Trade Homebrew Pictures!

[Dave37]

As someone who is in the process of opening a brewery, it's profitable but not as profitable as you may think. A production brewery with a tap house has to produce an insane amount of beer to be profitable and consider nationwide distribution. I see both sides of the coin, but I know what the economics are as far as production and expenses are. Most brewers and brewery owners aren't loaded. I am happy to have the bills paid and have a little extra at the end of the day and that's how it is for many of us.

I'm not talking about most breweries though. I'm talking about breweries that "aren't huge" if you have hundreds upon hundreds even thousands of people waiting days in line for one read single, 1 bottle of beer, than you are huge. Especially when you're selling beers at $15-20 dollars a bottle from the brewery.

I get the idea of product and demand but when demand is as High as it is for some of these breweries they can easily afford and profit by upping the supply end somewhat. Just seems like a win win for everyone included. More beer made equals more $$ more beer equals more happy customers and not out of towners getting let down waiting in snow for nothing.

 

[skeezerpleezer]

Maybe they don't want to be bigger.

 

[MrNickVT]

HF is In the process of expanding. When the alchemist opens (hopefully) a new retail spot, they may add a small brewery to their retail spot to re-brew some of their older stuff from the pub and even new stuff!

 

[absoluthamm]

I'm not talking about most breweries though. I'm talking about breweries that "aren't huge" if you have hundreds upon hundreds even thousands of people waiting days in line for one read single, 1 bottle of beer, than you are huge. Especially when you're selling beers at $15-20 dollars a bottle from the brewery.

I get the idea of product and demand but when demand is as High as it is for some of these breweries they can easily afford and profit by upping the supply end somewhat. Just seems like a win win for everyone included. More beer made equals more $$ more beer equals more happy customers and not out of towners getting let down waiting in snow for nothing.

This is all pretty selfish thinking. Did you also keep in mind that making more beer = more time at work (as if a pro brewers life isn't already 80 hours a week sometimes) and less time with their family? Some of the best restaurants I've been to in my life have reservations weeks in advance, and why don't they expand? Because quality COULD suffer, they might not feel like they could handle it, they don't want to get ahead of themselves.

I, for one, appreciate the breweries that don't have nothing but money signs flashing in front of their faces when they brew a beer, they do it for the love of their hobby. But when you start pushing yourself to the absolute max... It's no longer fun, it becomes stale, and the creativity dies out. Not to mention the bigger a company gets, the more control is inevitably lost to the original operators.

On the other hand... why not just have them sell out to InBev...

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[jmcm_brew]

This is all pretty selfish thinking. Did you also keep in mind that making more beer = more time at work (as if a pro brewers life isn't already 80 hours a week sometimes) and less time with their family? Some of the best restaurants I've been to in my life have reservations weeks in advance, and why don't they expand? Because quality COULD suffer, they might not feel like they could handle it, they don't want to get ahead of themselves.

I, for one, appreciate the breweries that don't have nothing but money signs flashing in front of their faces when they brew a beer, they do it for the love of their hobby. But when you start pushing yourself to the absolute max... It's no longer fun, it becomes stale, and the creativity dies out. Not to mention the bigger a company gets, the more control is inevitably lost to the original operators.

On the other hand... why not just have them sell out to InBev...

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Perfect example is DFH.. I live about a half hour from the brewery.. Used to go all the time when they were much smaller and all of their brewpub exclusives were phenomenal... They've since expanded tenfold and unlike the celebrity status Sam you hear from.. It's a money driven brewery now and the quality/r&d batches we used to love locally have suffered





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[BrewinHooligan]

Perfect example is DFH.. I live about a half hour from the brewery.. Used to go all the time when they were much smaller and all of their brewpub exclusives were phenomenal... They've since expanded tenfold and unlike the celebrity status Sam you hear from.. It's a money driven brewery now and the quality/r&d batches we used to love locally have suffered





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Exactly this. Again, it sucks being the consumer and having a hard time getting the beer we want. As a brewer though, I refuse to rush expansion and have quality suffer. I do plan on gradual expansion as demand increases, but I refuse to do it in a way that will sacrifice quality.

 

[Dave37]

This is all pretty selfish thinking. Did you also keep in mind that making more beer = more time at work (as if a pro brewers life isn't already 80 hours a week sometimes) and less time with their family? Some of the best restaurants I've been to in my life have reservations weeks in advance, and why don't they expand? Because quality COULD suffer, they might not feel like they could handle it, they don't want to get ahead of themselves.

I, for one, appreciate the breweries that don't have nothing but money signs flashing in front of their faces when they brew a beer, they do it for the love of their hobby. But when you start pushing yourself to the absolute max... It's no longer fun, it becomes stale, and the creativity dies out. Not to mention the bigger a company gets, the more control is inevitably lost to the original operators.

On the other hand... why not just have them sell out to InBev...

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I had typed out a nice response to this before my ****ty app crashed so I'm just gonna state the main points of my previous attempted post.

Me selfish for not wanting to hypothetically wait in line days for beer I might not get or pay 1000% markup for afterwards? I don't understand this.

Comparing a brewery to a restaurant makes zero sense. Chicken Marsala is chicken Marsala everyday and able to be made in 30 minutes, all day everyday of the year.

You're talking about family time of a brewer which is extremely considerate of you. But how about the 100s of fathers on line on Saturday morning instead of in the park with their kids throwing the ball around?

I agree with you that generally brewers are not the money hungry gougers, the distributors and retailers are, but if they didn't have $$ signs motivating them, they would be home brewers. Think of home brewing as the Olympics. They are amateurs doing what they do without payment, for the love of their hobby.

Breweries are professional brewers brewing because they love their profession yes, but also to get paid and make a living. I'm not saying this is bad at all. All I was saying in debate was my opinion
Is that breweries of this caliber could reasonably, and should increase the amount of beer brewed making more happy customers and more $$.

The only people who wouldn't profit from this are those who think waiting in line and getting a beer then showing it off is part of the fun in this hobby. Then they go and sell it at 1000% markup on eBay.

Finally your last line was insulting to my intelligence and not even funny.

Anyone trade any beer?

 

[Remmy]

I'm not talking about most breweries though. I'm talking about breweries that "aren't huge" if you have hundreds upon hundreds even thousands of people waiting days in line for one read single, 1 bottle of beer, than you are huge. Especially when you're selling beers at $15-20 dollars a bottle from the brewery.

I get the idea of product and demand but when demand is as High as it is for some of these breweries they can easily afford and profit by upping the supply end somewhat. Just seems like a win win for everyone included. More beer made equals more $$ more beer equals more happy customers and not out of towners getting let down waiting in snow for nothing.

This guy summed it up perfectly:

"You know what? The last thing in the world I want is for my beloved NEBCO to become a national destination for rich people who would rather tweet out pictures of them standing in line in 9 degree temperatures at dawn than just simply enjoying high quality beer. Unfortunately, since NEBCO moved across the street and added tap lines at their tasting room, the lines have only grown. Which makes no logical sense. The lines should be shorter now.

Of course, I want nothing less than all the success Matt and Rob and Sebastian and James down there deserve. I want them to be recognized for what they’ve been able to do. But I also want to be able to hop off the Wilbur Cross and get a growlette of whatever, whenever. This long line business is nuts."

:rockin:

 

[jmcm_brew]

Definitely agree with the frustration but you can't blame the owners for wanting to keep their business small.. Even if demand for their product is high..


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[BrewinHooligan]

This guy summed it up perfectly:

"You know what? The last thing in the world I want is for my beloved NEBCO to become a national destination for rich people who would rather tweet out pictures of them standing in line in 9 degree temperatures at dawn than just simply enjoying high quality beer. Unfortunately, since NEBCO moved across the street and added tap lines at their tasting room, the lines have only grown. Which makes no logical sense. The lines should be shorter now.

Of course, I want nothing less than all the success Matt and Rob and Sebastian and James down there deserve. I want them to be recognized for what they’ve been able to do. But I also want to be able to hop off the Wilbur Cross and get a growlette of whatever, whenever. This long line business is nuts."

:rockin:

True man. I'm still envious of you and that you have much easier access than me, but I totally understand the frustrations. I want Heady and Ghandi in my fridge real bad, but it isn't easy for many to get them and as much as it sucks for the consumer, it's great for business.

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[blizzard]

A couple of thoughts on this.

First, many of these hard to get beers are barrel-aged and/or sours. The brewer puts a bunch of beer in barrels and hopes for the best. When the time comes, they blend together what they can and that's how much beer they can sell. Barrels take a lot of space, time, and labor to manage. It isn't as easy as just brewing more.

Second, a couple of sought after breweries are using 'memberships' that guarantee access to hard to get beers. This helps set a specific, achievable demand for the brewer and a known price and supply for the buyer. In addition, since the breweries can't ship their beer, the majority of memberships should be claimed by locals. Of course, some of these memberships are well done and others less so, but it seems like this would be a good option for a place like Hill Farmstead where they don't really want to make more beer and they don't really want a ton of people tramping all over the property.

Third, I totally don't get standing in line for 6 hours doing nothing. At Avery there are lines for barrel series beers, but they always have special tappings and the whole thing is a fun party/bottle-share. It doesn't feel like standing in line. At Crooked Stave, the WWBV release was a total cluster, but there was still a bottle share. People who didn't have tickets to DL Day would go because it was a lot of fun to be there. Hopefully other breweries will pick up on this concept, although I understand the limitations of local laws.

 

[MrNickVT]

Fed ex delivered on a Monday. WTH? I'll take it though! A big thanks to Mike for this CS hook up!

 

[finsfan]

Fed ex delivered on a Monday. WTH? I'll take it though! A big thanks to Mike for this CS hook up! View attachment 180118

CS kills my wallet so fast, yet its so good! Damn them

 

[TNGabe]

Fed ex delivered on a Monday. WTH? I'll take it though! A big thanks to Mike for this CS hook up! View attachment 180118

You've probably heard the butter bomb reports, but if not, hold that L'Brett D'or for a while. I just got one from a friend Saturday and won't be opening it anytime soon. It sucks, the first batch of that beer was phenomonal. I really hope they get their QC together and stop releasing beers that aren't ready to drink.

 

[finsfan]

You've probably heard the butter bomb reports, but if not, hold that L'Brett D'or for a while. I just got one from a friend Saturday and won't be opening it anytime soon. It sucks, the first batch of that beer was phenomonal. I really hope they get their QC together and stop releasing beers that aren't ready to drink.

Im glad you said something, I hadnt heard that yet. Do you know when the first batch was released?

 

[mhurst111]

You've probably heard the butter bomb reports, but if not, hold that L'Brett D'or for a while. I just got one from a friend Saturday and won't be opening it anytime soon. It sucks, the first batch of that beer was phenomonal. I really hope they get their QC together and stop releasing beers that aren't ready to drink.

Gabe, I hadn't heard anything about bad bottles. Got any details on which release it was?

Nick, check if there is a date on the D'Or. I pulled that from my basement. It had been down there for 3-4 month I think, but not sure when it was actually released. If it's bad / off let me know and I can send replacements.

 

[blizzard]

I think the first batch was bottled 2012. It had green wax if I remember correctly. That silver wax is a 2013.

I haven't opened the l'brett d'plum or blackberry yet. Same issue there??

 

[finsfan]

I think the first batch was bottled 2012. It had green wax if I remember correctly. That silver wax is a 2013.

I haven't opened the l'brett d'plum or blackberry yet. Same issue there??

Thanks! I got a silver one so I will let it sit a while.

 

[blizzard]

Thanks! I got a silver one so I will let it sit a while.

Yep, it has brett in it, so it should clear up. Chad has said he thinks the pedio from the souring culture kicked up again from bottling, but he expects the brett to clean it up with some time. Kind of sucks that their QC isn't good, but at least if you wait you'll get some good beer out of it.

 

[TNGabe]

Gabe, I hadn't heard anything about bad bottles. Got any details on which release it was?

Nick, check if there is a date on the D'Or. I pulled that from my basement. It had been down there for 3-4 month I think, but not sure when it was actually released. If it's bad / off let me know and I can send replacements.

I've heard people complaining about Persica and L'Brett D'or especially, but some talk of problems with the other pale beers as well. As others have said, the brett should clear the diacetyl with time, but it pisses me off when a brewery that charges that much releases beer that isn't ready to drink, especially if I open a bottle!

 

[MrNickVT]

I have a bottle JJ sent me a while ago that was silver wax as well. Both are 2013 B2. I'll drink one for science and hold the other

 

[coldcrash]

Little pick up on my way home today

 

[mhurst111]

I've heard people complaining about Persica and L'Brett D'or especially, but some talk of problems with the other pale beers as well. As others have said, the brett should clear the diacetyl with time, but it pisses me off when a brewery that charges that much releases beer that isn't ready to drink, especially if I open a bottle!

Yeah, I just spent the last .5 hour Googling around and reading about the issue. Sounds like a hit or miss issue due to bottling, but that doesn't help if you already opened the bottle.

 

[mewithstewpid]

Mike hooked me up as well! Thanks so much man I can't wait for these!



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[sj3324]

Thanks Mike!!

 

[finsfan]

Damn, Mike is putting in work

 

[wobrien]

 

[mhurst111]

Just playing catch-up after being out of touch for a couple of weeks. Glad they all got there in intact. Can't wait for the boxes headed my way

 

[finsfan]

Just playing catch-up after being out of touch for a couple of weeks. Glad they all got there in intact. Can't wait for the boxes headed my way

Now I understand why you wanted to wait to ship mine off haha

 

[mewithstewpid]

Now I understand why you wanted to wait to ship mine off haha

I have yours all boxed and ready to send off tomorrow! Can't have you feeling left out


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[mhurst111]

Now I understand why you wanted to wait to ship mine off haha

Yep. SWMBO was starting to look at me funny, and not in a good way . Also why I needed to make a spreadsheet to keep track of all of this...

I think I have 2 more trades from the CS releases (NOB and Batch 60) that I need to get out. Then I got the Uncle Jacob trades stacked up.... Not a bad problem to have.

Yours will go out next week...

 

[finsfan]

I have yours all boxed and ready to send off tomorrow! Can't have you feeling left out


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No trades for me today haha just got yours packed up

Yep. SWMBO was starting to look at me funny, and not in a good way . Also why I needed to make a spreadsheet to keep track of all of this...

I think I have 2 more trades from the CS releases (NOB and Batch 60) that I need to get out. Then I got the Uncle Jacob trades stacked up.... Not a bad problem to have.

Yours will go out next week...

I know what you mean, I sent out 4 boxes this morning and just packed up two more for tomorrow. SWMBO asked what they were tonight and I gave her a sarcastic look. She said she knew it was beer but wanted to know what it was exactly. I told her but she didnt know what they were still :smack: She is trying to learn at least

And no rush on the shipment, take more time if you need. Im not going anywhere.

 

[bigmike99]

Have 2 boxes scheduled to come in today. One is now 'damaged' per FedEx but was on the truck for delivery. I'm hoping that the driver will just let me take the damaged box so it doesn't disappear forever. Hopefully if I can get it there's many be just one wounded bottle and the others have made it.

 

[Matthias]

Got my box all packed up for dave37 on sunday, tons of snow yesterday. But now I've got clear skies so I'm shipping my first ever trade out today! Nervous, but I think it should go well.

I've worked as a FedEx loader before though, so I know what goes on there...

On a side note, only like 20 more posts until I get eligibility to the emaw!

 

[wobrien]

I've worked as a FedEx loader before though, so I know what goes on there...

is it as bad as we picture?

 

[BeerMeDuffMan]

is it as bad as we picture?

I always pictured something similar to a soccer match. Complete with soccer hooligans.

 

[finsfan]

I always pictures something similar to a soccer match. Complete with soccer hooligans.

I always think of ace ventura

 

[wobrien]

I always think of ace ventura

Yes, this is also how I picture it.

 

[Matthias]

Honestly, its not terrible. Just don't leave room in the box for things to shift around, because they will. Use a sturdy box, because it will get stacked on. And don't ever expect it to leave outside temps, the packages are out of trucks for very small amounts of time and trucks are typically parked outside.

 

[BeerMeDuffMan]

Honestly, its not terrible. Just don't leave room in the box for things to shift around, because they will. Use a sturdy box, because it will get stacked on. And don't ever expect it to leave outside temps, the packages are out of trucks for very small amounts of time and trucks are typically parked outside.

When the trucks are running, is the cargo compartment heated?