Random Beer Thoughts

[drgarage1]

don't see the issue w/ curating... it's what wine stores do

Who between them and Casey will issue the cease and desist first?

 

[beerindex]

Grand Rapids is finally due to get a CBC, so I'll be curious to see what their idea of curated quality means out here. I don't have anything against it per se, but unless it means that their stock remains consistently fresher, I can't imagine giving them regular business over shops with a more complete supply.

 

[Josh2]

True but CBCs are so douchey.

The one I went to in Ft Collins wasnt too bad. Until I mentioned the ease at which Cantillon is acquired in Utah. He immediately started texting/emailing a friend that lived here to acquire it for the shop.

 

[JCastle1]

Any guesses on the beers/breweries that will get eighty-sixed? I can't think of a brewery here that would, but maybe a few individual beers should go.

I've picked up plenty of random garbage in MA, I can think of a few that could be on that list.

 

[Jnorton00]

The one I went to in Ft Collins wasnt too bad. Until I mentioned the ease at which Cantillon is acquired in Utah. He immediately started texting/emailing a friend that lived here to acquire it for the shop.

Here I've just seen them recommend terrible beers, have no idea what they are talking about, overcharge, have super cringe worthy "beer geek status" conversations which is their lame member loyalty program I think and in general they just follow you around bothering you even after you tell them 5 times you don't need any help. I've also gotten a rude "that's it?" when I just bought a single glass once. I get serious ****** chills every time I go in to one.

 

[quirk6]

Here I've just seen them recommend terrible beers, have no idea what they are talking about, overcharge, have super cringe worthy "beer geek status" conversations which is their lame member loyalty program I think and in general they just follow you around bothering you even after you tell them 5 times you don't need any help. I've also gotten a rude "that's it?" when I just bought a single glass once. I get serious ****** chills every time I go in to one.

I've been to two. I love the one up in Waterbury, VT because it's full of great **** I can't get here in CT. Then one opened in Hartford and it's absolutely pointless, selection sucks.

 

[abagofit]

I've only been to CBC twice, once was in montana so the selection was weak, but the other was the closest to my hometown in Braintree, MA (the one that had a car drive through the storefront) and I left there very impressed. Good selection, reasonable pricing, helpful staff, etc. The best part was that they threw in a free extra: Hermit Thrush's Supah Funk #5 which really nice/generous of them. I will definitely return.

I have no problem with a store that wants to curate their selection...isn't that what all stores do? Where it gets a bit shady is them publically posting this policy that at one point called these banned breweries "unfit for human consumption". This move could have been handled silently behind closed doors and no one would care. Now they have just opened themselves up to so much criticism for no benefit.

 

[BadJustin]

I've been to two. I love the one up in Waterbury, VT because it's full of great **** I can't get here in CT. Then one opened in Hartford and it's absolutely pointless, selection sucks.

A buddy from High School owns the one in Waterbury. Vic is his name, good dude and srs about beer.

 

[Hopping Tiger]

Doesn't every retailer in every other industry "curate" inventory? I want my damn hardware store to only carry **** they approve of. Why does beer need to be so ******* precious about it?

 

[JulianB1]

Doesn't every retailer in every other industry "curate" inventory? I want my damn hardware store to only carry **** they approve of. Why does beer need to be so ******* precious about it?

Agreed, but also this:

I have no problem with a store that wants to curate their selection...isn't that what all stores do? Where it gets a bit shady is them publically posting this policy that at one point called these banned breweries "unfit for human consumption". This move could have been handled silently behind closed doors and no one would care. Now they have just opened themselves up to so much criticism for no benefit.

Retailers should be discerning about what products they carry. One of the worst aspects of the 3-tier system is stores/bars/etc with purchasing managers who are clueless about beer that just take whatever the distributor tells them to. But on the flip side, it's not something to get all high and mighty about, especially publicly.

 

[GhostOfGaspar]

While I'm not intimately familiar with Craft Beer Cellar, I am the product manager for what i imagine is a similar franchise, though we are a bar, not a retail shop (is CBC kind of a hybrid?). We have 38 units across the country.

The number one bullet point on my job description when i was hired was "Approval and Disapproval" of all beer coming through the system. I was excited, albeit quite naive and idealistic. I actually wrote a 5,500-word pseudo-manifesto (at the behest of the CEO) called "Achieving and Maintaining Credibility in the Craft Beer Industry: The Prospects of Sustainability and Growth".

I quickly realized that in the franchised beer bar world, partners hold a much bigger stick than I had ever imagined. I have fought every fight as best as i can to keep "bad" beer out of the stores, and particularly off the draft list. And by "bad" I mean specifically Miller, Coors and Budweiser, along with a couple of their "crafty" brands. Somehow I have managed to keep all Shock Top, and all Blue Moon "one-offs" out of the store, but the screaming for BMC from a couple of the more "powerful" (meaning they own multiple units) has had a profound effect on the higher-ups, who have allowed these as a "test", albeit with zero idea of an exit plan. Meanwhile i have compiled compelling and objective number-based proof that these "bad" beers do not increase sales or drive traffic.

What amazes me about the CBC situation is that (and correct me if i'm wrong) it seems very subjective. Who is making the decisions about what cannot be carried and what are their qualifications? The basic principle I've always adopted is that if it fits the BA's definition of craft (though i have some issues with that as well), then you can absolutely carry it. Hell, above all else we support local breweries. Give everyone a chance. If they suck, or have no QC, then stop carrying them. Simple as that and we leave that up to the partners.

The fact that they specifically called out local Boston breweries Bent Water, Down the Road and Hopsters as "not fit for consumption" is pretty ******* shocking to me. It seems a very narrow view and perhaps a desperate attempt to appeal to snobby-ass "beer geeks", which in all likelihood (though I don't know for sure), make up a very small percentage of their patronage. It seems that it would really backfire in the brewers' community, which is generally still very tight-knit.

As a side note, they have 175 mandated items? Seems excessive, no matter the format of sales. Half of the appeal of the craft industry is its very liquid product management (pun intended). For reference, our bars carry about 200 unique beers; 5 draft lines are mandated, and only 2 of those are specific beers (Weihenstephaner and All Day IPA, if the store is in distro), the other three are just breweries that have to be carried.

Anyways, this story and philosophy is very interesting to me, and i'm in no way shocked to hear that there is backlash from their franchisee community.

 

[lopejuice1]

Doesn't really affect me either way because I don't plan on trading for any TG stouts... but being ridiculously OCD I need to say this: for the love of christ it's being released in JANUARY 2017... 17... Twenty Seventeen... 2017, AD. It's the number directly after 2016. 60 seconds after the clock strikes 11:59pm on December 31, 2016 the year then changes 2017. I realize there is some confusion about how this works so I just wanted to clear that up.

 

[trickytunadicky]

While I'm not intimately familiar with Craft Beer Cellar, I am the product manager for what i imagine is a similar franchise, though we are a bar, not a retail shop (is CBC kind of a hybrid?). We have 38 units across the country.

The number one bullet point on my job description when i was hired was "Approval and Disapproval" of all beer coming through the system. I was excited, albeit quite naive and idealistic. I actually wrote a 5,500-word pseudo-manifesto (at the behest of the CEO) called "Achieving and Maintaining Credibility in the Craft Beer Industry: The Prospects of Sustainability and Growth".

I quickly realized that in the franchised beer bar world, partners hold a much bigger stick than I had ever imagined. I have fought every fight as best as i can to keep "bad" beer out of the stores, and particularly off the draft list. And by "bad" I mean specifically Miller, Coors and Budweiser, along with a couple of their "crafty" brands. Somehow I have managed to keep all Shock Top, and all Blue Moon "one-offs" out of the store, but the screaming for BMC from a couple of the more "powerful" (meaning they own multiple units) has had a profound effect on the higher-ups, who have allowed these as a "test", albeit with zero idea of an exit plan. Meanwhile i have compiled compelling and objective number-based proof that these "bad" beers do not increase sales or drive traffic.

What amazes me about the CBC situation is that (and correct me if i'm wrong) it seems very subjective. Who is making the decisions about what cannot be carried and what are their qualifications? The basic principle I've always adopted is that if it fits the BA's definition of craft (though i have some issues with that as well), then you can absolutely carry it. Hell, above all else we support local breweries. Give everyone a chance. If they suck, or have no QC, then stop carrying them. Simple as that and we leave that up to the partners.

The fact that they specifically called out local Boston breweries Bent Water, Down the Road and Hopsters as "not fit for consumption" is pretty ******* shocking to me. It seems a very narrow view and perhaps a desperate attempt to appeal to snobby-ass "beer geeks", which in all likelihood (though I don't know for sure), make up a very small percentage of their patronage. It seems that it would really backfire in the brewers' community, which is generally still very tight-knit.

As a side note, they have 175 mandated items? Seems excessive, no matter the format of sales. Half of the appeal of the craft industry is its very liquid product management (pun intended). For reference, our bars carry about 200 unique beers; 5 draft lines are mandated, and only 2 of those are specific beers (Weihenstephaner and All Day IPA, if the store is in distro), the other three are just breweries that have to be carried.

Anyways, this story and philosophy is very interesting to me, and i'm in no way shocked to hear that there is backlash from their franchisee community.

I am going to go ahead and call out local brewery Cademom as not fit for consumption. Seriously. Who is funding their Go Fund Me?

 

[JulianB1]

I am going to go ahead and call out local brewery Cademom as not fit for consumption. Seriously. Who is funding their Go Fund Me?

I think that one can of Cademon that was opened at Meadapalooza made up more of the liquid content of the dump bucket than anything else, and that's even including rinse water.

 

[masterovkhaos]

Doesn't really affect me either way because I don't plan on trading for any TG stouts... but being ridiculously OCD I need to say this: for the love of christ it's being released in JANUARY 2017... 17... Twenty Seventeen... 2017, AD. It's the number directly after 2016. 60 seconds after the clock strikes 11:59pm on December 31, 2016 the year then changes 2017. I realize there is some confusion about how this works so I just wanted to clear that up.

Bottled in 2016 though

 

[thatguy2014]

Man. Seeing people talking about going into Iowa for KBBS/Assassin release from parts of the country where it never snows... IF it does that day I hope they're all taking ubers around. In a rental car they're not used to, in conditions they're not used to, after attending an event that is centered around strong beers that will likely have shares/other pours.....

Seems like a recipe for problems.

There isn't even Uber/Lyft in Decorah. There is a really small taxi service, but I wouldn't count on that with such a large influx of people to a small town. Also, pretty much all of the hotels are way on the outskirts of town, not even close to the brewery/downtown. Should be some interesting stories coming from Iowa that day.

It me. Luckily I will be with a friend from Minnesota, so maybe I won't die in a car accident. Probably just alcohol poisoning.

 

[Snarf1]

It's spreading...

The Rapture?

 

[GuzzleMcBrew]

A buddy from High School owns the one in Waterbury. Vic is his name, good dude and srs about beer.

Vic is cool!

 

[JulianB1]

The Rapture?

After the Neckbeard Apocalypse, thousands of camp chairs will sit empty, in line, for all eternity.

 

[gtx281]

I love MT, but "Pillowy" is the dumbest adjective I've ever seen used to describe a beer.

 

[hideout]

you must not have read any of their other marketing copy then

 

[gtx281]

you must not have read any of their other marketing copy then

I have. It's still the worst.

 

[trickytunadicky]

I love MT, but "Pillowy" is the dumbest adjective I've ever seen used to describe a beer.

Is it shaken with egg whites?

 

[Jnorton00]

What amazes me about the CBC situation is that (and correct me if i'm wrong) it seems very subjective. Who is making the decisions about what cannot be carried and what are their qualifications? The basic principle I've always adopted is that if it fits the BA's definition of craft (though i have some issues with that as well), then you can absolutely carry it. Hell, above all else we support local breweries. Give everyone a chance. If they suck, or have no QC, then stop carrying them. Simple as that and we leave that up to the partners.

The nutjob franchise owners and I think one is Ciccerone certified... ZOMG!

 

[JBP]

Welp, it's happened. After getting Luponic Distortion 1 & 2 within <month of canning, 3 was a bit later and stores ordered way too much of it, so now it's sitting in giant stacks everywhere. Now they aren't ordering 4 and if/when they finally do it will be months old at best. So begins the cycle of unfreshness on a beer specifically designed to be available fresh. This is why we can't have nice things.

 

[MooseLang]

Welp, it's happened. After getting Luponic Distortion 1 & 2 within <month of canning, 3 was a bit later and stores ordered way too much of it, so now it's sitting in giant stacks everywhere. Now they aren't ordering 4 and if/when they finally do it will be a couple months old at best. So begins the cycle of unfreshness on a beer specifically designed to be available fresh. This is why we can't have nice things.

Same exact situation at my local. And it sucks, because I really liked the first 3.

 

[boogercrack]

After the Neckbeard Apocalypse, thousands of camp chairs will sit empty, in line, for all eternity.

Detailing the excruciating trials and tribulations of those Left Behind after the neckbeard Rapture. Forced to finish the heels of the beers left after shares, decipher the clues for eternal salvation derived from overly pretentious Tired Hands beer names, and live through the rise of the ABIntichrist. This is the story of #NewMoney, those Left Behind.

 

[FTowne1]

Anyone know of a source (other than MBC) where I can buy older bottles of DFH WWS and 120? brees6221 sent me an older bottle of each in a BIF a while back and they were amazing.

 

[reverseapachemaster1]

I love MT, but "Pillowy" is the dumbest adjective I've ever seen used to describe a beer.

I see that a lot with the NE I/PA beers. Maybe they get that turbidity with little bits of pillow stuffing. That would legitimately be a pillowy beer.

 

[lazerviking]

Anyone know of a source (other than MBC) where I can buy older bottles of DFH WWS and 120? brees6221 sent me an older bottle of each in a BIF a while back and they were amazing.

Mike, I can send you a bottle that is at least 6 years old (bought it in 2010, but was probably on the shelf for quite some time already). You interested? I'll be slow as molasses as you know, but if you can wait happy to send it your way.