Craft Beer Cellar - Braintree

Fair enough points... but there are also tons of craft beer in stores that are perfect gateways into craftier offerings too.

And, I think you missed the point of my original post - this entire thread is about CBC in Braintree and I said that it was bizarre and unwarranted that the thread derailed into a shit-talking fest about CBC. Opinions can be expressed in a way that doesn't come off as arrogance and stupidity, i.e., the way you're expressing your thoughts.

If you didn't recognize, every post by every user in response to me has been an ad hominem. I was only defending a company that I see as a good thing when everyone else seemed to be suggesting the opposite.

Cheers.

 

The 30+ dollar price is ridiculous. I was fortunate enough to share a bottle with a friend. But, it was glorious... and the melting of the wax was like a seance before a meal which just added to the experience. I wish I could find another bottle of EC12.

 

Look at the two of you now, best friends!!!

 

Are you being euphemistic or did you actually melt the wax off the bottle? I don't even know how that would work without making a complete mess...

Cut it off with a pocket knife next time... For most bottles, you can just kind of cut a circle directly under the bottle cap, then pop the cap right off like usual. For some bottles, like the thick-ass Bruery wax, it takes a bit more surgery...

I'm a big fan of the Eclipse series. Really pricey at $30, but they sell them for $20 out west via futures. You need somebody who lives in CA to be a trustee for you, but if you really want 6-12 bottles, you'll save considerable money, even after shipping.

 

Speak for yourself. I would sooner drink a Bud or a High Life than let another Blue Hills beer touch my lips.

Do you work for CBC or something?

 

Also, wouldn't you be heating up the bottle and, thus, the beer? If you want a ritual, just have a goat nibble it off or something.

 

You only have to pay for the pay lot if you are there forever. I use that lot all the time when I can't get a space on Leonard St. or in the lot behind right behind CBC. Even if I'm in CBC for a half a hour I've never run into trouble with parking in the $ lots.

 

Sooner drinking something doesn't mean it isn't crap beer... it's still crap beer regardless of which one you prefer. And no, I just support the company and their philosophy of business.

 

Don't you think they are cutting out a huge percentage of the beer drinking world by not offering anything BMC? With the knowledgeable staff that they have don't you think if someone came in looking for their normal 12 pack of Bud or Bud Light or Coors or whatever, then maybe someone could offer them something that might fit their needs that wasn't BMC? It seems that their philosophy of business is to sell craft beer to people who want to buy craft beer. And no one else. As opposed to the store that offers both BMC and craft beer. And maybe someone in that store has an opportunity to turn a BMC drinker onto something else, even if for only one time/day/night. Which is more pretentious?

 

Why must the option of BMC be present in a store in order for a knowledgeable staff to suggest something that is craft that is an alternative to BMC? The answer here is you don't.

It's really not pretentious... it's supporting small breweries who don't get as much recognition in bigger liquor stores.

 

Cute, braineater.

 

> CBC has high prices

I wouldn't call their prices high either. In fact, comparing to the surrounding similarly stocked liquor stores, their prices are either on par on even slightly cheaper. Marty's, Martignetti, Gordon's, Cambridge Wine & Spirits. Julio's prices are cheaper? But I'd assume that the rent in Westborough is cheaper than in Belmont. And I'm not going to drive to Julio's to save $1 on a beer. Heck, by the time I get there, the beer will probably be gone

> it's a pain in the ass to get to/park unless you live right in the immediate area

I see it's been elaborated and answered below. But I never had to pay for parking there either. Are you sure you had to?

> and while they stock a good selection, their popularity sees much of it fly out the door right away.

Well, you can't really fault a business for being too popular. Inconvenient, yes, but they can't just slow down the pace of sales.

> I think a lot of people are just a little sick of CBC getting so much hype and praise. Let's be clear
> - they're not even the best store for beer geeks in MA. Julio's probably takes that title running
> away, with Granite, Redstone, and Yankee all just as good as CBC.

I don't think majority of praises are saying they're better than those. But they achieved quite a lot in probably slightly over a year (I'm considering the time people started to talk about them) and became one of the more prominent beer stores. So I think in their case the praise is warranted.

 

I kind of wanted to discuss this, since we've gone off topic anyway.

I just don't understand why somebody would want to be a part of a craft beer store franchise, i.e. to pay for it. The idea is not new or unique. So just open your own store. The name? Maybe I'm missing something, but I just don't see that a craft beer store's name will carry enough weight to draw in customers on its own. Simply because craft beer is just too small of a niche. It's not pizza, it's not coffee, I don't believe it will ever become popular enough or generic enough to be recognizable.

Granted, no franchise started out being famous, but, again, here we are talking about a product that occupies only 6,5% of its own market. There is just not enough demand for it to become popular.

And, unfortunately for the franchisees, Suzanne and Kate cannot be everywhere. So to me there is also a question whether other franchises will be able to recreate the same atmosphere, the same vibe.

Any thoughts?

 

Marty's is the king of high prices - it's borderline offensive, but they do consistently stock a few brands much better than other area stores which is the only reason I ever even rarely set foot in that store. I haven't been to Gordon's in a long time, and I don't shop at the others. Perhaps CBC is competitive with their closest neighbors, but that just makes them all overpriced.

Julio's is definitely cheaper - and if I'm buying $100 worth of beer, I'd expect to save a good $20 over CBC because of the 15% discount. Worth the trip? Meh - depends where you are driving from I suppose. For those that live south of Boston, Julio's really isn't too much further than CBC - about 45 minutes vs 35, all easy highway. I obviously would never drive to Julio's for a 6-pack or two.

But, back to the thread topic and the point I made earlier - CBC is not going to be able to charge their Belmont prices in the Braintree location. The competition is much more competitively priced than places like Marty's.

 

Do they get it on distribution deals/allocations? For better or worse, CBC seems to have more pull with limited releases than a lot of other stores. If so, and the franchise fees are low enough, that could justify it.

Otherwise I agree completely. A niche concept whose strongest differentiator is customer service is not going to translate well to a franchise model.

 

From what I have gathered you pay 10k up front, plus 3% of annual revenue for te franchise - this is name, marketing, branding, and access to their distro/ordering/warehousing. The location is responsible for procurement and maintenance of liquor license - that's how they skirt the liquor license ownership laws in MA.

 

Interesting. So hypothetically speaking, for 3% you get a full case of an ultra limited release while your direct competition only gets 4 bottles. There's maybe 10-20 releases a year that are important enough to provide a competitive advantage. 3% seems like a lot to give up? Or is that enough to build strong year round consumer loyalty?

Is there even a viable alternative at this point though? Like could somebody start up a new store out of the blue without strong industry connections and get a decent number of limited releases? It seems like existing stores have to fight for every scrap they get. I can't imagine how new ones do it. (CBC was obviously well connected before opening.)

 

Some of the releases base the allocations on sales of year-round beers, so you get the limited releases if you support the brands. You have to be doing well, though, to get the volume anyways.

 

It may not be the best location for easy access but I am very excited to have them coming to Braintree. I drive to the Belmont location to get my beer. I love their knowledgeable staff and they have the BEST inventory around.

I have called Granite, Curtis and Ralph's sometimes they have no idea and tell me to call back when the "Beer guy" is working. Ridiculous in my opinion. Granite does have a great inventory but I don't want to have to drive there to find out what they do have in stock.

CRAFT BEER CELLAR is the only store I know of, where you can look online and find an UP TO DATE INVENTORY. Plus, the staff at CBC have no problem holding bottles when I can't make it there right away.

I raise my Pint Glass to welcome them to the South Shore!