Equilibrium Brewery

This Saturday 11/11 from 11:30am-4pm at the brewery we will have cans of Fluctuation for sale. $20 per four pack limit 1 case per person, limits subject to change.
Fluctuation pours a very hazy tangerine color, releasing bright tropical notes of passion fruit, mango, pineapple, and lychee with an undercurrent of sorbet and cream. Fluctuation tastes highly resinous and tropical with an assertive yet soft bitterness. We consider Fluctuation to be perfectly unbalanced.

 

When you show up, you get a deli style ticket from the table at the front of the line. I can't remember if the employees handle this or one of the line share kings. Once you get your ticket, you can go do whatever. The share area is around the back of the brewery near the silos and the owners have asked to make sure that open containers are kept on brewery property. Then around 11:30 you line up according to your ticket number. They stagger the amounts that you get based on the ticket order so lower ticket number means a better shot at full allotment.

 

So am I the only person that found their most recent Facebook post to be kind of...strange?

I'm sure they have their reasons for divorcing themselves from the taproom, but the post leaves a lot to the imagination.

 

No, you’re not the only one...have no idea wtf that is about...very strange

 

Yea

Yeah. I didnt understand a thing in that post. The tap room isn't the brewery? The grille is the tap room? No growlers and different names? Is this a bad business thing or some sort of license law thing?

 

It’s probably about money.

 

Not very clear and does leave a lot open to speculation. Does the grill have more than Equilibrium beers? I've only been in the tap room, not upstairs. It sounds like business at the grill is being negatively affected by being directly tied to the brewery through naming. If you're not a big fan of IPAs what would draw you to or back to the grill?

 

Seriously, the fried pickles are very good.

 

Well the food up there is horrible. Don’t blame the IPAs.

 

What Facebook post? They don't seem to have a facebook anymore as far as I can tell.

 

I know a couple of people who went there to eat. Normal folks, not beer geeks. One doesn't like IPAs so that was a turn off and the other was turned off by every beer tasting like a grapefruit.

To go along with your comment, both didn't think much of the food either.

 

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1606561812740758

 

You often see the food and beer operation set up as two separate entities. Seldom do you see the tasting room being outsourced.
The taproom is downstairs right? They're not referring to the little bar area upstairs in the grille?

 

Im going to put on my Harvard school of business cap and say they probably figured out that filling that entire space with fermenters and barrels would be more profitable than a grill. This is the first step in separating the two. What the F do I know tho?

 

Yeah, tap room is downstairs.

Funny to notice that many moons ago Dogfish Head did the same thing in Rehoboth, i.e. two separate business entities, and it was the pub/restaurant that was successful while the brewery struggled for some years.

 

I was thinking of Troon, but that's a whole different arrangement. The tail is starting to wag the dog.

 

Looks like I won't be going on Saturday after all. Thanks for sharing.

 

This is the only thing on the grille's menu that I think is better than average. Their burgers and sandwiches are very mediocre. We only ever eat there out of convenience if I have my family with me on can release days. The big dude in the taproom even told me I'm better off taking my beer to Holy Dog.

So I'm still confused about that post. They said cans and bottles are no longer being sold in the taproom. The taproom is the room downstairs where you get growlers filled, right? This is where I used to buy bottles when I was there on non-release days. Instead they are being sold from the brewery which is accessible through the large warehouse doors, right? Are these normally open to the public?

 

There's also a FB post about growlers not being filled in the tap room anymore effective immediately? Very strange. So I suppose you just cannot get growlers anymore? I assume there are no beers tapped in the warehouse.

I've only been there twice, both in the taproom. Is that considered part of the "grille"? This whole thing is very confusing.

 

There’s a clarifying post on there (not from the brewery yet though) that yes - the downstairs Taproom is part of the Grille so no more growlers period in the space as we know it. Can’t help but think there must be some pretty major friction between the two businesses which is a shame.