Upland Brewing Secret Barrel Society

[MordorMongo]

Hahahaha, right! That's a good one, Upland!

Who the **** would be THAT retarded, amirite?

 

[EvanJay]

When I first read it, it sounded like you were prepaying for beer.

 

[Snarf1]

When I first read it, it sounded like you were prepaying for beer.

Hmm, when I first read it, it sounded like they were trying to make brewing barrel aged beers sound like a charity "Every dollar generated through membership will bypass pockets and paychecks and go directly to growing our Sour Ale Program." and then included a big FU at the end, in case anyone paid without understanding they weren't getting bottles. "No refunds will be given after placing an order."

 

[JohnfromPurdue]

Since you are openly mocking me I can only assume you are going to hook a brother up.

Gotcha bro

 

[beerindex]

and then included a big FU at the end, in case anyone paid without understanding they weren't getting bottles. "No refunds will be given after placing an order."

Well, fortunately, chargebacks exist.

 

[RGco]

 

[cosmicevan]

These 'custom glasses' will be certified glass waelz since Mordor and I were the only two people stupid enough to purchase memberships.

FT: Upland Glass Whale (Style TBD - hopefully not belcher) ISO: cosmicevan

i'm not fully finished with the design yet, but it will probably be similar to this:

 

[Beerontwowheels]

Are we still waiting on revisions, or has all hope of a decent Upland society vanished?

 

[bauermj]

Well, fortunately, chargebacks exist.

It's not necessary. Email [email protected] or call the brewery & select sales/marketing extension. They were nice about refunds.

 

[mjmoser]

I love how the additional special party is "immediately following" the Wild Sour and Funk party. So if you can't make the undetermined date for that you miss out on both and REALLY get your money's worth....

 

[yeahnatenelson]

Are we still waiting on revisions, or has all hope of a decent Upland society vanished?

The revisions were added yesterday. What you see now is what you get. They weren't confused about what was they were offering, though I'd wager they are dumbfounded at how badly this went.

I can't help but wonder if they didn't do due diligence in their market research. Maybe if they saw how badly the Pelican Pub Kickstarter went they would've reassessed this product.

 

[Beerontwowheels]

The revisions were added yesterday. What you see now is what you get. They weren't confused about what was they were offering, though I'd wager they are dumbfounded at how badly this went.

I can't help but wonder if they didn't do due diligence in their market research. Maybe if they saw how badly the Pelican Pub Kickstarter went they would've reassessed this product.

Andrea has been contacted. This one is officially tits up.

 

[sidetracked]

first I was like

but then I was like

 

[sidetracked]

In all seriousness though, why would a business assume someone wants to pay them for the privilege of being a customer? If you need money to expand your barrel program, get a loan like every one else or save up enough capital.

 

[MordorMongo]

In all seriousness though, why would a business assume someone wants to pay them for the privilege of being a customer? If you need money to expand your barrel program, get a loan like every one else or save up enough capital.

That water down in Bloomington makes people do stupid **** all the time, man. I have yet to meet anyone *normal* that has spent a significant amount of time there.

Have you seen this feller??

Porter Ridge is just downstream from Bloomington. Fact.

 

[yeahnatenelson]

In all seriousness though, why would a business assume someone wants to pay them for the privilege of being a customer? If you need money to expand your barrel program, get a loan like every one else or save up enough capital.

What's frustrating is that they just expanded their sour capacity. With the new production facility in place and operational, the entirety of their original brew house is now going to be dedicated to sours.

 

[ridglens]

What's really frustrating to me is that they are blaming the legal limitations for what they can't offer... But then why the hell are you still charging $250?! I don't think any of us would be bitching if this deal was more like $100, I'd think about doing it (especially if I thought I could make it to the funk fest). It's like they decided to set the price point based on how much money they wanted to get to fund an expansion, and didn't pay attention to the value of the product at all!

looks like upland found the limit on how dumb the crazed beer fanatics will be for something "rare"... We sometkmes don't mind being raped, but at least give us the courtesy reach around!

 

[aasher]

All of beers that aren't even real lambics...

A drive to New Glarus would be cheaper and more productive.

 

[Beerontwowheels]

And my refund was processed.

If they would have offered a 200$ gift certificate, they would have kept all $250. That seemed the better way to go to me, but wtf do I know.

 

[MordorMongo]

And my refund was processed.

If they would have offered a 200$ gift certificate, they would have kept all $250. That seemed the better way to go to me, but wtf do I know.

Pfft. ******* quitter.

 

[Envelopes]

from 'the other site'

Hi folks,

Took a minute to internalize some of the feedback we are getting in regards to the Secret Barrel Society Memberships. Hopefully, I can address our perspective on how we structured the benefits, as well as touch on most of bigger concerns out there.

First and foremost, we are not trying to offer anything we did not feel would have value for our customers. We have the honest desire to make this membership as valuable for you as what it will help us create. I believe one main point was lost, and one we could have done a better job communicating, is this membership is different than other currently offered program by any other brewery, is because it is exactly that, different.

In this day and age, and in the spirit of crowd funded endeavors, which sincerely desire to return to their donators the ability to be a bigger part of something, we utilized this model when drafting the membership details. It is giving our small Sour Program the potential means to grow, which will in kind provide a more direct value to the customer than what was previously offered. This concept should not be entirely foreign or negatively perceived, unless the person buying in and the business itself does not mutually benefit. We never set out, rubbing greedy hands together, to cheat or take advantage of anyone in this endeavor. I will not attempt to sell you anything in this response, only clean up the air the best I can.

To address some of the main concerns out there:

• · Even though we have been brewing sour ales since 2006, the program is still very small and relatively in its infancy. 2013 is the first year we have focused 100% on brewing sours in downtown Bloomington since the inaugural batches touched oak. We positively have enough beer selected from 2008 to 2010 to make the 4000 bottle commitment if the SBS fills up for 2014, as well as newly developing beer well on its way to appropriate flavor profile.

• · We have already bottled one collaboration beer that is slated for exclusive pickup by members, as well as another in the works utilizing locally harvested grapes that we expect to be ready next summer.

• · Everyone ultimately gains. SBS members will get first in line access to every release next year, the quicker the program grows the faster we can create better and less expensive future benefits and more exclusive releases. Upland will be able to build a 1350 sq. ft. cellar to double sour fermentation and cellar capacity, because every dollar generated by the program goes directly into the brewery. And non-members will eventually gain access to more widely available and distributed releases in years to come. Actually maybe I lose out, because I’ll be working a ton more to make more beer, but I digress.

• · We never claimed to be Clarence Darrow on legal issues, but there was enough concern with Indiana Code to not pre-sell or discount beer as part of our initial discussions in designing the program. This isn’t a reactionary excuse; it was posted proudly on the SBS membership details, but we should have left the issue absent to begin with. However, this is entirely unrelated to the fact we are asking for folks to help us build our brewery, with returned privileges of value in exchange.

• · We openly admit we are not perfect, but strive every day to deliver to customers the best quality beer possible at all times. Since the Sour Program began, we have destroyed one bottling run of Persimmon, one bottling run of Dantalion failed to carbonate, and the 2013 Persimmon run is also of unacceptable carbonation levels to release. This really is not that much beer, and I’m glad we never sold it. For every person waiting on a Persimmon redemption, they will be honored in our next release for any style of choice, or redemptions can be held for our expected Persimmon release next spring. We will email everyone awaiting redemption this update, and apologize for not providing an explanation sooner. We also have gained a greater understanding of why these quality fails occurred this year, and have not replicated them since implementing new practices.

On a final note, I know I didn’t see in the mirror this morning a faceless, greedy, shark jumping, potential kidnap victim. Brewing sour ales means a lot to me personally, and my commitment to do what I find to be an honest, traditional and local way to make beer is only rivaled by my passion to make sure our supporters get the best sour beer and customer service we can provide. I personally invite anyone who has questions about the Sour Program to drop by the brewery in downtown Bloomington and I’ll show you around. I think most folks would get the impression Upland is not a soulless corporate entity, within the confines of a modest brewing environment with happy, honest and dedicated fellow employees to boot (and in boots).

We are looking forward to your feedback, and highly appreciate your past and future support in our endeavors. I’m all ears on how we can make this membership work better for all of our customers, and I thank you for patiently reading our side of the story. I hope I have encapsulated better what we are attempting to achieve with the SBS and the Sour Program in general.

Cheers,
Caleb

So:

• It's not a bad deal, it's just different than the fair deals other breweries have.
• We aren't really sure if the whole pre-sell/discount thing is illegal, but we'd rather just avoid looking into it further and do things this way
  
• Our brewery is really small and we make mistakes sometimes, but we have no problem promising 8 different sours to 500 people because we're better now
• Seriously, there is value in this. I promise.

 

[abecall98]

from 'the other site'




So:

• It's not a bad deal, it's just different than the fair deals other breweries have.
• We aren't really sure if the whole pre-sell/discount thing is illegal, but we'd rather just avoid looking into it further and do things this way
  
• Our brewery is really small and we make mistakes sometimes, but we have no problem promising 8 different sours to 500 people because we're better now
• Seriously, there is value in this. I promise.

Dude.... They still, don't get it.

 

[Boilerfood]

Dude.... They still, don't get it.

I think they do, I just think that there isn't much they feel they can do about it. Obviously, in hindsight, I am sure they would have scraped the idea entirely. Instead they came up with something they felt was fair value. Obviously most people disagreed. If you dont like it, dont buy it.

 

[MordorMongo]

from 'the other site'




So:

• It's not a bad deal, it's just different than the fair deals other breweries have.
• We aren't really sure if the whole pre-sell/discount thing is illegal, but we'd rather just avoid looking into it further and do things this way
  
• Our brewery is really small and we make mistakes sometimes, but we have no problem promising 8 different sours to 500 people because we're better now
• Seriously, there is value in this. I promise.

 

[abecall98]

I think they do, I just think that there isn't much they feel they can do about it. Obviously, in hindsight, I am sure they would have scraped the idea entirely. Instead they came up with something they felt was fair value. Obviously most people disagreed. If you dont like it, dont buy it.

Sure thing buddy. I also want to make a note that I hope other breweries take a look at this example of ******** and choose not to follow suit. If this is the future of beer societies, I don't want to drink anymore.

 

[sidetracked]

I think they do, I just think that there isn't much they feel they can do about it. Obviously, in hindsight, I am sure they would have scraped the idea entirely. Instead they came up with something they felt was fair value. Obviously most people disagreed. If you dont like it, dont buy it.

Where's the value in making someone pay for the ability to purchase something that they could have otherwise purchased anyway?

 

[abecall98]

Where's the value in making someone pay for the ability to purchase something that they could have otherwise purchased anyway?

******* nowhere, that's where you'll find the value.

 

[Rempo]

A big part of the benefit (since Indy loves expensive beer tastings) is the free tickets. With no dates announced and no 'free/paid beer', that's a lot of pressure on out-of-towners to be able to clear their calendar to attend the as-of-yet-unannounced-date event(s). Those of us here in town are likely able to buy these tickets separately if we wanted them. So what's left?

- Certificate (worthless, although maybe invaluable as a conversation starter)
- Glasses (awesome)
- Right to buy exclusive bottles
- Right to buy lottery bottles

Subtract out the certificate and glasses, and that's a lot of dough for the right to buy bottles. AND, if I wanted the right to buy lottery bottles, I could just have 20 non-beer friends enter the lottery.

I guess now we sit and wait to see how much pull possibly exclusive glassware and definitely exclusive bottles have on the beer community.

 

[Boilerfood]

I never said that I found any value in either, but it is what it is.

 

[abecall98]

A big part of the benefit (since Indy loves expensive beer tastings) is the free tickets. With no dates announced and no 'free/paid beer', that's a lot of pressure on out-of-towners to be able to clear their calendar to attend the as-of-yet-unannounced-date event(s). Those of us here in town are likely able to buy these tickets separately if we wanted them. So what's left?

- Certificate (worthless, although maybe invaluable as a conversation starter)
- Glasses (awesome)
- Right to buy exclusive bottles
- Right to buy lottery bottles

Subtract out the certificate and glasses, and that's a lot of dough for the right to buy bottles. AND, if I wanted the right to buy lottery bottles, I could just have 20 non-beer friends enter the lottery.

I guess now we sit and wait to see how much pull possibly exclusive glassware and definitely exclusive bottles have on the beer community.

What if the glasses come with beer inside them? That has to at least knock a few bucks of the $250, maybe even like half.