Lambic Discussion Thread

[degardebrewing]

Happy ending

Darn right.

ITS ABOUT DAMN TIME THIS MONTHS ISSUE OF PEOPLE MAGAZINE ARRIVED.




























I'll see myself back out.

 

[regularjohn]

degardebrewing

 

[GuisseppeFranco]

Darn right.

ITS ABOUT DAMN TIME THIS MONTHS ISSUE OF PEOPLE MAGAZINE ARRIVED.




























I'll see myself back out.

Lay off that magazine. I was about to offer up a month old US Weekly for it.

 

[degardebrewing]

Lay off that magazine. I was about to offer up a month old US Weekly for it.

Definitely not a dig at the magazine.
I'm cellaring my ten year vertical in my closet to trade for maximum lambics when the market peaks.

 

[ASUBeer]

Darn right.

ITS ABOUT DAMN TIME THIS MONTHS ISSUE OF PEOPLE MAGAZINE ARRIVED.




























I'll see myself back out.

And I thought you were going to notice the "encourage make believe play" sheet in the pic.

 

[Xul1]

Adding to the BelgiumInABox stories, I placed an order in mid-November, had it sit in customs for a few weeks, then get sent back to Antwerp with this message - "Reproducing label : problem readability barcode." It arrived back there in late December and I've emailed him a couple times to find out what happened and whether he can re-ship it since it seems like he got the box back. I'm kinda glad to hear he's been so slow communicating lately, at least it's not a reflection of anything about my box specifically.

 

[boltfan]

I made my first order on etre last week. It still shows that it's processing. Is it pretty normal for etre to drag on shipping as well?

 

[LukeAleTime]

Bottle store in Aus just tweeted

"Cantillon Fou Foune, Lou Pepe Kriek, Mamouche, Rosé de Cambrinus & Kriek (all in 750ml) due in shortly around 10 Feb. "

And

"We will have a continual supply of Cantillon Gueuze, Kriek & Rosé in 375ml by the end of February early March."

Continual?

Edit:

By the looks of it, they are purely posted from brewery purchases... **** is going to be $$$

"Cantillon appear to be like Westvleteren now. Cellar door only and have stopped distributors importing to other countries."

 

[mikecharley]

Adding to the BelgiumInABox stories, I placed an order in mid-November, had it sit in customs for a few weeks, then get sent back to Antwerp with this message - "Reproducing label : problem readability barcode." It arrived back there in late December and I've emailed him a couple times to find out what happened and whether he can re-ship it since it seems like he got the box back. I'm kinda glad to hear he's been so slow communicating lately, at least it's not a reflection of anything about my box specifically.

I'm waiting on a bulk tilquin pack and a couple of the lambikstoemper 6 pks. I've been emailing him for about 3 weeks.


Starting To think he just shipped my stuff to someone else which is really ******* unfortunate.

I'm happy to hear you've had good experiences.

Both times I have asked him to ship my items on hold it has taken 2-3 months and dozens of emails to get my beers. And in one case, I didn't even get all the beers I ordered and paid for. After two months of emails, he admitted he had mis-tracked his inventory and offered me different beers as replacements, as well as a promise to reserve me a couple bottles of another upcoming release, which I reluctantly agreed to. He delivered on the replacement beers, but reneged on the promise to reserve the bottles in question. (And, it again took over a month of me emailing him after the release before he admitted that he wasn't going to make good on his promise.)

I don't know if other people have had problems with him losing track of inventory, but I'm definitely not the only person who has had difficulty getting him to ship in a timely manner.

These stories make me never want to order from biab. I'll just stick to etre

 

[ridglens]

Has anyone been getting foreign boxes through lately? i want to place an order but don't like the sound of the customs issues...

 

[Pneill3161]

Has anyone been getting foreign boxes through lately? i want to place an order but don't like the sound of the customs issues...

I just had an big order come through from BiaB. Ordered it a few days after Xmas and it came over in 2 boxes. They were shipped on seperate days, the first arrived in 2 weeks the other 3 weeks. Didn't seem like there were any issues coming through JFK.

 

[lazerviking]

Has anyone been getting foreign boxes through lately? i want to place an order but don't like the sound of the customs issues...

Got two etre boxes in the last month and a half and had zero issues. Both boxes arrived in about a week.

And like Pneill316 mine came through JFK.

 

[ridglens]

Awesome, thanks guys!

 

[BusinessSloth]

I'm happy to hear you've had good experiences.

Both times I have asked him to ship my items on hold it has taken 2-3 months and dozens of emails to get my beers. And in one case, I didn't even get all the beers I ordered and paid for. After two months of emails, he admitted he had mis-tracked his inventory and offered me different beers as replacements, as well as a promise to reserve me a couple bottles of another upcoming release, which I reluctantly agreed to. He delivered on the replacement beers, but reneged on the promise to reserve the bottles in question. (And, it again took over a month of me emailing him after the release before he admitted that he wasn't going to make good on his promise.)

I don't know if other people have had problems with him losing track of inventory, but I'm definitely not the only person who has had difficulty getting him to ship in a timely manner.

And thats why i steer clear of BIAB, there are cheaper, more consumer-friendly belgians out there.

That being said, passing on 6 pack of Cuvee Lambikstoemper on BIAB was one of the worst decisions of my life. I want more than the 2 bottles I have, and it doesn't look hopeful for a plentiful re-stock on any webstore.


EDIT: I believe all belgian boxes regardless of origin, will go thru JFK customs

 

[SeaWatchman]

And thats why i steer clear of BIAB, there are cheaper, more consumer-friendly belgians out there.

That being said, passing on 6 pack of Cuvee Lambikstoemper on BIAB was one of the worst decisions of my life. I want more than the 2 bottles I have, and it doesn't look hopeful for a plentiful re-stock on any webstore.


EDIT: I believe all belgian boxes regardless of origin, will go thru JFK customs

I've had boxes go through chicago and LA first then to me

 

[owens99]

And thats why i steer clear of BIAB, there are cheaper, more consumer-friendly belgians out there.

That being said, passing on 6 pack of Cuvee Lambikstoemper on BIAB was one of the worst decisions of my life. I want more than the 2 bottles I have, and it doesn't look hopeful for a plentiful re-stock on any webstore.


EDIT: I believe all belgian boxes regardless of origin, will go thru JFK customs

Echoing SeaWatchman, I have a box in Chicago customs right now and I want to say I've had one go through Miami.

Also, who are the cheaper, more consumer-friendly Belgians? I've only ordered from Etre, biab, and TrappistWorld (lol @me, obviously not cheaper)

 

[BusinessSloth]

Echoing SeaWatchman, I have a box in Chicago customs right now and I want to say I've had one go through Miami.

Also, who are the cheaper, more consumer-friendly Belgians? I've only ordered from Etre, biab, and TrappistWorld (lol @me, obviously not cheaper)

Etre. Customer service is great and way cheaper than BIAB. I've spent enough money there to put Robert's kids through college

 

[SeaWatchman]

Etre. Customer service is great and way cheaper than BIAB. I've spent enough money there to put Robert's kids through college

Considering what it costs to go to college in many European countries, buying one box a year from them would do it.

 

[Hookemhops13]

Considering what it costs to go to college in many European countries, buying one box a year from them would do it.

 

[Xul1]

These stories make me never want to order from biab. I'll just stick to etre

Interestingly enough, I woke up to an email from Kurt saying the box was repacked and would be re-shipped this week, so he is alive. I'm not a big fan of slow communication but it's vaguely tolerable if I end up getting the box.

 

[The Red Viper]

Etre. Customer service is great and way cheaper than BIAB. I've spent enough money there to put Robert's kids through college

I have tended to order from BiaB over Etre when I can precisely because I always thought Etre had **** customer service. I've had missing or broken bottles from their shipments that I complained about repeatedly and literally never received a response to any of my communication, and it took the better part of a year to get a refund (still with no communication). I always receive BiaB orders faster (1-2 weeks on average compared to 3-4), get responses to E-mails faster from Kurt than from Etre, and once you factor in the better shipping rates and the better discounts from repeat orders, BiaB is cheaper on a large majority of bottles (Cantilon 750s and vintage bottles are the major exceptions).

Obviously other people have different experiences...but to say that either of these sites consistently has good customer service, or that either has generally respectable business practices, would be a real stretch. There's no ideal option at the moment, people should stick to what works best for them.

 

[jmarce]

took me a week to finally get a shipping invoice from him for reserved orders, starting to dread how long it's going to take to actually receive them.

Was pleasantly surprised to get a tracking number from Kurt today so all 3 orders I've placed from him have been shipped in ~a week and a half or less, can't complain about that.

 

[BusinessSloth]

I have tended to order from BiaB over Etre when I can precisely because I always thought Etre had **** customer service. I've had missing or broken bottles from their shipments that I complained about repeatedly and literally never received a response to any of my communication, and it took the better part of a year to get a refund (still with no communication). I always receive BiaB orders faster (1-2 weeks on average compared to 3-4), get responses to E-mails faster from Kurt than from Etre, and once you factor in the better shipping rates and the better discounts from repeat orders, BiaB is cheaper on a large majority of bottles (Cantilon 750s and vintage bottles are the major exceptions).

Obviously other people have different experiences...but to say that either of these sites consistently has good customer service, or that either has generally respectable business practices, would be a real stretch. There's no ideal option at the moment, people should stick to what works best for them.

I don't disagree. When did you experience this with Etre? I noticed a change when Robert put Jonathan in charge of customer service.

 

[GetchaPull]

Had a full Être order come through just fine 2-3 weeks ago (asked them to hold shipment until after the new year). I've heard of some boxes coming through Miami for some of us folk in the Souf, but all mine have gone through JFK.

As a data point - CS from Robert, Jonathan and Joana has been top shelf over the last 4 years for me. A little spottier with BIAB.

 

[BusinessSloth]

Had a full Être order come through just fine 2-3 weeks ago (asked them to hold shipment until after the new year). I've heard of some boxes coming through Miami for some of us folk in the Souf, but all mine have gone through JFK.

As a data point - CS from Robert, Jonathan and Joana has been top shelf over the last 4 years for me. A little spottier with BIAB.

Joanna and Jonathan are wonderful yes. Things were a little markedly slower when Robert was doing a lot himself though. Either way Viper is correct that use whatever works best for you.

 

[Pneill3161]

I feel everyone should stop ordering from all of these sites. That'll teach them, it'll drive their prices back down and make them respond better to CS. I will however still make occasional orders just so they don't go completely under.

 

[The Red Viper]

I don't disagree. When did you experience this with Etre? I noticed a change when Robert put Jonathan in charge of customer service.

Yeah, the really bad experiences were back when Robert did customer service directly. Haven't had any serious problems since the Js have done it. But I've made plenty of orders from both these sites just in the past few months even and BiaB is always faster shipment, and I've never had any kind of problem with communication or helpfulness from Kurt. That might depend on where you're at. Or it might depend on how much Kurt likes you lol.

Either way, I have no reason to fear ordering from either of these sites in terms of knowing I will get the bottles eventually and that any serious issues will be resolved. And I do still order from both sites since each often has things the other does not, or has lower prices on something I want. But since my overall experience with BIAB has been better I order from there when there's a choice.

 

[primebeer]

My box that went into the system on jan 16th still hasn't left Antwerp. I've messaged Robin @ TrappistWorld but haven't heard from him. I'm starting to get nervous due to the contents of the box..

 

[BusinessSloth]

I feel everyone should stop ordering from all of these sites. That'll teach them, it'll drive their prices back down and make them respond better to CS. I will however still make occasional orders just so they don't go completely under.

In.

 

[JBP]

6/6/2012 bottling.

Mushroom. Cheese. Weed. Apples.