Russian River Rant

Yes it does depend, RR generally are pleasing their customers. Those complaining are customer wanna-bes or disgruntled folks who want things done their own way rather than the way RR is operating with a success disaster on their hands.

 

Rembrandt cranked out the paintings. The example should have been Vermeer or Caravaggio, who were in the 3000 bbl range.

 

I don't want to stereotype (much), but going after, or depending on the hipster crowd is not a good business model. They, by nature, will drop you like a hot potato when the next "thing" comes along. That is why you have to dance with the ones that bought you, the ones that helped you start and grow your business and will always be there, while the hipsters start consuming alcohol the "wrong way":

 

Really reminds me of people getting overboard on the cocktails, I'll never forget the grilled cheese cocktail one guy made.

 

So just go to another brewery and stop whining?

 

You are a still perplexing BA.

Cheers!

 

Leech Lake? Yeah, they're hyper local. Nice people, though. Had a chat with the brewer's wife running the taproom when we were up there a few years ago.

At the time, there really weren't any other craft beer options up in that region (now there are three or four breweries in that area of the state).

 

Then we have a lot of agreement. And I should have said "most of those complaining."

 

A1 response, would "like" again.

 

RR should take the complaining to heart. Every complaint should be taken seriously. If there is a trend you need to do something about it. This is especially true with complaints on the customer experience. There are many vacant buildings where former "it" businesses used to be after they took their customers for granted.

 

It's their business. If they prefer to keep their operations small and manageable, that is up to them. If they keep their beer quality up, and if the food is good, they should enjoy the success they want for years to come. Good for them.

 

Just to be clear, "hype" is not a marketing tactic. It's a completely uncontrollable side effect that occurs when a specific combination of factors regarding demand, availability and quality come together. Any business that is planning on "hype" as part of their marketing tactics is showing a severe misunderstanding of how marketing works. It's like using word-of-mouth as a marketing tactic. Yes, both will have an impact on demand, but both are also completely out of the control of the business owner. Hype and word of mouth are just as likely to be bad as they are good, even if the product being put out by the business is of high quality. Case in point: this thread.

While I suppose it's possible that RR is intentionally constraining supply in order to drive "hype", I have a hard time believing that to be the case.

I guess I'm not understanding why it makes sense to give RR a hard time when the double-standard exists amongst consumers. It's not RR who is throwing vitriol at Sam Adams, Golden Road, Hangar 24, etc. It's consumers. And I would say that RR (or any of those other breweries) having expectations for how their product is delivered to market is pretty standard practice. Some are a little more extreme than others (the bit about not posting to social media), but ultimately, it's their prerogative to care about how their product goes to market.

 

To be fair, there is some food now at HF, a girl who lives down the road set up a taco stand when I was there. Apparently she's there most Saturdays. The tacos were dynamite, so tasty.

But yeah, getting Hill Farmstead beer is quite a bit of work nonetheless.

 

Did you mention to the bouncer that you post here on the BA forums?

 

Food? Nice, can't wait to get a taco at Hill Farmstead. No food, though, was dead bottom of the list of inconveniences.

 

Late to the thread but have a few things to offer. I have a lot of overlap with @Catchy_Name @MisSigsFan @KevinStaley @matedog @PSU_Mike @smanrob @JonahNW @tsauce2 @1eyed_jack

1. Virtually nobody on the frustrated consumer side of this doesn't acknowledge that it is their private business and of course, as owners, they can do what they want. It's not as though they're breaking some law. They have a right to piss off a lot of customers if they want to, and those customers can likewise be upset and not support them, write rant threads on beer forums, do an internet review somewhere, etc.

2. Businesses exist not just to make a profit within the laws, but they're also providing a product or service to the public. So, they should expect that if they do things that piss off the public then people will in fact get ticked off. It's not much different than some local restaurants and barber shops I visit that close on something like Tuesday, or open late only on Wednesdays, or randomly close at lunch so the barbers can go to lunch together. As owners, they can do this to their customers. As a customer, I can be upset, not go there any longer, write an internet review, whatever. This is NOT entitlement.

3. In the other RR thread with the interview, the RR representative did acknowledge that intentionally keeping supply far below demand was a winning strategy. I'm paraphrasing. But yes, they know that part of their success is due to not expanding. So when customers experience the accompanying negatives of this intentional business strategy, I think they ought to be reminded that it was a known and foreseen consequence of their business strategy - and they want it that way. They do not deserve an innocent shrug of the shoulders with the assumption that oh they're just trying so hard to keep up with demand but can't. No.

4. Overall, in cases where demand goes far beyond supply, there are going to be problems and whatever solution (or no solution) comes with baggage. They could raise prices, but they choose not to. So, stores sell out fast. They have 1 bottle limits. People waste their time driving all over town. They could increase supply, but they choose not to. So consumers have the problems that others in this thread have articulated. RR is choosing one set of consequences over others.

5. I agree with others above who pointed out that it seems exaggerated or at least disingenuous to say that expansion is really so difficult, so impossible, so hard to control quality, etc. Real world examples from other breweries prove otherwise. That point is just not open for debate. I don't know the RR owners, but their apparent aversion to debt makes me wonder if they don't have some sort of debt phobia or possibly belong to a religion that doesn't believe in having debt. And I say that in a nice way, because a big part of me wants there to be a plausible explanation for why they won't go into some debt and expand.


I'm in this topic whenever it comes up because I want consumers to make an informed decision about supporting RR. I think people need to be aware that RR is well aware of the problems, they know they're pissing off customers, and they deliberately choose to not make what are arguably reasonable changes to alleviate those problems for their customers. They could, but they don't. Think of that when you're in the line, dealing with the bouncer, or can't find the bottles you seek. Yet of course, absolutely, it's their right to do so. It's the consumer's right to choose to support them or not as well.

 

The snail-esque line is top of the annoying list for me, personally.

 

that's a crime. I'd cream my shorts for some supplication. Yeah, I'd have a Pliny..but frankly you can get a 85 hop bomb that's just as good almost anywhere now..but something as tasty as supplication is much harder to find.

 

Some people just want to brew beer, not service debt.
$20M for a new standalone brewery, no room to expand at their production brewery on SE side of town
Water supply (severe drought this year)