Crooked Stave 2014 Cellar Reserve

You're still special in my book!

 

Somewhere in Glenwood Springs, a man smiles with anticipation.

 

If nothing else, when someone asks "What should I buy from Crooked Stave?" we don't have to roll our eyes and tell them that you can't buy like 99% of their beers because they aren't a reserve member.

 

Can anyone post the email? I'm interested to see what they said about the future of the sour program?

 

I heard that there is a slim to none chance that they actually are able to brew at the Source...something to do with the way the floors are designed and drainage issues that just wouldn't be feasible to fix. Which would tie into your point about hiring someone to manage logistics...wouldn't this be something you figured out before moving into the new space and moving all the stuff there?

 

And then adding more equipment months later when you already knew of the problems keeping you from brewing there.

 

I'm just praying for a SARA style Reserve membership from him, meaning invite-only, friends and early supporters, limited to 100-150 or so people who were there from the beginning, and most of all, LOCAL. I would hate for it to turn into an online lottery shit show where a huge number of members are out of state, or even country. I hope all Casey Reserve members (IF Troy decides to go that route) are similar to the CS Reserve members who frequented the Barrel Cellar in the early days, lived in the area and spread the word.

Also, I'm not trying to piss on out of state CS Reserve members. If I lived in Georgia and had the opportunity to get Crooked Stave, I would have been all over it too. Opening the membership floodgates was CS's fault. But I think Reserve Societies should be local. Maybe that's impossible to realistically enforce, but should be a priority.

Off soapbox.

 

i asked specifically about that the other day beacuse it didn't make sense to me either. They told me that it was all equipment that had to be ordred at one time but that it took a long time for some of it to be made and shipped to here.

 

I think you missed the part where last night they sent an email saying that the lights are being turned off on the RS after this year.

Overall the decision is theirs to make. I'm bummed, confused, disappointed and happy that I was able to get in before the hype train started rolling and CS got popular. Best of luck to CS whatever direction they go in the future.

Not going to parse the email or question their decision/business model going forward.

It was a good run when it lasted.

 

Yes, it's unfortunate that the cellar reserve is gone. No, you do not know the inner workings of their business well enough to say things like "just do X...". They try to explain why and people still are not satisfied.

 

In my view, this is bigger than just CR ending. It signals a shift in the entire Crooked Stave brand. They are essentially ending production of exclusive, one-off beers in order to increase production and distribution. It sounds like they are trying to become more of a production brewery than an "artisan beer project."

In retrospect, there were several indications they wanted to head in this direction:
1) Moving from the Barrel Cellar to the Source
2) Attempting to centralize all brewing in-house on a larger system
3) Wanting to branch out into other styles - IPA's, stouts, etc
4) Ending CR to gain capacity to brew more of their core beers

It's not what I would do with the Crooked Stave brand, but as others have stated, it's not my money on the line. Personally, I think it's a huge risk but I'm sure they did their due diligence. It can't be easy to give up what basically amounts to a guaranteed annuity of ~$140K in membership fees plus another ~$100K on additional allocations sold.

I wish them luck, but I doubt I'll be spending nearly as much on their beers going forward as I do today.

 

I don't think it means the end of producing exclusive one-off beers so much as ending the promise to make 10 exclusive one-off beers every year on top of the production and specialty beers and to release them on a somewhat set schedule. That seems like a pretty big commitment and we've already seen a few of the things that can go wrong with it.

 

I think it's somewhere in between. They definitely made it clear they want to free up space to produce more Surette/Hop Savant/L'Brett/Origins more regularly. It would seem counter intuitive to then allocate a portion of those base beers to create one-off beers ala CR.

If I were betting purely on the email, I'd be we'll see bottles of L'Brett D'or on shelves all over their distro footprint before something like Persimmon L'Brett D'or.

And being that CS distributes to NY, I would certainly buy all the L'Brett D'or I see on those shelves.

 

If they can get on a JK production and release type schedule because of this, then I say it is the right move. Hopefully still producing all the varients. Even being out of state and making it harder for me I would be happy to see Chad's talents enjoyed by all and more frequently.

I only hope I have to chance to make it oit for the last release....fingers crossed

 

Cellar Reserve Members,
The third and final Cellar Reserve release of 2014 is now set for Saturday, November 1st and will again be held at the Barrel Cellar (1441 W. 46th Ave., Unit 19) from 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m.

After many long conversations and sleepless nights we have decided this will be the last release we will hold, as we will not be continuing the Cellar Reserve program beyond the 2014-year. Please understand this was a very tough decision for us to make, but one we ultimately had to. Our Cellar Reserve members have been an integral part of what we do at our brewery and how we have shaped Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project. We have enjoyed making each one of the Cellar Reserve beers, and all the fun releases associated with the Cellar Reserve. We absolutely do not want our Cellar Reserve members to feel abandoned with our decision to discontinue the program and instead, we'd like to give you a little insight into the challenges we've faced with the Cellar Reserve program over the last few years and how we came to make this decision.

There are a few primary reasons that have brought an end for our Cellar Reserve program. As many of you know from visiting the Barrel Cellar, space is a commodity. We are extremely crunched for space and the amount of Cellar Reserve beers being held long-term has taken away our capacity to make beer. We have some big plans for the unit, which is currently holding all the Cellar Reserve beer, that will allow us to get a little more stability in our production. Why can't we just move? While there might be some industrial spaces on the outskirts of Denver, finding an ideal location that fits the needs of a brewery, especially a brewery built on barrel-aging, is difficult and is not a viable option for our long-term vision.

The beers we brew determine much of what we do at Crooked Stave. It is no secret that our beers take months, even years, to make. Devoting barrels to Cellar Reserve beer has severally limited our ability to produce beers outside of our core brands, Vieille, Surette, St. Bretta, HopSavant, and has taken away our ability to release L'Brett d'Or, Origins, and Nightmare on Brett in any quantity. This is tied to our lack of space, inability to regularly brew and tying up so much beer in the Cellar Reserve program. We absolutely love working to create experimental blends and fully intend to as we move forward. Focusing on producing 10 beers a year for our members in the volume needed without room for error, and relatively high quantities, ultimately reduces our ability to experiment. With more leeway in regard to production, we can spend more time pushing the limits of our mission: To be a modern artisan brewery with a quality driven focus, striving to progressively blend brewing science and art through creativity and following our passion.

A major reason for not continuing the Cellar Reserve program is due to a large financial liability related to the processing of Cellar Reserve membership payments, which is outside the comfort zone of bankers and merchant processers. This past year, we had all renewal funds withheld by our bank due to the fact that the product to be received by members was not yet created. We have had to wait until all the beers are released for the bank to disburse the funds collected last year. Working with banks for Cellar Reserve is no longer a feasible option and we at Crooked Stave do not feel comfortable personally processing 500 checks from our Cellar Reserve members.

It is important for us to maintain the loyalty and friendships we have gained over the last three years of Cellar Reserve. We are treating the release on November 1st as a final blow-out party with some special beer tappings, catered food, and good times as always. If you have never made it out to a release, this is the time to come! We hope all of our members will be in attendance to celebrate with us. Cellar Reserve members who do make it out to celebrate will have their photo taken, photo booth style, to be used on a personal lifetime membership card. All members who can't make the release are encouraged to send in a passport sized photo of themselves so cards can be made in their absence. With these cards, members will continue to receive special benefits in the future. Members will also receive email updates with respect to limited releases and happenings.

Thank you all for the amazing support you have given us over the last three years. We have been extremely lucky to have all of you involved with the Cellar Reserve membership and as loyal Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project followers. We hope you understand our decision and continue to be such strong supporters of our brewery. For the final release and blow-out party on Saturday, November 1st, we ask that all members attending please bring a Cellar Reserve glass from one of the last three years for a final toast. We can't wait to cheers with everyone on November 1st!

All the best,
Crooked Stave

 

LOL:

I guarantee you he's already multiplied 500 times 350 on his calculator, a few times. Hmm, let's see now. Yep, still $175,000. Up front.
(Or, were I in his shoes, I admit I would have!)

There's a Grateful Dead lyric from a long time ago when I was a young man: "One man gathers what another man spills..."

 

The irony of this following a comment talking about how we don't know their business model......

 

A major reason for not continuing the Cellar Reserve program is due to a large financial liability related to the processing of Cellar Reserve membership payments, which is outside the comfort zone of bankers and merchant processers. This past year, we had all renewal funds withheld by our bank due to the fact that the product to be received by members was not yet created. We have had to wait until all the beers are released for the bank to disburse the funds collected last year. Working with banks for Cellar Reserve is no longer a feasible option and we at Crooked Stave do not feel comfortable personally processing 500 checks from our Cellar Reserve members.

They were not getting the money up front. Think this is a major reason why they are no longer doing it.

 

But I don't see why there would be anything stopping Casey B&B (do people call them that?) from realizing this inconvenience that CS had to deal with and shaping their payment schemes to avoid holds.

Things like, instead of paying a membership fee upfront the total is tacked on to each bottle release, so instead of spending nothing on bottles (from the membership lets say 10 releases) each bottle cost 1/10 of the membership cost. That way more of the money is in hand sooner.

You could also do things like ask for membership dues are given up front in cash (I know it's a potential headache down the line tax-wise) or using PayPal instead of CC processing.

 

It's like a lawyer's retainer. I guess you can say they weren't "realizing" the money up front. A lawyer doesn't/can't "realize" the retainer deposited into his/her trust account until the work is done. But it still gives him/her a warm and fuzzy feeling knowing it's in there, as opposed to something he'll/she'll have to bill for and hope to collect, later.

And, with an appropriately-worded retainer agreement, he/she can take progress payments.

Crooked Stave's apparent inability to structure this so as to receive partial distributions as installments were released must have something to do with their having taken payments by credit card? If so I believe several work-arounds have been suggested in this thread, which might appeal to another brewer--pay-pal, payment by check vs credit card, etc.