Maybe I'm not remembering correctly, but I swore I read somewhere a few months ago that Harriet was going to start bottling. Anybody know if they still have plans, and if so, when they are supposed to start? Would love a bottle of Wodan Weizen in my fridge!
They have been bottling for a few months now I believe. I think the only place to buy them is at the brewery, but they are around $10/750 ml bottle. If you're going to the brewery, a growler is a way better deal. I think they just signed with a distributor not too long ago though.
I thought I'd heard of bottles being available at a handful of area accounts, but can't recall which ones those were.
Could be. Following lots of stores on Facebook and Twitter and I don't recall seeing anyone having the bottles yet. Their website beer finder does list several stores, but I wonder if those are for kegs?
Bottles are only available at the tap room. Small operation and they hand package cork and cage. Draft available through Hohensteins.
Thanks for the replies, everyone. Didn't realize they had already started bottling. Good to know, though it sounds like growlers are currently the way to go.
As others have said, growlers are the better value from these guys, I was getting growlers of Sol Bock and Wodan Weizen and was asking the tap room guy about bottles, he said that they did do an initial run of 3 beers and those sold out. He also said that they'll bottle sporadically throughout the next few months once they have enough of the summer seasonals to meet the demand.
Could be for their kegs-only, but I swear that I saw a social media "alert" with respect to bottle availability at a very small handful of locations -- at least at the time of the initial bottling. I'm probably mistaken. P.S. My globe-trotting hippy-freaky friend from college swears by this brewery, so they must be A-O.K.
why don't you try them out and decide for yourself? imo, they make some really good beers. west side is a great belgian IPA and divine oculust is a good/great strong pale ale.
I plan to pick up a growler of this on the way up to the cabin Memorial Day weekend. It might be my favorite beer.
Harriet needs to start focusing all their efforts on getting a few of their beers bottled and in local liquor stores. It's nice to have live music and a fun tap room scene but I question their long term prospects not being available in liquor stores.
That's funny, we've been talking about the exact opposite. It seems Harriet & Dangerous Man & the like are developing a devoted local following while others who rushed into liquor stores I wouldn't bet on long-term. I think these places are doing it right in trying to become a local watering hole. And I'm pretty sure Town Hall seems pretty secure in their long-term prospects.
Tod Fyten is a name which won't be familiar to many, but he's been in the business for a while, and believes local breweries -even those like Harriet, without distribution of bottles- are viable. He might just have an idea, there...
The model works in many other cities - Portland is a good example, there's many taproom only places with an avid local following that do not package. I agree with others here that some of these local breweries have overstretched their capabilities by getting into packaging right away versus giving it some time.
I tend to agree. If it becomes a true local / neighborhood spot, I think they can thrive. I don't get out as often as I like (given that they are my favorite brewery right now), but Harriet always seems to be busy whenever I go. Seems like they're doing okay.
