Had an interesting discussion today with a friend about brewery kickstarter campaigns. We figured out that there are two local breweries (who will probably remain unnamed) who have seriously reneged on their Kickstarter promises: Brewery A: $50 for 6 "limited release" bottles within 6-9 months of brewery opening with "special events" (none of which have really happened that are much beyond a brewery tour). Worth noting, after over two years, they are releasing the 6 bottles. Better late than never I suppose? Brewery B: Several different levels of membership, minimum of $75 and that gets you a yearly "club only" meeting (this has happened) as well as a bunch of misc. swag and "first opportunity for all limited and special releases". Interestingly, this brewery has now walked back it's promise to it's kickstarter "investors" and they no longer get the first opportunity on special releases with a big special release coming up in December. So, these two examples bring up a few interesting questions: 1. How have BA members done supporting brewery kickstarter campaigns? Have they gotten what they were promised, or is there a lot of these campaigns where people aren't getting what they paid for? 2. It's definitely a challenge to remain loyal to your kickstarter "investors" forever, so with the Brewery B example, is it reasonable to suggest that the "investors" got first right of refusal for a while but it was never promised it would last forever? Or, should the brewery be called out for walking back a major selling point of their campaign, even if it would be a challenge to honor those commitments in perpetuity?
Is Brewery A Wolves and People? I'm not big on crowdfunding in general (I'll throw $25 towards a musician trying to raise money to record and print a CD, or a local author trying to self-publish, but that's about it), but especially not breweries. I think there's too much wiggle room for the type of behavior you point out.
I always found the whole crowdfund/kickstarter thing to start a brewery seems like a cop-out. Get your ass our there and get some real investors and promise real returns.
I'm not against crowdfunding and I have contributed to some kickstarter campaigns (not breweries, mind you), but it's definitely a buyer beware situation. On the examples above specifically, my first blush reaction is it sounds like the brewers are being jerks to the people who supported them from the start and are probably their most loyal customers. I also think the contributors might be a little naive too - buyer beware. Will enough people be upset to make the brewers feel a backlash for what could be perceived as a bad-faith cash-grab? I hope so, but I don't know.
Haven't participated in a kickstart campaign, if only because, as @Ranbot points out it's a gamble. In addition it's a gamble where I'll most likely know little to nothing about the funding seekers except what they say they want to do and some about how they say they want to do it. As for over-promising and failing to deliver, that's neither a surprise nor necessarily intentional. Even some small businesses with a well thought out and reviewed business plan, capable business managers and a competent brewing team wind up failing to meet their goals. But at least they stand a better chance than a start up lacking one, or more, of the three.
I never have and never would. The owner should have "skin in the game" as they say. I don't know of any brewery in NJ that has tried this. Has anyone?
I'miss curious to hear the breweries side of the story, why they think it's OK to not deliver on their promises. I know that there have been a couple high profile ones that people weren't happy with (J Wakefield, Tired Hands). My local brewery does a membership-type thing that is kickstarter-like. I consider it to be like my CSA - I'm just preparing for the beer I will get later. There are 3 membership levels: a $100 year long membership, a $400 year long membership, and a $2400 lifetime membership. Obviously the biggest risk is to the lifetime members if the brewery goes out of business. The other risk with the 2 more expensive levels is that you get a free bottle with every bottle release, so you are dependent on them releasing a certain number of bottles. That's worked out so far, with 40+ bottles this year and a plan for 50+ next year, but you never know.
I have always felt it's corporate panhandling. If you don't have the money to open a brewery or don't want to work hard toward that goal you have no business being in the Brewery business and probably won't be successful anyway. And if you don't want to take on an investor (or get outside financing) to help you do that then you are greedy and probably can't be trusted. And the word "investor" should never be used with Kickstarter/Crowdfunding campaigns. Investors get their money back (if things go well) and a return on their investment. Brewery KS & CF campaigns usually offer nothing more than a cheesy bottle opener, tee shirt, or promises to allow you to buy their beer in the future.
