Bruery 2016 RS/HS Allocations

In the same boat. Been in HS from day 1, have had the spending pattern you describe, and not likely to renew.

However, while I agree with you that this year (and last) have been disappointing as an HS member, there are other reasons that renewing is less attractive. Namely, it's no longer difficult to get top quality beer almost anywhere. When I first joined RS in '10, and even when HS started up in '12 (right? or '13?), there was no way near the variety of excellent beer available on the shelves, in bars, and at local breweries. I'm speaking for the NYC region, but it seems to be the same elsewhere. So in short, it's raidly becoming not worth the headache of being a non-local HS/RS member.

Sure, the HS membership feels like it has been devalued that last couple years, and yes I've been frustrated with some of QC problems, but I'm not it really matters. Easier access to great beers is the most important factor for me.

 

I'll give you a glimpse ;-) The majority of our HS exclusives are scheduled for the second half of the year. The planned releases include a new variant of Black Tuesday, Wineification IV, The Bruery Hoarders Cuvee, Bruery Terreux Hoarders Cuvee and more. We're equally excited for them too!

 

New BT variant and Wineification IV.....Nice! Now I need to find a Hoarder who wouldn't mind me snagging a bottle or so.

 

Yes, but what about Grey Monday?

 

Q4 ;-)

 

This is going to be a heavy month for me.

 

DIdn't Wineification get downgraded to RS as well, or is it still HS only?

 

I gotta admit its a littttttttle mind blowing that chocolate rain goes to second chance and sits. same as Mocha Wed earlier this year. I mean... its expensive as hell and a really tough beer to actually drink and all your friends have one too so you cant bring it to shares....but just a year or two ago these beers flew. Game is a-changing.

Surprised to see all the Hoarder drop out talk too. Game is a-changing.

Didn't re-ups for hoarders go out last year around this time or earlier?

 

Initial invite went out July 7, with the purchase window lasting from July 13th to Aug 31.

 

If I'm recalling correctly, there was a lot of talk at the time (on here, anyway—I do not recall any actual Bruery staff weighing in) about that earliness of invites potentially being a product of the need for a cash infusion due to the idle state of the Terreux facility at the time.

Given that it's opened and invites haven't gone out, that thread-theorizing does seem slightly more accurate now than it did then.

 

any reviews from SMM?

 

There is a saturation of great breweries around LA/OC making barrel aged sours, stouts and belgian ales. All of which usually at a cheaper price point or smaller volume size. The Bruery still has the market on barleywines / old ales.

I love the beers, but it's hard to justify mocha wednesday for $37 when I can get HPB Griffith J Griffith for $16

 

Just a reminder to any folks considering dropping their HS membership - a membership was auctioned off at this years Anniversary party and went for about $2000 IIRC….just saying….

And I won't speak for anyone else - but as amazing as CR is, the price point is really killing it for me. For me at least, the Bruery is almost cannibalizing their own sales - when I can buy a solidly delicious coffee stout like Share This for a third of the price of CR it really gives me pause…not to mention other amazing (imo of course) "cheap" beers like Rueuze, Beret, SHIT, Hottenroth, the Frucht series…hell I just stock up on those lately and maybe snag one or two of the pricier ones and I'm happy. Just one HS members opinion of course...

On another note, I'm convinced that eventually HS members will no longer be guaranteed HS membership the following year…too many of us have probably drastically cut back on purchasing for that to be sustainable.

Okay back to my Melange 14….

 

I said something similar to this 50 odd pgs ago. It would be a bloodbath when it was announced I am sure but as it stands id bet hard cash that the avg RS member outspends a HS member in allocations by a long shot. No incentive anymore and you already sunk the $750(?) so I don't blame anyone for putting it in low gear and waiting for the exclusives. It would explain some of the unpredictable gluts like when Chocolate Rain goes for another round of 4 it's easy to assume that a lot of HS folks didn't buy 8x$32 beers....

Then again, maybe that was the plan all along.... Not that HS would be its own cash cow but that it would act as a carrot to push RS society spending to the next level. I don think Bruery gets to where they are without thinking many steps ahead so I doubt they are looking at it going "this wasn't what we thought would happen"....

Not calling anyone out but ill believe folks drop their HS when I see it. I know it's happened. I know an ex-HS member myself.... but I don't think it's as common as the mutterings indicate when renewals approach.

 

Mash and Vanilla was WAY better than it was at the barrel event. You could still taste the base beer but the vanilla was nice. It wasnt a sweet Imperial Or chata like the other batch was...

Melange 15 is a walnutty lesser body Melange 3(kind of sweet, brown sugar notes) but not overly sweet. Pretty enjoyable.

Frucht Blueberry is my least favorite frucht. It has a beautiful hue to it but the blueberry isnt a strong enough fruit to stand up to the "pucker" of the base. If you like subtle fruit, then this is your jam. If you liked passion fruit and yumberry, then this is underwhelming.

Fav was the Mash and Vanilla though. Good stuff there!

 

Always Maxipads with wings should help.

 

I dont understand the point you are trying to make. Is this suppose to make me feel like the HS membership is "worth" more than I pay for it? Because currently I dont feel like its worth the price we pay which is less than half of that.

Maybe if I was local to the Bruery it would be more worth it, but thats not the case. Being a long distance member, I spend more money annually on shipping and handling just to have my Bruery beer delivered to me than I spend on local breweries.

The membership isnt nearly as enticing to long distance members because many of us cannot fly across the country to attend a party, special event or cash in on the onsite perks. Heck, in the years ive been a member I have only ever received a single growler of their beer and half of it leaked in transit.

What do we get as a long distance member? Something like 20 included beers, a piece of merch, a discount on future orders and the promise of being able to buy any bottle released for an admission price of ~ $800. That comes out to like $35+ per bottle/merch item pre-tax/shipping which only becomes better per bottle when you purchase more. When I look back at the included bottles every year, I see we got something like 6 or 8 included mocha wednesdays over the years. Thats nice, I drank one of them and the rest are still sitting in a box. I dont want more.

A big part of this membership to me, and im generalizing here to assume others feel the same way, is the exclusivity. I want to try all the new stuff the bruery makes. But it makes less and less sence for me to pay this premium price when im paying for bottles I dont want (some of the included membership ones) and finding out that some of the Hoarder exclusive beers are no longer exclusive to the membership when sales arnt good enough or the following year when they rebrew it.

Sorry if my post seems like entitlement, nit-picking bitchery. Its just my thoughts on the subject and maybe im just trying to talk myself out.

 

That is why you fail...

 

I appreciate your attempt at being witty.

Exclusivity is one of the Bruery's main selling points of their memberships. They even use the term in the description of their society. What point does a membership even have if you can buy the same beers off the shelf elsewhere?

 

Yeah I think being in Hoarders makes much less sense if you're not local for the reasons you mentioned.