Stoneman Brewery beer CSA

That guy's beard is legit

 

I really hope this is not going to be a trend in the business model of new breweries.

 

Only if you don't count "societies" like NSB's barrel society.

 

Who is paying $400 up front for beers that they have never tried from a brewery and brewer that has made no commercial beer (and according to the article started homebrewing 4 years ago)? I wish Stoneman the best of luck but I do not see many takers.

 

See that's the thing. $5.50 a bomber doesn't sound bad compared to shelf prices of bombers here in MA. But that's the equivelant of $18 a six pack, needing to be paid in advance for an unkown commodity.That doesn't sound like a good deal at all. I want a track record for a brewery and even then I'd be hard pressed to see myself ever shelling out $400 in one shot for the unknown.

IMO, either you have the money to start a business or you don't. These are the types of business models that come about when you don't.

 

"At least comparable" means to me to keep buying Jack's Abby $10 six packs and the like. I wish Stoneman the best of luck, but I won't be part of it.

 

Jimmies getting so rustled.

Craft beer is still a very young industry. There is plenty of room for experimentation. You don't like it? Cool, dawg. Don't participate. Don't knock someone for trying something new though. Either he fails and you can feel self-satisfied, or he succeeds and there's more excellent, hyper-local beer on the market.

 

It's kinda ballsy to ask people to put up $400 with that pedigree (4 years of homebrewing, 0 years of commercial brewing) and before bottle one has even been put on a shelf. As Rekrule stated, that price per oz. is no bargain when you consider the many beers of known quality that I can purchase off the shelf (and as I go) for as much or less.

 

It sounds like my comments rustled your jimmies. I don't like the business model and am entitled to express that opinion. You don't like it? Cool, dawg. I'm not going to fork money in that amount over to a untested home brewer to figure out if he has any chops. I question things that should be questioned. If you want to give your money to this, I can respect that.

 

If there's any rookie mistake you made, it's expecting a public forum to be free of criticism. If it surprises you that a business model which shifts a great deal of risk to the consumer might be called into question, I'm not sure what else to say.

 

I'm knocking the general approach, not the beer. I want to make that clear. I look forward to trying the beer assuming it is available to those outside of this CSA agreement .

 

Stoneman Brewery's model seems similar to the farm CSA that I've belonged to for 10+ years. I pay up front for the season's fruits and vegetables and there's a lot of uncertainty depending on the weather and insects. This year the green beans were a total bust but we got a ton of awesome raspberries because of the late frost. We often get veggies (e.g., black radishes or old school watermelons with actual seeds) that can be hard to find in the supermarket. Every year is different.

But beyond the food we receive I find a lot of value in developing a personal relationship with the farmers and with the community of people who partake of the harvest. We visit the farm every week to pick up our share and spend one day a year working on the farm. We chat and talk about the weather and about our families and about the food. Our farmers and several of the farm hands are now good friends and they have come to understand our tastes and values. And we've come to understand a lot about the the challenges and joys of farming without committing to tilling our own acre of land.

It was a pretty big leap to join the CSA the first year but very glad I did. It's something I look forward to every season. I don't think I'm going to be signing up for a Stoneman share anytime soon, we don't drink that much beer. But I'm really glad they're trying out a new business model and wish them the best of luck!

 

Come out next week to Pine Hill Orchards in Colrain Ma... over 14 different types of Farm brewed nearly 100% local beers.. sat 1-5 pm...