FIB War Room

[gtx281]

More Guest Lager coming this Friday from Half Acre.

DETAILS:

• Release: 4/4/14 @ noon
• 4-pack 16oz cans: $14.99 (limit 1 per person)
• 13oz draft: $6

http://halfacrebeer.com/blog/2014/4/2/guest-lager

 

[sherm10161]

Isn't this the same pricing they used for 4pks of Gallactic DDC?

Don't know. I got to try GDDC in bomber format. Not sure what the price was.

 

[yeahnatenelson]

Don't know. I got to try GDDC in bomber format. Not sure what the price was.

No idea what's going on. Classic 'sconnie...

 

[sherm10161]

No idea what's going on. Classic 'sconnie...

Would you say that HA/Mikkeller Guest Lager is worth $15/4pk? GDDC? Just curious...

 

[gtx281]

Would you say that HA/Mikkeller Guest Lager is worth $15/4pk?

Absolutely.

****, that's only $1 more than Coffee Bender.

 

[lb304854]

More Guest Lager coming this Friday from Half Acre.

DETAILS:

• Release: 4/4/14 @ noon
• 4-pack 16oz cans: $14.99 (limit 1 per person)
• 13oz draft: $6

http://halfacrebeer.com/blog/2014/4/2/guest-lager

Fun fact: when you Google image search "Zambrano sky point", a picture of backfat is the 7th image.

 

[backfat]

Fun fact: when you Google image search "Zambrano sky point", a picture of backfat is the 7th image.

hahahaha! No ****. I've finally made it...

 

[user 306237]

Can we talk about Pipeworks for a minute? Because I like them. I like some of their beers. Down 'Unda Ninja was great... Mint Truffle Abduction nearly made me vomit... but that's on me. Overall, Pipeworks is fine, I think -- sometimes there's good beer, sometimes there's great beer... usually, there's just overpriced "meh" beer. But then they make comments like these (on BA) and while... while that shouldn't necessarily matter... it does nothing to make me look forward to buying more beer of theirs.

homies... how do you feel about us packaging barrel aged beer straight out of the barrel like it was meant to be had... that means it'll be flat (or faintly carbonated).... really thats the way the beer should be imbibed... i really kind of want to do this... unless you've tasted beer straight for the barrel you don't really know what you are missing... fobab annoys me every year because it's all served out of a jockey box bringing the beer to 30 something degrees and carbonated... i don't know about ya'll but i've never had beer from a barrel that was 30 degrees and carbonated...

Even though we've been open for two years, we're barely scratching the surface of what we want to do... or how we want to execute.... I know it seems simple because we have 'grown' in that time but that is out of necessity to pay bills and buy new equipment to allow us to make the beers we want to make (which we haven't begin to do yet). With the new facility next year we can rock the beers we know we can... while spending the right time on beers we want to explore.

As to the latter quote, and to hone in on the "only open 2 years" comment... work on a consistent product before you start railing against the market making you brew beer you don't like but that pay the bills.

Or, in other words, go **** yourself.

 

[tinypyramids1]

i remember the time that i got a dead ******* flat bottle of date sugar yeast magik, and they had the gall to tell me that i didn't know what i was talking about when i said it was flat, and that a belgian dubbel should have had stupid low carbonation. while i did wind up buying the occasional bottle or two after that, i was permanently soured on them going forward. they couldn't talk their way out of flat citra ninja bottles though.

i wouldn't have felt nearly as bad if they were like "well, i apologize, we've had some issues with our filler; i can't legally give you beer or a refund but let us make it up to you somehow." that sort of response, and all would have been well. but that's not how things happened.

the best part was how recently, they posted about the fact that they have a new bottle filler on order that they specifically said would fix some of the flat bottle problems. the whole time, in my head, i thought, 'i ******* knew it.' but that's 'sitting around at 2am alone' kind of vindication, so let's say it was bittersweet.

edit: also, flat, 75 degree barrel aged beers sounds *terrible*. low carb? fine. but dead flat? ugh.

 

[daniel1]

i remember the time that i got a dead ******* flat bottle of date sugar yeast magik, and they had the gall to tell me that i didn't know what i was talking about when i said it was flat, and that a belgian dubbel should have had stupid low carbonation. while i did wind up buying the occasional bottle or two after that, i was permanently soured on them going forward. they couldn't talk their way out of flat citra ninja bottles though.

i wouldn't have felt nearly as bad if they were like "well, i apologize, we've had some issues with our filler; i can't legally give you beer or a refund but let us make it up to you somehow." that sort of response, and all would have been well. but that's not how things happened.

the best part was how recently, they posted about the fact that they have a new bottle filler on order that they specifically said would fix some of the flat bottle problems. the whole time, in my head, i thought, 'i ******* knew it.' but that's 'sitting around at 2am alone' kind of vindication, so let's say it was bittersweet.

edit: also, flat, 75 degree barrel aged beers sounds *terrible*. low carb? fine. but dead flat? ugh.

By the time that beer came out, they had enough fanboys in Chicagoland to not give a ****. It wasn't like when they ****** up Blue Lady and gave everyone a refund and glassware. And hey, they interned at De Struise so they clearly know way more than you about Belgian styles.

 

[gtx281]

Pipeworks: a few winners, a whole lot of losers.

 

[JulianC]

Picked what I thought would be 50/50 chance on Budapest Gambit. Was like oh, Imperial Wit, ok, with Ginger?! Totally worked. Very quaffable and impressed.

 

[sherm10161]

As you might notice, I live north of the Cheese Curtain. However, I do get to several IL packies on a regular and/or irregular basis, notably, West Lakeview, Binny's Lakeview, Binny's Lincoln Park, and Antioch, all of which have Pipeworks beers.

I've tried quite a few Pipeworks beers while in you fair city and/or state, which have ranged from "Really ******* Good" to "Pretty Good-and-Terrible".

I'm not a Pipeworks fan boy, so I don't keep track of every single release, of which there are too many to really keep track of. And when I walk into one of these stores and see 20 faces of Pipeworks beers, I struggle with what if anything I should try. With so many misses, it's hard to get excited about spending $10-$15 on a one-off bomber (are all their beers one-off?) that may or may not be terrible.

Perhaps they have no plans, but I don't see how they could ever possibly export to other markets where they don't have a strong, loyal fan base, who are interesting in trying every single beer, good or bad.

 

[yeahnatenelson]

Perhaps they have no plans, but I don't see how they could ever possibly export to other markets where they don't have a strong, loyal fan base, who are interesting in trying every single beer, good or bad.

Pipeworks absolutely has plans to export to other markets, as they are currently trying to get funding for a much larger brewing facility. IMSDHO, Pipeworks will have to dial back on the "what if we..." releases and move toward better consistency in a core group of beers that work. I don't think they can expect the ticker crowd to carry them in markets where the notion of Chicago exceptionalism doesn't run high.

 

[user 306237]

Not to continue ragging on PW, but their current business model demands that they keep selling $10-15 bombers. The real cynic in me is wondering how they got financing for their new facility considering how much they touted crowdfunding for the current operation. Don't get me wrong, I'll buy cans of NvU and I think they said Budapest Gambit is slated to get canned, as well, and I'd be down with that. But in the meantime? Simmer down!

 

[sherm10161]

Pipeworks will have to dial back on the "what if we..." releases and move toward better consistency in a core group of beers that work.

Has there been any talk of this from Beejay, Gerrit, and crew? I've never heard it. And their website tagline is "Big beers, small batches." I'm sure you could hold onto that feeling with some regular releases, but everything I've seen and heard make me feel like they have no interest in the traditional model.

As far as I'm concerned, at this point, they are homebrewers with capital. Until they start acting like a grown-up brewery, I'll always be wary that they and their model are not going to survive. Then again, perhaps they and the beer consuming public will prove me wrong, and in 20 years, we'll all be celebrating how wonderful it is to have a handful of breweries with zero standard releases, including Pipeworks.

IMSDHO

WTF does this mean?

Chicago exceptionalism

WTF does this mean?

 

[JulianC]

are all their beers one-off?

They have been consistently releasing NvU to the point it is almost a standard release. This is good. They talk about making it available in cans year round. Also good. Other mainstays seem to be cycling through the old Ninja single hop series, also good, and various re-releases of well received beers like Last Kiss, Derketo, Coffee Break etc.

Starting to show some sembelance of consistency but we still get at least one new release per week... which in it's own right is interesting, and those who don't mind gambling $10/week seem to be having a good time with it.

 

[Treebs]

There are enough fan boys that I don't have to take that gamble on new beers. I just wait for the reviews to come in and if it's good I'll go pick it up.

 

[jeblikesbeer]

if and when NvU happens in cans I'll be getting one of you FIBclowns to pickupformebro

 

[daniel1]

There are enough fan boys that I don't have to take that gamble on new beers. I just wait for the reviews to come in and if it's good I'll go pick it up.

Just make sure you ignore the ones from the people that think every PW release is the greatest thing ever.

 

[yeahnatenelson]

if and when NvU happens in cans I'll be getting one of you FIBclowns to pickupformebro

I have a hunch that the canning line might take a backseat to the 'bottling-flat-and-unfiltered-bals' project.

 

[tinypyramids1]

'chicago exceptionalism' is code for 'most chicagoans will drink anything if it's new and you tell them it's local, regardless of quality'.

i like the fact that spiteful puts beer in cans and gives us sessionable options that don't cost the earth. i'd still rather just buy daisy cutter though.

 

[jeblikesbeer]

'chicago exceptionalism' is code for 'most chicagoans will drink anything if it's new and you tell them it's local, regardless of quality'.

... even FIBs know better than to drink finches...

 

[user 306237]

... even FIBs know better than to drink finches...

That's why they distribute to the East Coast!

 

[sherm10161]

i'd still rather just buy daisy cutter though.

This is how 90% of my trips to Binny's end.

 

[jeblikesbeer]

That's why they distribute to the East Coast!

wait... someone is dumb enough to buy these even out of market?

poor bastards... once as a young padawani bought a four pack because the labels were nice... didnt even keep them as punishment beers for pong.

 

[Gonzoillini1]

WTF does this mean?

IMSDHO = In My Super Duper Humble Opinion.

I blame drewba for bringing the phrase into my lexicon.

 

[Chest Rockwell]

Can we talk about Pipeworks for a minute? Because I like them. I like some of their beers. Down 'Unda Ninja was great... Mint Truffle Abduction nearly made me vomit... but that's on me. Overall, Pipeworks is fine, I think -- sometimes there's good beer, sometimes there's great beer... usually, there's just overpriced "meh" beer. But then they make comments like these (on BA) and while... while that shouldn't necessarily matter... it does nothing to make me look forward to buying more beer of theirs.


As to the latter quote, and to hone in on the "only open 2 years" comment... work on a consistent product before you start railing against the market making you brew beer you don't like but that pay the bills.

Or, in other words, go **** yourself.

I agree with you. The quote about the flat barrel aged beers is just ridiculous. I can only hope that they were joking. The whole cut us slack because we've only been open 2 years is ********. Many other breweries have done way more in less time. 2 years and still QC issues, still no bottleshop, still only over priced bombers and still not making the beer they want. Who the **** is demanding $10+ bombers of a Chai Milk Stout? I really don't buy anything of theirs anymore except for the occasional hoppy offering, but at $11 a bomber I'm way more inclined to pick a 6 pack or 4 pack of an equally good IPA. I hope that they succeed, but until their value improves I won't be purchasing from them. Also, they seem to have stopped making berliners which is disappointing.

 

[user 306237]

wait... someone is dumb enough to buy these even out of market?

poor bastards... once as a young padawani bought a four pack because the labels were nice... didnt even keep them as punishment beers for pong.

I think they're in Massachusetts and Connecticut... a brief search on the interwebs brings me to this (disclaiminer - it's from Apr 2013): http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/4/prweb10630367.htm , also suggesting they're in North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Pennsylvania... maybe Virginia and Arkanasas?

 

[Corbot_3000]

Pipeworks absolutely has plans to export to other markets, as they are currently trying to get funding for a much larger brewing facility. IMSDHO, Pipeworks will have to dial back on the "what if we..." releases and move toward better consistency in a core group of beers that work. I don't think they can expect the ticker crowd to carry them in markets where the notion of Chicago exceptionalism doesn't run high.

Will they have a tasting room at their facility? Maybe a tasting room with some taps will fill that "what if we...." itch. I know there are a ton of people who hate on Shorts, but their brewpub always has a ton of experimental beers on tap that typically get bottled if they're popular enough.