Bruery Reserve Society 2014 Allocations/Discussion Thread

[Xul1]

Wait.. what? I mean, I could understand "It'll be in your inbox first thing tomorrow morning!", but this screams of something being wrong with some beer(s) and they're trying to figure out a good way to spin it.

Not really...they've been sticking with the whole "Society Member Monday" thing and if they needed to spin something, they presumably knew about it for at least a week and have already thought about it. I thought it was a crapshoot whether we'd see the allocations today or not - the tasting room is open but I'm guessing they gave all of the office staff the day off.

Removing the expected release dates from the calendar is far more interesting to me, and I hope they address it. I know they've taken flak for delaying beers - although considering the reasons, I don't think it's entirely unreasonable to face a degree of criticism about infections - but it's the nature of the beast that they've created. If you want people to make space each month in their budget for three or four allocations, a few bottles of each, you need to give them a road map and be able to somewhat stick to it.

 

[Scalzo]

They're all infected

 

[matedog]

Preservation Members are getting BBA Smoking Wood in lieu of Couverteur. I'm thinking I'd actually prefer Couverteur, especially since the initial feedback hasn't been bad and I don't think Smoking Wood is really up my alley.

Tried Couverteur at the tasting room this weekend. It kinda tasted like broccoli. And not in a good way. Thanks to the Bruery for this switch that I was initially disappointed about.

 

[hi im richie]

Eh, taking down the expected release dates doesn't bother me. They didn't take down any of the beers, so as long as we are still going to get them, then oh well.

I'll be pissed if we get some **** Mystery Beers though.

 

[FBIinformant]

Well, they did change around that unintentional soured scotch ale that was billed last year as a scotch barrel aged scotch ale. And oh hey, they're offering second chance bottles of it this week instead of telling us the allocations?


That doesn't make one question the motives of this allocation delays at all.

 

[henrythehippo]

But they're bringing back their favorites just for us....everyone loved Soroboruo

 

[hi im richie]

Well, they did change around that unintentional soured scotch ale that was billed last year as a scotch barrel aged scotch ale. And oh hey, they're offering second chance bottles of it this week instead of telling us the allocations?


That doesn't make one question the motives of this allocation delays at all.

What does one have to do with the other? They are offering 2 Sucre variants too, what is their hidden agenda behind that?

Just relax, it's only 6 more days.

 

[henrythehippo]

The Soro is a sign they're just offloading stuff that didn't sell.

I'm sure they'll have at least one good thing on Monday.

 

[hi im richie]

The Soro is a sign they're just offloading stuff that didn't sell.

I'm sure they'll have at least one good thing on Monday.

Yeah, but they do that every year with stuff they have a ton of. We are all aware that Soro and Sucre aren't the Sept allocations, so why fret if they make those available in the time being? And yeah, Monday they'll have some good stuff, looking forward to it.

 

[henrythehippo]

Because I'm all built up with excitement

 

[FBIinformant]

I just want to make sure I have enough to cover the other **** ton of events that September holds for SoCal beering.

I mean, Expo just got dropped on BPT. Say goodbye to one Bruery beer budget.

 

[Heatwaves1]

I mean, Expo just got dropped on BPT. Say goodbye to one Bruery beer budget.

Your Bruery budget is $24? I don't think they'll be too disappointed.

 

[Heatwaves1]

With the release schedule, I think that they're "damned if the do, and damned it they don't." People complain that they want a schedule so they can budget their allocations accordingly, but then when the schedule changes they complain about that too. I think the criticism of Soboroboro is fair since that was obviously a different beer from what they originally intended, but other than infections they should be free to alter their schedule as they see fit to balance out the remainder of the year.

I think we've had a month or two when the allocations weren't revealed until the 6th or 7th day of the month, so I'm not overly concerned. Then again, I've been waiting 11 months (and counting) for the first allocations from J. Wakefield to be revealed, so I guess that's my barometer.

 

[Xul1]

With the release schedule, I think that they're "damned if the do, and damned it they don't." People complain that they want a schedule so they can budget their allocations accordingly, but then when the schedule changes they complain about that too.

That's a fair point, but I think part of that is because delays have mostly meant problems over the past year. If they had been turning out awesome beers all year and delayed a beer for a month, no one would bat an eye because we'd all assume it just needed time to carbonate or whatever else. However, with a year of infections and quality problems that are approaching the level of out of control, any delay - especially one where they silently push a beer back and provide no explanation - is naturally going to make people wonder what's wrong with it.

I know they're in a bit of a no win position with it, but the root cause is their inconsistent quality control over the past year. If we had faith that a delayed release just meant it wasn't ready, rather than a delayed release probably meaning something is wrong, it would be an entirely different tone of discussion.

 

[falc0n26001]

Since they can barrel age their beers for a year (or more), the first infected beer indicated that there could still be infections for another year. How long ago was the first infection?

 

[Heatwaves1]

I thought that they'd pushed back a few offerings this year, but looking at the schedule it looks like it may have only been Soboroboro and Mash/Mash & Grind (which hasn't come out yet). Realistically though, it's quite possible that they're doing it now for logistical purposes only. They had seven beers scheduled to come out this month (8, if they release a pilot beer for HS) and only have two releases for October. Genuine infection issues aside, it does make total sense to push two or three of these into October.

And I'm also thinking that they want to strategically offer HS/RS renewals during a month that folks aren't overwhelmed with allocations.

 

[Xul1]

Since they can barrel age their beers for a year (or more), the first infected beer indicated that there could still be infections for another year. How long ago was the first infection?

Ebony & Oak was the first, and that was July 2013. The part that's hard to really grasp from a timeline perspective is barrel infections vs. adjunct infections. Since they've seemingly dealt with both at this point - and abandoned Mash & Coconut because of infection fears - it's difficult to say whether there could still be barrel infections into next summer, or if the barrel infections are 100% under control and now they're trying to get the adjunct situation under control. I've said it before either here or on BA, but I hope that the renewal info includes a very open and honest discussion on their part about how they feel they've responded to the issues and why they think they're resolved. They don't necessarily owe it to us, but if they expect people to continue putting up money beforehand based on a slate of beers they expect to release, they need to rebuild some faith that they'll be able to deliver those beers as intended.

They had seven beers scheduled to come out this month (8, if they release a pilot beer for HS) and only have two releases for October. Genuine infection issues aside, it does make total sense to push two or three of these into October.

Totally agree with that. Rueuze is an obvious one since it's a distribution beer anyway, and ToD w/ V&C could get bumped easily as well. Ignis Fatuus is a PS beer so it probably needs to stay in this quarter, and I think a lot of people are looking to the new batch of White Chocolate as a barometer of whether they're on top of their issues or not (or at least, I am).

And I'm also thinking that they want to strategically offer HS/RS renewals during a month that folks aren't overwhelmed with allocations.

They said that HS renewals will begin later this month, which is pretty much the worst possible time based on allocation volume.

 

[Heatwaves1]

They said that HS renewals will begin later this month, which is pretty much the worst possible time based on allocation volume.

Definitely. I could see them just release a small group of heavy hitters to not totally crush the wallet, but in an attempt to restore the faith. A good starting point would be uninfected* White Chocolate (with tasting room samples from the bottle, not tap) and a mystery beer that just crushes it. I agree that Ignus Fatuus will also be a certainty given the type of beer it is.

* I think the claim is still that WC wasn't infected, but just used white oak sap with a low (acidic) pH. But, if it walks like a duck...

 

[Xul1]

Definitely. I could see them just release a small group of heavy hitters to not totally crush the wallet, but in an attempt to restore the faith. A good starting point would be uninfected* White Chocolate (with tasting room samples from the bottle, not tap) and a mystery beer that just crushes it. I agree that Ignus Fatuus will also be a certainty given the type of beer it is.

Uninfected White Chocolate, a killer mystery beer, and Ignis Fatuus would definitely be a good showing, and throw in ToD w/ V&C as well. Push Mash and Mash & Grind into October and Rueuze into November.

* I think the claim is still that WC wasn't infected, but just used white oak sap with a low (acidic) pH. But, if it walks like a duck...

I think they skirted around it and never used the word "infected," but in their year-end Cleaning the Slate blog post, they admitted that the pH had continued dropping, indicating that something - presumably an unintended organism - was still working.

 

[ASUBeer]

If last years white chocolate wasn't infected I'll buy you each a nice seafood dinner.

 

[Xul1]

Per today's Tasting Room email, Rueuze is out in bottles on Friday - guessing they won't be pushing that one back.

 

[stakem1]

What is the Bruery's policy regarding these reserve member only growler fills? Do you just flash your member card and you get what you want or do they check ID and your card to verify you are the name on the card?

I just got an email about hoarders only growler fills (1 per person.) Thanks, that does me a lot of good. In all seriousness, if anyone wants to pretend to be me, ill send you my card so you can enjoy these rewards that i will never take them up on.

 

[Xul1]

What is the Bruery's policy regarding these reserve member only growler fills? Do you just flash your member card and you get what you want or do they check ID and your card to verify you are the name on the card?

Show them your card and they scan it into the system (for tracking, not for verification). They've never checked my ID or anything, just the membership card.

 

[axeman91821]

What's the Hoarders only fill?

 

[Xul1]

What's the Hoarders only fill?

Dad's Infidelity, a funky saison with blackberries. Had a taster a couple weeks ago, interesting but not something I'd want a growler of.

 

[salzar1]

Dad's Infidelity, a funky saison with blackberries. Had a taster a couple weeks ago, interesting but not something I'd want a growler of.

I could not tell that it had black berries in it. The pour that I had was a bright golden beer.

 

[Heatwaves1]

The need to make SitR w/ boysenberries a HS-only growler fill. But honestly, having any HS-only growler fills is a step in the right direction for making HS have better value for the buck.

 

[CommanderofAwesome]

So society Monday ends up with 1 beer?

 

[stupac2]

So society Monday ends up with 1 beer?

What beer? Autumn Maple? Maybe they haven't put them up yet...

 

[ApocalypseZombie]

What beer? Autumn Maple? Maybe they haven't put them up yet...

The pumpkin porter.