Perennial has announced the Société du Chêne (Society of Oak)

Well that sucks about BA 17

 

Yeah, not sure why they don't want to offer this to members. Its not a ton of people. I'm still pleased with the membership so far and looking forward to see what they roll out for the next membership period.

 

Indeed. I think we are going to see a bunch of changes to the Societe for the next cycle. Sadness, because I really liked BA17 when I had it two years back.

 

Guess you guys have some driving to do...

 

When is the next membership up? I'm hoping I can make it in this time.

 

BA17 isn't going to be a member bottle?

 

Don't know, but technically the term of this membership is over (it's been over a year), which is why they aren't giving us the option to purchase a BA17. They do have at least one more bottle that is being promised, though. Glad I'm not a lawyer, I might be picking through the fine print.

 

That was my arguement. Techinaclly the year is over but we are still owed beer and no option for renewal. Its a gray area at best and I feel like the could have handled it better. It just seems like a bit of a slight not including this but oh well.

 

C'mon guys, the extra bottles that members were allowed to purchase were just that- "extra." There was no promise of which, or how many of these extra beers there would be. I'd think anybody that was able to purchase a BA Abraxas without rushing to the brewery on short notice more than got their money's worth.

 

From what I've heard is they are kind of on the fence about even doing it again this/next year, which is sad because I really liked it. Too much bitching/entitlement issues from members. I think they pretty much bent over backwards on a lot of the stuff, and technically they didn't even have to give the members an option to buy a bottle of the BA stuff.

 

Being from Cali I actually enjoyed this membership too and hope they run it again next year. BA abraxas was a nice perk and BA 17 will be icing on the cake. Anyone have an extra member glass? Broke mine last week ( sad sad day )

 

Good news guys, just got the email from Rachel and sounds like Societe will definitely be back in 2016-17. Awesome!

 

Glad to hear this! Just got my bottles from the first round. Can't wait to see how it will work next year.

 

Foedre or Funky....hmmmm.

 

I'm going with Funky. Seemed to be less of it last go round and it was great.

 

Dammit , why didnt i find a yrustee for this last year!!

 

Is there anywhere y'all can point me to more info on the 2016-17 society? Do you have to have been a member from last year?

 

No info as of right now.

 

Nadda

 

Check Your Emails Folks....Who wants to proxy lol.

 

Can you post it?

 

Little more expensive this year, but I'll be renewing.

 

Dear 2015 Societe members,


We are excited to share membership details for 2016 Société du Chêne!


MEMBERSHIP

Membership is $300 and includes the following:


· One bottle of each of the first twelve barrel-aged beers to be released over the course of the next year. This year, we are including a mix of wine, foeder and spirits barrel-aged beers (yes, even stoutsJ)

· a Société du Chêne glass

· 10% discount on all on-premise purchases with valid membership ID (does not include bottles to go or merchandise)

· Entry to one Members-Only party. Details to be released at a later date. (Trust us—we’ll make it a good oneJ)

· The ability to purchase a one-bottle allocation of Abraxas, Sump & 17.


DETAILS

One membership per person.


Each of these beers will be released at some time during the membership period. We will release the beers when we feel that they are ready. For this reason, a release schedule will not be shared in advance.


Members will be have a two week window to pick up bottles as they become available and must be picked up by the member or his or her proxy. If the bottles are not claimed within the designated pickup time, the bottles will be forfeited. THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS POLICY.


If there are excess bottles available, (depending on the number) bottles will either be offered to members for purchase OR sold for on or off-premise consumption in the Perennial Tasting Room.


In the event that that more than twelve barrel-aged beers mature during the membership period, members will also be guaranteed the ability to purchase an undetermined allocation of these beers as well.


Bottles must be picked up in the tasting room. Under no circumstances are we able to ship bottles.


Members may designate ONE trustee to pick up his or her bottles from the tasting room. Membership benefits do not apply to trustees.


2017 Memberships will be offered first to 2016 members. Renewal is, of course, optional.



SIGN-UP DETAILS
I didnt include this because if you are not a current member it doesnt matter yet. Cheers.

 

Personally I like that they cleaned up alot of the language around what happens with stouts and beers after the first 12. Excited for another great year!

 

Will this be offered at all to non current members?

 

Only speculation at this point but I would guess the only spots that would open would be if someone didnt renew.

 

I'm out. You can have my spot.

 

Out of curiosity why did you choose not to renew

 

Just at a different point in my life in my love of wonderful beer. Going to Perennial more and more, I became more tired of the place. Got to a point where a trip to St. Louis consisting of 4 Hands and The Schlafly Tap Room was just more exciting vs. a trip to Perennial where the draft prices were more per ounce than in bottles. Seemed to give me more worry being in the society and trying to keep up with the latest beer releases became more of a chore than anything fun. And if it isn't fun, than I'm out.

 

Sign ups start at the brewery on Wednesday at 4

 

I'm very much tempted to try to get in this year.

For other members that were in the club first year, what were your thoughts overall? Were you happy with the perks you got? Did it give you any unadvertised perks, like advanced notice of when public releases were going to happen?

 

Overall it was positive but slightly mixed and I had to think about it before renewing.

On one hand, we were able to purchase Maman, BAA, BA Sump, etc without actually having to physically be there at the release. That was really nice. And, the members party was a great time, I enjoyed that as well.

On the other hand, some of the bottles they released as part of the membership were a bit on the weak side. I enjoyed Foeder Saison and Funky Wit a lot, but these were released as part of the membership more than once, and it essentially came down to $25 a bottle at that point. That's a bit problematic for what ended up being shelf beers.

So, the new terms remain a bit vague as well. There's no guarantee that we'd be able to buy the higher demand barrel aged beers mentioned previously and that is if these are even released during the membership period. They specifically excluded BA17 even though they had not yet released the 12th membership bottle to us (which ended up being a rerelease of Foeder Saison/Funky Wit), because it had been more than a calendar year, I think. It worked out well enough last year as stated above but not as well as it could potentially have- and I had to consider that we might not be so lucky this year. That being said, I can't complain and it did work out well enough in its inaugural year, so I'm willing to give them that small benefit of the doubt and my $300 for renewal.

 

I agree with everything @Stevedore said. I also had to give it some thought after a few of the first years beers were on the week side. Not in that they are bad beers but in the fact that I can buy them on the shelf.

The only thing I disagree with is that it is still vague. It says right on the announcement that any BA beers after the first 12 are included. This is what sold me on it again after I feel like we got burned on BA 17.

 

Just remember, there are no promises as to what the beers will be, or that they will even be styles you like. Otherwise, enjoy

 

My 2 cents, if it means anything, lol...

I personally will try any Perennial beer, as I think they are one of the top breweries out there. The worst beer I've had would probably be Philly Taco. And with that it wasn't a bad beer.

So when I think of the Society membership as basically paying $25 per bottle. What ones will they be? Not sure, because the way the format is this year looks like we get the first 12 regardless of what the release is. Is that on the high side? Maybe, because we don't know which bottles we will be getting for free. Will they be the uber-exclusive, highly sought after beers? Possibly, because since it is the first 12, I'm sure one or two of the beers will be.

To me, the really nice part is this..."In the event that that more than twelve barrel-aged beers mature during the membership period, members will also be guaranteed the ability to purchase an undetermined allocation of these beers as well." So whatever beers we do not get for free, we can buy if we want. Will BA whatever get released this year? Probably. Will I get a chance to buy at least one of them? Yes. Sign me up...oh wait, I already did.

 

Cool, thanks guys. Stuff like Foeder Saison and Funky Wit hit distro and I could buy locally. So I'd really just be buying into this for the fruited wits and maybe a chance at buying some of the BA stouts. But since so many of the club beers were distro last year, that's what makes me hesitate. It'll probably be a last minute decision for me.

 

Just to be a little nitpicky, these aren't "free" bottles, you are essentially paying for them up front.

 

At the end of the day you are paying for the chance to buy BAA, BAS, BA17, and Maman as long as they are all released this year lol.

 

For anyone who is planning on coming out to the release of Société du Chêne 2016 memberships at the Perennial Tasting Room on 9/14 at 4pm here are a couple of friendly reminders:

• Absolutely no camping
• As with any bottle release, allocation is based on turnout. Limit one signup per person. In the event additional spots remain, you will be given the opportunity to rejoin the line and sign up an additional person until all spots are filled.

 

Just wanted to give a huge thanks to the team at Perennial for a super smooth sign up period this evening. In line at 5:15 PM, signed up and done by 5:30 PM. Looking forward to some great beers for this coming year!