The Bruery Announcements/Allocations

I think Beachwood's BBQ is pretty great - admittedly not for vegans/vegetarians, but definitely for us carnivores. Apparently, this year it's catered by Haven, so not expecting anything near the quality of last year.

 

The problem here isn't that RS members aren't getting GB. Shit happens, something went wrong with the beer and now there isn't enough, theres nothing The Bruery can do about that. The problem is that RS members had to figure this out by reading an email to the HS members that was posted here.

It's a communication issue. If theres a problem with a batch of beer and its going to affect an allocation just let everyone know whats going on.

 

They seem to be doing fine handling all of our money. Throwing in a few requests wouldn't hurt.

 

That, and it was suppose to be the last allocation of 2012. Holding it back because it isn't ready was admirable, but I assume it would either be dumped or released as an allocation when it was ready.

 

When I heard that GB wasn't carbonating well I figured I'd pass on ordering it. But now that I find out it's only for Hoarders, I MUST HAVE IT!!!!

 

There are very few individuals who can responsibly consume 40oz of high ABV alcohol in a 3 hour time frame and not be pretty heavily intoxicated. If you happen to be one of the lucky few, you get the awesome advantage of being able to drive and/or go somewhere else and continue drinking after the event is over. You always have the option of slowing down and savoring your drink a bit more if you choose.

All that said, the issue of whether or not you, personally, can physically consume more alcohol without being blindingly drunk is irrelevant to whether the event is of fair value. Is your pint at a pub not of fair value because it "only" contains 16oz. of beer when you could, clearly, consume 20? Don't be ridiculous.

The website happens to work fine for many. Me, say. There are some UI tweaks I'd make. There are (clearly) some back-end issues with how the web designer is handling things like zip codes and address locations (that should be eminently fixable). It's certainly not the end of the world. And if you happen to be one for whom the site isn't functioning properly, and instead of contacting The Bruery to sort it out have run around the interwebs ranting about it, you have a more fundamental issue at hand than the functionality of the site: how to handle simple problem solving. I'm not absolving The Bruery, but clearly they are working very hard to create a handsome, functional website that they are actively working on improving. Let's not that The Bruery's version is so fundamentally broken that it's laughable. There is a clear coding error regarding how the site determines whether pick-up is an available shipping option. That doesn't mean the system overall is broken, inherently flawed, or just plain bad. It just means the parameters for determining location need to be tweaked.

You can hold their feet to the fire for not accommodating vegetarians (it's a little strange, to say the least) at events. And I suppose you can say, without knowing what their staff was focused on or how truly difficult the various internal operations of a brewery undergoing rapid growth and expansion in a number of areas, that they should have focused more attention on some of their beer events.

But it's not all that surprising that small, comparatively simple things are what is getting missed at this time. They're getting the fundamentals right, but they don't seem to quite have the time to make sure everything is ironed out everywhere. Presumably, as in the past, as things settle down they'll figure out the website issues, soothe everybody's ego with some beer, and clean up the small messes that have everyone all in a tizzy.

Until then... I really need to stay off BA.

 

Obviously terrible QC job. Instead of putting more people on the project before release, someone obviously let the website go live with the intent of having customers ferret out the bugs. Considering this is practically an out of the box website (simple, non-original functionality), I find this QC fiasco bizarre unless the Bruery was looking to save cash by hiring a nickle and dime website developer.

Other than that, I concur with most everything this poster had to say. A lot of whining about nothing much. Anybody possessing just a little history of the Bruery shouldn't be shocked that they aren't exactly detail oriented when it comes to customer service and event planning.

 

Complexity of the website?

 

If you're not a web developer, all of this can seem way more simple than you could ever imagine. Just getting the database software you're running to properly talk with the shopping cart software (and then the order management software) can be a huge nightmare.

 

Nerds!

 

Nerds!

 

You guys are funny. We're not talking about building a gaming AI, MS Dynamics or thousands of other s/w packages with enormous work scopes and complexity of purpose. For all the devspeak, the Bruery still has a very basic b2c site that serves a one major need: sell a single type of product. Hell, you can't even buy Mischief in an assortment of 'robust' colors and sizes.

And yeah, this is reason #897 why beer nerdery is more interesting than being a techie. I can hold someone's interest for a few minutes talking about how stealth DIPA ABVs knocki you on your ass. But coding comments best practices? Gone in 15 seconds.

So, from my end anyhow, back to beer.

 

This sounds like a ridiculous approach to take. You drop the ball, come on here and offer up an explanation that seems to not satisfy a group that you are taking money from, are contacted about said issue that seems to have people upset, respond to an email, but tell the person it is basically between us.

As someone who has spent going on 30+ years dealing with Fortune 100 companies across a wide array of industries, I think I have at least some idea as to how this business thing works. I understand fully the coolness of craft beer, the artistic element of it, etc. but who is kidding who. They are a business venture first and foremost, operating in a very competitive and crowded space. When I hear additional stories of allocations not having the right number of bottles in it for pick-up, missing key bottles like Grey Monday, etc., something sounds slightly amiss. A company motto I remember was "brilliant at the basics."

The Bruery obviously has read this thread and should offer up a clear response that they will deliver on. That is the least that one should expect whatever society you are in.

 

Did you even read my post? And you say I'm being ridiculous? I never said the event was not "of fair value." This has nothing to do with the cost. I even suggested allowing us to pay more for more tasters. You need to re-read my post before generating a response.

You have failed to see that the problem was significant enough for the Bruery to shut down large portions of their website for weeks. Any way you look at it, those are pretty serious bugs that should've been QCd before the first of the year. But thanks for the backhanded insult, that really strengthens your argument.


In general, it's clear that you (and others) are jumping to the Bruery's defense of my very minor criticisms even without understanding my posts. My complaints are valid, they are shared by others, and they are easily rectifiable. Your defense of them is a bit silly, since it seems you think I'm trying to tarnish their reputation or something. Ironically, I spend more money at the Bruery than most of their patrons; if nothing else, that grants me at least the chance to voice my concerns to the "public," which includes Patrick Rue since he frequents these forums. If nothing else, it opens the floor for discussion, which does nothing but help Mr. Rue if he ever reads these posts.

If the Bruery is going to brand themselves as a top-tier brewery and charge top-tier brewery prices, they need to address these fundamental issues and start acting like a top-tier brewery.

 

What top-tier brewery does a better job than them?

 

A better job of what? I can name breweries that put on better events (Deschutes) and breweries that have better online sales and functioning websites (Cascade). I can name many businesses or groups that do it better too.

They shouldn't be immune from critique because they're a brewery. First and foremost, they are a business and are interested in making money. If nothing else, addressing my comments will help them make more money.

 

I really don't need to reread anything, I understand you just fine. Limiting the number of tasters is an inconvenience. An inconvenience to what, precisely? To be able to drink until you are really really drunk? If you're being provided a fair amount of alcohol within a fair amount of time to drink it in (in fact, an overly fair amount of time), then you have no complaint. You do have a complaint. You are being "inconvenienced" because they aren't graduating the number of available tasters based on everyone's self-perception of how much alcohol they can take. Congratulations on being one of the few who's able to pound high ABV beer and keep on pounding it without being drunk. Many people can't. The inconvenience for the vast number of Bruery employees that would have to be dedicated to policing whether or not certain people are allowed to pay for additional tasters (to say nothing of them INCORRECTLY identifying somebody one way or the other, and you seem to think they can't do simple things right, how would you trust them to correctly identify who can and can't handle more beer?) far outweighs the "inconvenience" of you finishing your tasters early (as opposed to stretching them out over time) and wanting to drink more and having to go elsewhere to continue drinking. I'm fairly certain yours is not a problem that needs solving.

I do understand your complaints. In fact, I have restated the ones that I feel have merit and supported them. I picked apart the ones that seemed illegitimate to me. I've had my fair share of criticism of The Bruery throughout the years (and I'd not have set up their various societies like they have chosen to, and in fact have previously e-mailed them both my suggestions and arguments in support of those suggestions... one of those arguments being that they were setting themselves up to be nitpicked by people like you).

The fact that you spend money at the Bruery entitles you to exactly what you have purchased from them, and nothing more.

The fact that The Bruery sells a product to the public entitles the public to talk about, discuss, and criticize them. You spending more money does not lend your arguments any additional validity or merit.

The Bruery might be more interested in listening to you because you spend more, and they'd be wise to listen to the voices of their most devout and high-spending customers. But unless I missed the line in the Hoarders Society Invitation, we aren't entitled to a Board of Director's-like voice.

The Bruery has already successfully branded themselves as a top-tier brewery and has clearly made a successful business of charging top-tier prices. This has already happened. They have also proven, time and again, that they are one of the most responsive and interactive breweries with respects to their customers wants and needs. But as you rightly point out, the more they build their brand around levels of exclusivity, the higher the standards they will be held to and the less leeway they will be given despite this.

I am not and was not saying that you or all of your points are without merit. No one is arguing that they are immune or above criticism, least of all myself. But the entitled manner in which you present your arguments, and by giving equal weight to arguments that have little or no merit, undermines YOUR credibility and arguments. Just as you accuse The Bruery's failures of undermining their credibility, despite a lengthy record of active engagement, improvement, and catering to the community.

Whatever, I can't honestly say that I feel like my time has been well spent, here. Almost assuredly none of this will change your thinking, at all, and most likely you'll respond in some way that I'll have a compelling urge to respond to, to equally little effect.

The lesson, as always, stay out of the BA forums, and if you get sucked in, don't waste your time replying. I suck at retaining this lesson.

 

Errant, you missed the point. Again.

I want more tasters so I can try more different types of beer. It has nothing to do with getting drunk, or value involved. Your failure to grasp that simple concept means your rebuttal is founded on a misconception.

Bottom line: The Bruery has some shit to fix, and I hope they fix it. Good talk.