wittmania
Well-Known Member
I've had opportunities to tour both Odell in Ft. Collins, CO and Boulevard in Kansas City in the past couple of months and really enjoyed both of them. My brother, who is not a huge beer drinker, came on the Odell's tour and really liked their Levity Amber Ale. I figured I would try to clone it and see if I could also get him into brewing with me.
I emailed Odell asking for help with the recipe and they took 3 weeks to get back to me, and then told me that it has "Caramalt, Honey and Pale malt. And some of the hops we use are: Centennial and Mt. Hood." They said they couldn't give me the full recipe for "obvious reasons." Their website isn't much help, either.
Compare that to Boulevard. They have a beer that I'm trying to clone where they've given me the grain bill with percentages, varieties, times and quantities for the hops, the yeast strain, OG and FG targets, and fermentation temps and schedule. I bet I've emailed one of their brewers 6-7 times and he's always written me back within the same day, and with a detailed answer to my question.
So, which of these breweries do you think I'm more likely to support with my commercial beer dollars? The one that treats me like I'm some kind of competitor (for "obvious reasons"), or the one that treats me like us brewers are all on the same team? I will say that I think Odell's beers are generally more interesting than Boulevard's mainline offerings, but I'm willing to pay more for Boulevard's Smokestack Series beers instead of Odell's now that I know which brewery is more supportive of brewers like me.
Has anyone else been snubbed by a brewery like this before? Seems like it would turn people off to their beers more than anything.
/rant
I emailed Odell asking for help with the recipe and they took 3 weeks to get back to me, and then told me that it has "Caramalt, Honey and Pale malt. And some of the hops we use are: Centennial and Mt. Hood." They said they couldn't give me the full recipe for "obvious reasons." Their website isn't much help, either.
Compare that to Boulevard. They have a beer that I'm trying to clone where they've given me the grain bill with percentages, varieties, times and quantities for the hops, the yeast strain, OG and FG targets, and fermentation temps and schedule. I bet I've emailed one of their brewers 6-7 times and he's always written me back within the same day, and with a detailed answer to my question.
So, which of these breweries do you think I'm more likely to support with my commercial beer dollars? The one that treats me like I'm some kind of competitor (for "obvious reasons"), or the one that treats me like us brewers are all on the same team? I will say that I think Odell's beers are generally more interesting than Boulevard's mainline offerings, but I'm willing to pay more for Boulevard's Smokestack Series beers instead of Odell's now that I know which brewery is more supportive of brewers like me.
Has anyone else been snubbed by a brewery like this before? Seems like it would turn people off to their beers more than anything.
/rant