Dionysus Brewing

Hey guys, sorry for the absence from the forum. I did not realize the passion you guys have for the community of the craft beer industry. This really makes me happy knowing that people are willing to go far and beyond to ensure they are getting their beers from a stand up brewery and from the right source. With that said, I also apologize if my words (this is Kyle speaking) were taken out of context. Talking from a business point of a view is a new thing to me and it is one that I am learning. Guys like you folks here have helped me realize that you cannot come at people the wrong way, but rather listen and try to understand the problem and work to resolve that. I appreciate those that have supported the brewery and what we are trying to do, but I also realize that things got off on the wrong step here and would love to make it up to you guys. Getting our name out there is our biggest goal. We want all likes to try our beers, even the first time sour drinkers. The whole liking and disliking other beers to favor scores is uncalled for and I do apologize for that because that is not how we properly do things in the beer community. Me coming in here and being upset that you guys are bashing us is the same thing I was doing with the scores... so I get it and I am sorry for that.

I have been in communication with the guys at Casa and things for them seem to moving right along and I cannot wait until they get on the market and impress people, I have yet to try any of their beers, but I have high hopes for them as well! I have traded some of my sours/wilds for other high quality sours, I admit... I freaking love HSH!! But I also have traded to ensure I am not screwing over the other guy, I will send multiples of what I have to offer to just get one of those bottles. The guy I traded with is a fellow member of the Dionysus membership and he was really wanting to try something before the membership started, it really worked out for the both of us and I couldn't be happier to make a future customer happy and to ensure that he is happy he has so much faith in us. This can be very stressful at times and I seriously dig the way you guys stay active with each other. I do have some updates for you guys as well:

Our TTB application has been approved. It has been passed on from a Specialist Review onto a Field Review, and after that the Manager approves it and we get our license.

ABC said we are good to go, but we need a final inspection once we have everything setup to rock n' roll and she said October will be the most likely to be approved.

We sold out of our memberships and trust me, our first goal is to fill those barrels and get label approvals right away before even 2016 starts. It is a very intense, stressful, yet amazing time to be alive in the beer world and I hope we can all start a new and see you guys in the near future! If you guys ever have any questions please never hesitate (I know you won't haha) to ask!

Cheers and thank you,
Kyle.

 

One last thing, I know the bad review thing was uncalled for, but I also was a different person then. That was 2 years ago and I have changed a lot as a person. I cannot change what I did then, but I can work towards the future to prove to you guys and to the community that I am indeed here to help the industry rather than hurt it. I plan on not being an active reviewer once the business gets up and running. I want to focus on the craft and the customer's needs and concerns. I appreciate all of what you guys do and hope to hear from you soon, cheers once again.

 

FT: condolambic ISO: Rare Barrel, SARA, Bruery, Loons

 

Here's my recap of this thread so far.

- Memberships being sold from a brewery without an alcohol license
- Co-owner posts trades on Facebook with his home brew for high end sours
- Co-owner rates his own beer a 5 while rating beers like Citra and Keene Idea a 1

Am I reading this correctly?

 

Yes.

The guy seems well-intentioned in his responses but the best thing he could do right now is step away from BA until his brewery opens. He has nothing to gain now that the memberships are sold out, but has shown that he can continue digging himself deeper. Focus on the brewery, the beer, and the paying customers you already have - if the product is good enough, past indiscretions will be forgotten.

 

Well, even staying off BA has the negatives if in general he's going to "print money" and trade away home brews for higher well established beers, it's not going to look great for the guy. Maybe that's the tip CASA gave him?

If it were me and someone really wanted to try the beer, I wouldn't accept something in return. I don't tip the folks at costco when they give me a free sample of the goods.

 

stay off BA? Probably the worst idea to do that when people on BA are shit talking on his rep before he can even get the chance to get the product out. at least he cares enough to come on here and address the issues people are having with the way hes going about it.

perfect example - iron triangle

 

That is the goal sir, focus on finishing up the last bit of details to get the brewery up and operational, getting those that have contributed to us satisfied first and foremost is my absolute priority. Last thing we want to do is leave a bad taste in their mouth and start off on the wrong foot. After that, we will be pushing out a bunch of one offs and focusing on distribution outside of Bakersfield so we can have people try our beers and in hopes want to come check out the brewery and get the full experience. When this whole thing started we had 48 bottles of our Strawberry Sour, Oud Bruin, and Raspberry Sour. 48 of each I believe... and what we did was hook the first people up that responded to our post. The only thing that the person had to do was pick up the bottles and/or send us a shipping label and asked for nothing in return. The amount of post of our beers generated this unexpected hype. We were getting at least 25 messages a day about getting at least ONE of our bottles, it was humbling and exciting at the same time that these people really enjoyed these beers...or maybe because they were free haha. Well regardless, we came out with another bunch of tart/sours but wanted to do something special with them, we wanted to compare them with the likes of other commercial breweries out there for Research and Development. We got some 25 bottles and a bunch of the sour group guys came to a huge bottle share and we did indeed compare and contrast all the likes at the event while meeting some really stand up people. It is kind of crazy how much this entire venture has blown up and of course with the good there is some bad but we want to work day in and day out to make things right and to leave an everlasting great impression on the people that talk with us and especially drink our ales. In 2 months when we have everything setup at the brewery, we want to host a huge bottle share and if any of you want to come join the festivities with us and meet us while trying our new beers we will be releasing, you guys are more than welcomed to come! Cheers and hope everyone has a lovely Saturday afternoon,
Kyle.

 

Is Iron Triangle that bad?!

 

id suggest finding and reading the iron triangle thread... but in case you want the short answer, yes.

 

Read the thread if you got the time. Also you mentioned bottle share to kick things off...so yeah definitely read the IT thread to learn what not to do at a bottle share....playa....

 

Like I said, he's well-intentioned, but I don't think he's making the most effective possible use of BA, as most professional brewers/brewery owners don't. If you're already a fan, you'll appreciate his interaction, but if you're not a fan, his rambling responses aren't really going to change that. The more he writes, the more opportunities detractors will have to question him and create tangents that would've been otherwise avoided.

 

Right on, I will check it out right meow.

 

I cannot judge the guy because I personally do not know him or the business, but damn...he has to know all the talking on this forum! He has done nothing to share his side of the story. Good looking out on that, they should make a book or include that in a chapter for "If you want to open a brewery...". Is Iron Triangle even open or have they even found a brewer yet?

 

I cannot believe this actually happened...

 

Oh yes. Lol

 

since no one else shared it here is the email that the members received today


Welcome Olympians!
We have finally finished inputting everyone into our system! We will be sending out newsletters exclusively for members only. Within these e-mails, there will be updates on when batches are brewed, barrels are filled, and when to expect bottles to be released. When we do one offs we will also have direct links within the newsletters for members to purchase additional bottles and other releases that are not associated with the membership. As Olympians, you guys get first dibs on these special releases with no bottle limit, pretty sweet huh? We would like to give you guys a little update on how the operation is coming along.

Our TTB application just got approved on Thursday. What this means now is that it gets reviewed by two more specialist and then we get our approved license. This will likely take between 3-5 more weeks. There have been other breweries that have taken up to 141 days to get their application even processed, so we are looking good right now! We expect to be approved by beginning of September right when our brew house shows up from Ohio!

Word from ABC is positive as well, we have no errors or problems with our planned operations and have been told approval will come in October... exactly when we want to open!

All this is to give you guys a heads up so you feel even more confident in being an Olympian. We appreciate all the support we have been getting from you guys and plan on delivering some gems when the membership year starts!
We already have the barrels we need to fulfill these memberships and are awaiting just for the couple permits to get the OK to do our thing!

Some quick notes, people that signed up with a PO box shipping address. We cannot ship to PO box so if you signed up with a PO box address please contact us as soon as possible to resolve this issue. We will be shipping through GSO (Golden State Overnight) and they require that someone that is 21+ of age sign the beer mail we will be sending you. We will have to give them your address and e-mail so they can get ahold of you just incase you miss the package and have to reschedule the delivery.

All founding members are getting Gold membership ID cards. You guys will be the only society members to EVER get these cards. So next year, there will be no gold cards for members unless you're a founder Olympian. Feels good to be a founding member!

On Monday, we will be posting a link to a members-only access page that will allow members to purchase additional members-only t-shirts and glassware. This has been requested for those that split memberships. We understand and we got you! We will let this happen for 7 days before we close the page. Once these orders are fulfilled, we will place the orders for the shirts and glassware and get these items to you guys as soon as possible.

Once again, thank you for supporting us in this endeavor and we cannot wait until we can start supplying you guys with some Dionysus barrel-aged ales!

 

ISO: Golden Card

 

I just wish people would stop screaming CASA. What's wrong with Casa? It's the first part of their name. Works just fine. And no one has to scream.

 

They're now offering free shirts out of a parking lot prior to beer events...