Russian River Rant

It's the job of a business to do their best to make for a pleasant experience in general. But that doesn't really include making changes in the supply/demand of their product to eliminate lines due to popularity. They should absolutely be interested in being pleasant and minimizing avoidable bottlenecks with the supply/demand they have, but eliminating the line would require one of two approaches, both of which would involve major changes to their business model:

1) Increase supply, which involves a huge infusion of capital in the form of cash on hand or taking out a big loan. The loan obviously comes with debt and the associated risk, and I doubt there are many breweries not named ABInBev or MillerCoors that have the kind of cash on hand needed to just fund an expansion out of pocket.

2) Increase prices, thereby lowering demand. And if you think lines are pissing people off--HOO BOY--lines are a potato gun compared to the nuclear bomb of price increases. Especially within the craft beer segment, it seems, based on the quantity of price complaint related posts around this site.

TL;DR - yes, it's pretty much always whiny entitlement. A consumer getting upset that a business won't overhaul their business model to accommodate their own individual needs might as well be the dictionary definition of entitlement. It's the attitude that "I want it so it should happen."

I mean, Veruca Salt just wanted a chocolate egg laying goose. Willy Wonka was some kind of asshole for not recognizing that she was a customer and he should accommodate her.

How do you have any idea what a brewery has the capital to support?

No, there is nothing wrong with having more than one market to sell product in, the same as there being nothing wrong with only selling your product in one market.

Calling it a "slap in the face to the customer" to not expand supply so they can have their beer is just silly. Businesses exist because of the customers that support them, to be sure. But at the same time, a business owner cannot simply cater to every desire of his customers. Customers also want lower prices--is it a slap in the face for a brewer to not lower prices to a level that consumers feel is acceptable?

 

Down here in SoCal they have whole busloads of people getting dropped off at my loved breweries. Last time I went to the Bruery there were 2 buses park outside and the place was a loud madhouse! Grabbed my bottles and left quickly.

Increasing popularity of the finer things in life is a bit frustrating but it will only get worse with better social media/technology. Ive experieced this with most of the things I like to do for enjoyment: Surfing (so crowded), skiing (crowded), rock climbing (crowded), mountain biking (crowded), flyfishing (getting crowded), craft beer (crowded). I admit I was once a noob at all of these things at one point and the seasoned vets were probably frustrated at me showing up to shred the curl, powpow, gnar, trail, trout, and whales.

That being said.....
Best bet: early start, back up plan
Worst bet: showing up in the late afternoon on a weekend, high expectations

 

Supply and Demand... I feel like this post is complaining for the sake of complaining.

 

Do you know there is a direct correlation between the size of a brewery and their beer ratings on BA?!?!?

 

I feel your pain. I would like to pick up more than one bottle of Pliny when I see it, there is always a 1 bottle limit and some stores I know that carry it won't put it on their shelves unless they get 3-5 cases.

 

He was categorizing breweries into "tiers" of level of distribution in terms of quantity (i.e. what he calls tier 1 are massively distributed beer that you find everywhere, tier 2 is craft that you find almost as much as BMC, etc. etc.). Yes it is confusing that he used tier since we often refer to the "3-tier" system of brewers-distributors-retailers, but he was only listing breweries, so it should be pretty clear what point he was trying to make.

 

I love RR and continue to pick up their beers when I see them although they keep making it harder for me by shrinking their distribution area! Latest is the story the are pulling out of Southern Cali. Sad! But hey, Greg over at Stone is still turning out Enjoy By which in MHO is just as good as Pliney and there are tons of other great beers and breweries out there putting out great product like Mike Hess Brewing, SN, Alpine, Lost Abbey, The Bruery, Arizona Wilderness, Huss Brewing, and Stone just to name a few and they are all readily available to me (or at least more so than RR). And when it comes to sours, I have more luck finding Cantillon and Drie Fonteinen when I go to Cali so I will not complain there either! I will enjoy RR when I can but I am not going to get depressed when I have all these other great choices to drown my sorrows in!

 

People have to understand that not everyone in RR's position wants to be on the hook for 4,5,6 million dollars just as an attempt to expand. Fans of their beers seek them out. If they can do well on a smaller scale and stay out of a ton of debt... why not? If I was in their position I'd likely do the same.

 

Seriously? Jesus H Christ in a chicken basket.

 

They have no financial incentive to do anything different at the moment, but the good will of the fan base could be a factor in the future as business conditions change. It would not be terribly hard to solve this by operating the way good restaurants and many small high end wineries do: set up an appointment/reservation system, at least during peak hours. Then a loyal customer is not going to have the experience of driving for hours and ending up frustrated. Advising someone to visit at off peak hours makes no sense from a statistical standpoint; it will only work if almost nobody takes that advice; if a substantial portion of the fans took that advice, then off peak hours would no longer be off peak.

 

I would like the opportunity to experience this disgruntled-ness first hand... Trip to RR?

 

Personally I think that RR should go back to draft only for Pliny, because they cant make enough bottles for the demand, and perhaps the people who are chasing trucks for 1 bottle limits and comparing bottling dates would be content to just drink it on draft like us sane people do, and would be more able to do so if more accounts were able to get kegs regularly.

 

Where is the story that they are pulling out of Southern California?

 

The people chasing trucks ect aren't getting Pliny to drink. They are getting it for currency to get other hard to get beers. If Pliny and Heady Topper were draft only demand for them would drop.

 

They are replacing their existing brewing equipment with new, but the capacity is not being increased.

 

Hey. Timing is everything. I went last Friday at 7pm. Didn't have to wait to get in, scored a chair to sit on after a little navigating, then went outside and sat at the communal benches outside, ordered food, got my carryout with NO problems or delays. I had the same experience Sunday around 6pm. Good times!!!

 

I agree with the OP to a degree. I hate especially when a somewhat local brewery like Three Floyd's explodes in popularity and I can't get any of their hyped beers. However, as others have alluded to: expanding drastically may not solve your problems. We are still a small niche of the larger beer scene and there are serious perils to expanding based on a line of hoppy IPA's that casual drinkers don't have the palate for.

Also, this is the new reality. Hyped beers are no longer going to be gotten by just walking into some popular brewery. The consolation is that there are a lot of great beers that are just as good. Can I get Dreadknaught IPA or Permanent Funeral whenever I want? No. But I can get Celebration or Upland Coastbuster easily and then it is just a special treat when I do get the above mentioned beers.

I learned early on when chasing after craft beer that you can't force it. There are always going to be people that will work harder to get more than their fair share because who knows why. When I do run into Zombie Dust on draft or a couple bottles of Bell's The Oracle I count myself lucky and don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

TLR - Find some local beer that scratches your itch and go back to enjoying how much better access to craft beer is now than it was even 15 years ago. Let the hyped beers come to you and don't force the issue.

 

Just for the record, I don't think New Glarus belongs in this comparison. They are huge, and apart from intentionally small batch beers once a year in the R&D series, they don't have any trouble at all servicing Wisconsin; they make way more beer than Wisconsinites can even drink (a feat in itself), and they simply don't want to expand to MI, MN, IA, IL for their own reasons and a focus on the local market. They also don't really have a super busy taproom because, while beautiful, they don't have any specialties on tap. New Glarus is not HF or even RR. Besides the R&D release, again once a year, you'll never see a line there. The comparison and urging for them to expand because they're "hurting local business" doesn't really work for this brewery. I can agree with the sentiment of RR and HF to an extent, but I feel they should run their businesses the way they see fit, and I think that trumps any customers' wants/needs.

 

Frankly I think it's really an issue of expectations. You hear the same complaints about Three Floyds. A business can expand, or limit, its production however they choose. As for the brewpub experience, I can't figure out how people go to Russian River/Three Floyds at 1230PM on a Saturday, and then are shocked it's slammed and a 1.5hr wait. If you're time is more important to you..you need to go on Tuesday night or first thing in the AM. Problem solved.

 

At least you can't deny his passion