Other Half Brewing July 2017

dude, it's just fucking beer. you'll survive in life without Other Half cans, and they will likely survive without your business. there are dozens, if not hundreds, of other options out there - if you're so opposed to the way OH runs their business, don't patronize them. simple math.

be grateful that we have the options we have today. there was a time, not long ago, when it was a blessing to see Anchor Liberty on tap.

you seem like a thoughtful fellow. i have to believe your energy would be better spent on almost anything other than relentless ranting in a beer chat room.

 

We get it. You feel as if you should be able to buy cans whenever you want without standing in line. We get it.

 

I for one have an excess of energy not better spent elsewhere, but not much to complain about, so deeply enjoy (and sometimes feel validated) when others complain here. Please never stop this glorious pontificating fellow beer advocates.

And as I said before, when's the next non-IPA coming out dammit!?

 

lol no you don't get it. i get its just beer. its a billion dollar industry. it has a whole forum with multiple sub regions discussing beer constantly. im just trying to be somewhat entertaining and that may be annoying to some. As is #lineculture and associated social media. The constant feeding of that crowd from a brewery that never needed it. look at the treehouse thread. they have a whole environmental discussion about growler use compared to a 90 minute drive to the brewery or some crap.

 

The thing is...people have been saying this for a while. Other Half has done weekly can releases in this manner for a long time. They've surely seen the complaints, but have decided that the hype and marketing benefit that comes from lines and constant "collabs" is better for business than spreading beer out to more people. They hired a fucking videographer for the Like Woah release and asked for line pictures of the potato can release so they could plaster it all over social media...this is their business model. Very much why I don't go to OH anymore, but am just less vocal about it than others since I know it's not going to change.

 

I don't think that lowering the limits would at all take away from any of the hype. If you look back into past releases (Oat Overdose, Slickers 1, ADE, etc) the limits were 3-4 packs pp, and those collabs were sort of what brought them to where we are today. Considering that demand has increased dramtically since then, but production/capacity has not, something just does not seem right.

 

since when had production and capacity not increased?

 

Peak hipster boutique IPA brewery nonsense here. I have no desire to drink countless iterations of the same beer but I do certainly enjoy reading about this ongoing shitshow (like our democracy, but I do not enjoy that at all).
I think a bunch of you will eventually tire of all of this nonsense as your taste buds learn to expand beyond IPAs.
OH is a business, not a community service so they are probably going to try and get every single dollar from you guys and keep the hype going while they can.

 

The most I've waited in line for Trillium is 20 minutes (for BA OtL) and a case of mixed cans. Comparing OH lines to to Trillium lins like comparing Terrorism to public urination.

Edit: Just wanted to add that I completely agree with @Fahmie25

 

Anyone else excited about the fact that Tremendous Ideas was brewed using a yeast strain not typically used by OH?

This beer was fermented with a combo of JW Lees yeast(which can only be sourced directly from JW Lees), sent to us by @cloudwaterbrew from Manchester, and American Ale yeast.

While I very much enjoy OH's signature flavor profile, this one should be a nice change of pace.

 

An opinion that is not needed and unwanted. See this is a troll.

Im really looking forward to this week, I want the taproom to open already so I dont have to feel smashed into a 10 by 10 room. Most people in NYC go out to escape their jail sized room. Also, what was the last Cloudwater collab, I cant seem to remember.

 

That would have been Imaginary Greenscapes, which I think lasted a while and I thoroughly enjoyed.

 

Thanks, got that confused with the one that Cloudwater released across the pond.

 

I'm sorry but it's really hard/unfair to compare Trillium and Other Half.

Reason one:

1. Trillium expanded in a huge way with their Canton location. Yes, OH's production has increased with the expansion next door, but it's nothing close to Trillium's 16,000 sq ft brewery which is pumping out beers all the time.

2. You can't compare your experience of 1 or 2 times at Trill on a regular release to a brewery which up until recently was only releasing twice a month. There are lines at hyped Trillium releases. These releases also usually occur midweek/midday as opposed to pre-announced on a Saturday.

3. Which brings me to my third point - population/area. Other Half is in Brooklyn, who's population alone is a bit over 2.5 million. Yes, not everyone there is buying craft beer at OH...but you add in Manhattan (1.6 million), Queens (2.3 million) hell even Nassau (1.3 million) and Suffolk county (1.5 million) - the NY area OH reaches is vast. That's 9.2 million people within 2 hours of OH. That's not even including folks from Jersey who (as we know) regularly make the trip over on a weekend. Massachusetts' population is estimated at 6.8 million...

 

IMO, OH should have expanded to a larger space a while ago. from most of the other Breweries I have seen grow both in the NE and in NC they typically would have expanded to a production only facility by now or a much larger production space. Im surprised they haven't.

In CLT alone NODA, Birdsong, Heist have all in the past 3 years moved and expanded. I understand conditions are different but your production facility could be further out in a more cost effective area.

 

Very hard to do in NYS/NYC in general...I'm pretty sure OH has mentioned off-site storage facilities, but production facilities is different and still difficult, especially with how they run their operations. They want to stay a BK brewery as well.

Threes tried getting an off-site location for production in Suffolk/Greenport (so Greg could move back towards home) and it was turned down. The politics are fucked.

 

I might be wrong but im pretty sure OH is working on a production only facility in conjunction with the expansion at their tap room. I was at the tap room a while back and overheard some employees talking with the construction workers about the progress on the production facility. 30 BBL system pumping out "core" beers that will be available most of the time and see distro to the city. Again, this is just info overheard and maybe they were talking about someone else brewery, so take it with a grain of salt.

 

Indeed, nobody has disputed that their can sales model (case limits, well-publicized releases) has likely resulted in a consistent revenue stream that they've been able to grow (higher yields, the $20+ 4/pks). This would be the quickest way to fund a production facility build out and may be the primary reason they've stuck with something that many, but not all, supporters believe makes it harder to consume their beer.

 

trill just released a monkish collab.... two 4 packs a person.

thats the sensible limits im looking for.

 

you must be fun at parties