de Garde

In just about 4 hours I think. De Garde is going to become the next Block 15 at this rate.

 

They're gonna open up a 20 bbl brewery in south town of Corvallis? Hellllll yeah.

 

I THINK we'll be sooner than that. We should be bottling it in about a month, and conditioning should be somewhere in the 2-3 month range, but we're really at the mercy of the natural conditioning process.

We were surprised as well. That was far faster than ever. We expected it to be slower than the Anniversary party (which while effectively the same as any other event, still seems to garner more excitement).
Going forward, we are looking into other ideas for reservation sales. We don't want to alleviate the issue of massive lines just to have people compelled to wait at their computer. Neither is much fun.

Yes. We archive a number of cases from many releases, including member releases. We will not sell them to go, but they will occasionally be made available for our on premesis consumption list. The high prices noted above are not our retail prices, but pricing for drinking in house. We've fought to keep the prices as approachable as possible, but have had to price a number of them up simply to avoid the first people through the door purchasing all of them. With limited supply, we want them to be a luxury available to those who may not have tried, and not turn into a massive archive bottle share as has been the case often prior. Our weekly on premesis list is usually 10-20 different bottles, and we are trying to grow it over time as our archive grows and we choose some favorites from it.

Lastly, new website (with updated bottle availability) is live.
We're also pouring a limited supply of Unblended Lambic inspired beer. 13 1/2 months in wine barrels, served at cellar temperature with low/no carbonation as tradition calls for. Very Brett funky and tasty, with a mellow acidity. Hope that it lasts the weekend, but we only have a couple kegs starting today!

 

Will there be keeper bottles at the upcoming quarterly release or is everything public now?

 

Yes, the 2015 Keeper's memberships run through all of 2015.

 

if you have to ask...

 

Unfortunately, reservations are not transferrable. We set those terms at the point of sale so that we can ensure that only those who paid have entry (allowing us to control the number of people and bottle limits accurately), and just as importantly, to avoid any confusion and therefor delays in the process of admitting people.

We know they went far more quickly than ever before, and we are brainstorming ways to ensure that our more regional supporters have a longer purchase window. Anyone who missed this party has my sincere apologies. We're always trying to do better.

 

That response is too reasonable. Where's the sense of entitlement and threats of boycott?

 

You're too good to us.

 

I think you're possibly being facetious, but we do think taking care of your customers the best you can is just simply good business.
Plus, as beer lovers foremost, our consideration is always towards what we would want as beer consumers.
There's always hurdles, and the landscape is always shifting, but we try dammnit.

 

Thank you for understanding John.
Just when we think we've about got this figured out for us and our guests, things get complicated all over again.

The interest is beyond what we ever could have expected or hoped for. We're so incredibly grateful, and we're incredibly concerned about matching the support with quality in product AND service.

We'll make it easier next time.

 

Don't worry. There are plenty of other folks that have him covered there.

 

I didn't read it that way. Honestly, I've been tempted to say it myself before but haven't. It's very obvious you folks go out of your way to satisfy your fans as much as possible. You spend time here answering questions and you're always tweaking things at the brewery to try and make things run as best they can. Thanks for all the hard work.

 

I must agree with the folks above. The level of consideration that you give to your everyday consumer is above and beyond, and it's awesome that you want to look out for your regional/local supporters especially. You could do things differently, as many others do (not disparaging anyone, that's just the reality of it) but your passion for your customers is just so dang refreshing.

 

Thank you. Most of the folks on here know we're not perfect though. But we'll get as close as we can. And I can promise that we've got our best beers ahead of us.

 

Where can I see a list of previous keeper bottles?

 

if anybody can grab me a set of the tipsy cow glasses, hit me up! i will trade beer for them.