that has serious, fundamental flaws and not address them in a timely manner. I understand the challenges, I really do; but the website is the core of a big portion of their business - they should be working 24/7 to get that shit resolved.


That said, I love the idea behind the new website. And shipping is awesome. And the releases this year seem to be really good. So hopefully 2013 is a year of refinement for The Bruery and they can dial-in their issues.

 

Only complaint about the food for me was the lack of vegetarian options, something that has been echoed by others, and something which will hopefully be addressed by the Bruery for future events. Without dietary restrictions, I really can't see why people would complain.

 

as a "commoner", i will say that the fact that some long term supporters of the Bruery have access to some additional kick-ass selections does not in any way diminish my my ability to go have fun at the party. they bought into it, they get some extra perks - just like we who bought into RS get the opportunity to go to the party in the first place. also, it's just beer.

 

You are postulating as to why events were held midweek and not on the weekends. I don't see why other breweries have weekend events but the Bruery can't. I should've clarified too - not just weekday stuff, but failing to provide advance notice for said events. Hard to schedule a trip down there two weeks in advance. Amateur hour.

TONS of food is not the same as food options. At the initiation party, you could have either mediocre Beachwood BBQ, or BBQ. And no options for vegetarians. It's Southern California for christ's sake. How hard is it to get one more vendor in there, especially for a once-a-year-party? I've thrown parties and hosted events for thousands of people (college events) so I understand what it takes to get multiple catering companies in the door. It's not rocket science.

The limiting tasters thing is an inconvenience to those of us who can drink more than 40 oz. in a 3 hour period and not be shitfaced, and who may actually want to try more. Other top-tier events don't limit (like FW Invitational,) so at the very least the Bruery could open up additional tasting ticket sales halfway through the event, after most people have had a chance to try some stuff. I plowed through my 10 tasters in under 2 hours, and left early. No, it's not a dealbreaker, and yes I understand why they don't want people to get wrecked. But it would be nice to those of us who want more.

The event last year was crowded (in the tent.) Hopefully the weather cooperates, because 2x+ as many people in the tent this year will indeed be a mess. No, I haven't been to GABF, but I've been to SF Beer Week's opening celebration 3 years running and every year it gets worse. Initiation party will be no different.

And your comment about the "multinational online commerce company" is funny, and ridiculous. High-functioning commerce websites are a dime a dozen these days. There is no excuse for at least a minimally functional website, and now it's mid February and they're still working out critical bugs. Just kinda funny - more amateur hour stuff.

I really like the Bruery. It's just hilarious that they have so much trouble with such simple things, and hopefully someone working there reads threads like these and works on fixing pretty straightforward problems. You obviously have much lower expectations for them, and that's fine - you'll be that much happier when they get it right.

 

truth. some people seem to overlook this.