Great taste preparties retrospective

I'm going to spend the day in Madison Sunday.
So I'm more interested in POSTPARTIES!
Looking for leftovers.

 

I couldn't make it this year but what happened at the 1414 tapping? Too many folks crowd the bar or did people get pushy once it was tapped?

 

I spent my entire evening at Brickhouse, the lines/service for Exodus and 1414 were annoying but I still had a great time. I don't know if I'd call it a shit show, but it wasn't exactly pretty either, lots of people crowding the bar and servers ignoring the people on the side of the bar (where I was) but I didn't really expect anything different.

I was overall still very impressed with the Central Waters lineup present, and Shorts didn't hurt either. Even if they're not whales, they're still delicious.

 

Getting a healthy pour of BCBS and Juliet for free at Madison's wasn't bad.

The Brickhouse was a good time. A group of us had a large table outside. Every now and then we'd send a few people upstairs to grab some of the timed relrases. I thought the event was handled pretty well. They should have had a separate area for the special releases. The bartenders were having a hard enough time trying to figure out the 30+ other taps.

 

Toppling Goliath at Dexter's was the surprise of the night. I didn't try the Zeelander, but the Pseudo Sue, Intergalactic Warrior and Morning Delight were amazingly good.

 

Was tagging along with jeff, indeed blind pig was awesome, their raspberry wheat too. The revolution party was nice, 2.00 for a half liter, easily probably the best place ot hang out. The Maerzen was pretty damn good. I just slugged it.

 

don't remind me haha

 

anyone care to note what things could have gone differently at Brickhouse? improvements for next year potentially? more bartenders?

 

Make third floor cash only. Somehow separate out of the special releases so they have their own line and bartenders. More bartenders would help too.

 

Also they should try and do a better job of predicting demand ahead of time so they can print up a beer menu with accurate options. Exodus and 1414 were only being served in 4oz and that caused some confusion and anger from people expecting the 10oz pours which were on the menu.

It's not particularly practical but it would be nice if there was more of a single line for the last couple special releases. I was highly annoyed that it took me forever to get Exodus because the people right in front of me were too passive to get themselves served.

All that said, I agree that the event was pretty well run overall. If CW brings a similar quality tap list next year I'll probably be back.

 

I'll echo what has already been said/suggested. A separate area or dedicated bartender for special releases. With the influx of new taps, the bartenders were having a difficult time navigating all the taps. With things running out and unfamiliar names, adding the confusion of the timed releases made their job increasingly difficult. Watching the bartenders having to navigate the full length of the taps, plus dodge other bartenders, seemed a little inefficient.

Something that might work for the timed releases, knowing there will be a large demand for those beers, have some one dedicated to just pouring those. Create a stockpile of already poured glasses for the other bartenders to grab from. This will limit traffic and congestion at that tap/area.

 

I think with pre parties getting more hyped weeks in advance things I think will get worse before better. Bell's starting like 12 so i can see why they would be out of stuff early... Basicly you win some and lose some when it comes to special releases.

 

Hey everyone, I'm the Pre-Taste party coordinator at Brickhouse (among other things, but this is certainly the best part of my job). One of the biggest challenges for us, aside from putting 40+ new beers on our draft system and in front of our bartenders all at once, is figuring out how to best manage the crowd while still providing top-notch service. I'd like to thank everyone who showed up for coming, and ask you to put forth any suggestions you may have. Feel free to email me directly at brickhousebbq.info(AT)gmail.com with any suggestions. We work closely with Central Waters every year and hope to out-do this year's lineup next year. Shorts has been extremely popular as well and will likely be back with more gusto and ideally more beer for next year as well.

Regarding the menus, I apologize for any confusion. We were set and ready to allow for 10oz pours, but a last minute decision was made to only do 4oz pours. This was done so that more people would get a taste of 1414 and Exodus (we only ended up with a 1/6bbl of 1414...wouldn't have gone far). I think this was the right call, but I do agree that having it on the menu as such would have helped out with frustrations and will do so next year to avoid this problem. Also, every beer that was on our draft system was available on all three floors (so you could get your CW Barleywine anywhere in the restaurant). The only beers being poured off-line were from Central Waters and were only on 3rd floor.

We will try and figure out a way to get a more separate line going for special releases. We did try and keep Central Waters to the 3rd floor, but as things go, people just tend to want to hang out up there anyway and there isn't enough room for a crowd on 1st or 2nd. It's a bit of a pickle, but we made some improvements over last year, and there is room for more.

Over the course of the night, we only ended up taking a few credit cards on 3rd floor, but the plan for next year is to completely forego the computerized register and do it old-school and cash only on 3rd floor, perhaps even 2nd floor as well.

If anyone has feedback on the buffet that we had setup this year for the first time, or on any of the beers at the event, please let me know what you thought of it! We're always trying to improve.

 

The Revolution party was awesome, 2$ half liters. Every other party should take note. ​