Other Half Brewing Thread (Sept 2015)

Too much entitlement in the beer community, not saying any of the 3 posters above this post exhibit this. They sold beer, many people got some, big deal, 3 or 4 days later they sold some more. If people would stop getting whipped into a frenzy and trying to get as much as every "special" beer as possible this would never be an issue.

OH taproom has been open for a little more than a year and every can release has been smooth in spite of the massive demand. How many shit shows have occurred at many brewery releases across the country? Many! How many at OH? None.

Great beer all over the place now, if you can't get cans at OH, don't chalk up to not being handled properly by OH, chalk up to the beer scene now and try again next time or get some different beer.

 

I just don't get why people are not allowed to criticize breweries. Man, I know tons of businesses that believed they were never wrong and most of those did not last avery long. I don't really have a dog in the fight but has always bugged me how anything negative gets pounced upon.

 

I totally agree, too much entitlement. I've driven over from Jersey for 3 of the last 5 can releases. I was there at 1:30 on Saturday and I missed AGE cans "by 10 minutes" i wasn't upset that they still have cases for sale today, I still got a case+ of GD and some tastes and a growler from the Tap room. I was happy with the trip even though I missed AGE.

With beer, everyone has their agenda tho, people who live local to OH can't figure out why people from out of town want Cans. Well I'm not making a trip over ($30 in tolls) for a couple growler of AGE/GD that has to get drunk in one sitting, not really a feasible plan, I'll be wasted. Cans provide the ability to have fresh beer for the next month, in a convenient consumption size.

Every release I've been to there has been great, good communication, quick lines for the most part and generally well run. I have no complaints and I'll be back as soon as I'm done with the rest of my Mosaic/Hop showers/Green Diamond Cans.

 

There's a recent 8! page kolsch thread and some people are really particular about what can be called a kolsch and what can't, mainly related to geography. I think that's a bit much but would never place boogie Board stuntz as a kolsch in a million years. Way harsh tasting as a beer in general anyway. I really liked last summer's Cool Summer Bro though. I like ipas but they get boring after awhile, I'd like to see more styles (and not high hopped for the hell of it) from OH.

 

I don't get why everyone gets their panties in a bunch when someone criticizes a brewery. People are allowed to voice their opinions, especially in this country.

While I would not be mad if I showed up and was shut out (it has happened before), I do find it poor practice to not communicate well with your customers. The customers, after all, are the ones who keep you in business. The very least they could have just said "We have more but are saving them for Wednesday." To tell someone you are all sold out just to break more out a few days later is weak and just not a good business tactic for keeping long term customers. People are obviously going to find out in this day and age of social media.

It isn't an issue of self-entitlement to be mad that a company lied to your face, especially one that you might spend a lot of your hard-earned cash at.

 

This was fantastic. Grassy as all hell, still, very balanced. Great beer.

 

If it's any consolation, there wasn't much AGE and it was gone shortly after opening apparently. But there's still some GD cans and all green growler fills so I came home happy.

 

beer geeks gonna geek

 

I was there when they opened, and I'm pretty sure there was 1 case of AGE. My guess would be it was sitting somewhere in the warehouse, rather than "held back."

 

I'm so sick of everyone jumping down the throat of anyone who is critical of this brewery. Everyone here thinks Other Half can do no wrong because its their local brewery. Just because you are "friends" with the "crew" doesn't mean you have to attack everyone who doesn't have something fantastic to say about them. Dialogue can be had without jumping down the throat of someone who is critical.

 

Although I don't think OH did this but I've also seen places release only "X" amount of beer per day. Throttling it so more folks could get access. Accidental or not, it's up to the brewery on how they want to release their product. On the flip side it's also up to the consumer whether or not they want to continue to support them.

Get there at/before open & you'll get your beer. Anytime after that & it's on you if you miss out. That's a reality with (most) any release I've been to over the years. Past 4 releases, I've been in the initial line & watched it die out.

 

Any new beers coming on for the weekend?

 

Yeah, well, you know, that's just like uhh, your opinion, man.

I think the point is that there's nothing to be gained being critical of breweries online in venues like this forum. I've been guilty of this in the past but it's stupid of me because nobody cares if I think a certain NJ brewery make an 0ve77ated hoppy beer. If anything, I should just shut up and be glad they have a beer on their side of the bridge to drink so Jerseyites aren't coming over to buy all my OH. That I don't like the beer sounds more like it's my problem than their problem judging by how things are going. Also, said company does a great job getting on BA and interacting with customers/fans; that's worth something.

I'm sure I speak for more than just myself by saying I thoroughly appreciate that people who are friends with the crew update the rest of us with details sometimes before they appear on instagram, fbook, twitter. It makes planning the rest of my life around my alcoholism easier.

There was a thread recently in one of the main forums on how to be critical to breweries but something missed by most posters arguing their helpfulness is that the feedback might be unwanted or that dialogue unnecessary. In a thread of people talking about how excited they are about making can releases, helping others navigate the area, etc, I understand someone wanting to say, "I had AGE, it wasn't anything special," but I hope that person realizes how little anybody else cares.

Also for what it's worth, I think I got away with saying that I found Mosaic a bit watery on the first day in the August thread (say what you will about your preference, I find their cans need a couple days to really come together as a solid beer) without being chased off my keyboard.


tl dr version: Summer break has been too long. I can't wait to start teaching again in 2 weeks so I'm not doing this all day.

 

how about being critical of terrible posts, can we do that?

 

I think this is a two way street and that less than stellar reviews (let's consider them reviews) are just as important as positive reviews. It's someone's opinion. That's the bottom line and should be treated as such. I liked a lot of the OH beers I've tried, but I've also found some things I didn't like (AGE is too boozy for my tastes and Hop Showers was just "good").

And this is a bit over-generalization for this thread specifically, but creating this hive-mind mentality of "OH is da best, all day, every day" isn't good. If people try OH and don't like it, but then come here and see that they should like it, what's the point? Let people see the good and the bad and decide for themselves, at least they'd be able to realize their not wrong for not liking a bunch of hops in a can.

 

This thread is getting 125th and Lexington-type weird.

 

I think your post is misguided while acknowledging that I, in no small part, led to us becoming increasingly more off-topic.

Cheers (over a fabulously refreshing, underrated, and delicious Hop Showers!) to agreeing to disagree.

 

People are sensitive. Shit happens. Jokes are made, sarcasm goes over peoples heads.

Shit I remember making a joke about about Pat Mcilhenney of Alpine Beer CO and Kiwi Herman and getting called a fucking moron. Criticism is sure to ignite a feather or two, but everything doesn't have to be sunshine & roses. Speak your mind and let others speak theirs.