Russian River is making demands of store owners again

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SoCalBeerIdiot

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Just posted on Stearns' FB page:

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I understand why they'd make a fuss about refrigeration or even not hiding their beers in back, but what do they have against posting Pliny on social media? Someone please enlighten me.
 
Just posted on Vendome Toluca Lake's page, too:

As of today, we will no longer be posting Pliny on any social media anything nor announcing it's arrival to respect the wishes of the brewery and their distributor. We apologize for any inconvenience it may cause. The good news is, we still get it and it always goes on the shelf. When you see it, enjoy.
 
I mean, it DOES reward regulars rather than folks who just see a pic online and go "OMG PLINEY!!!!" and run into the story, only buy Pliny, and leave, until the next batch comes around...


but I don't see why Russian River would care about that. It may help get beer into regular customers' hands easier, but the best thing to do is low bottle limits so that some ****** doesn't go into a store and buy the entire allocation.

Because that's *****ey. No arguing. It is.
 
I don't get why anyone, especially this community specifically, cares about people not posting it on Social Media. We are all regulars at certain establishments and know when it comes anyway(I bought one today for the first time in a while, if i want to drink it I go get a pint at a bar). It cuts down on *****ey Pliny chasers who only buy Pliny and nothing else like falc0n2600 said.

I don't see why RR cares, but whatever.
 
I don't really care or care why they care. I'd love if they had Pliny (sorry, Pliiiiannnay) bottles when I visited the brew pub, but... what serious beer geek gives a **** at this point, especially in CA? There are dozens of equally-good IPAs out there now. Let the hipsters worry about this development.
 
*****ey Pliny chasers are probably who complained to the brewery, who then made this request. By the time said chasers saw the social media post, it was too late.

All this development does is favor the chasers that go the extra mile to figure out delivery times, maybe becoming good enough friends with the store employees to get a phone call tipping them off.

Meh.
 
I'm very curious as to why they care

They're egotists about their product. It's not a judgmental statement: they've shown they're very controlling about what they make, and they continually profess false surprise at how packed their brewery is even when they go to great lengths to create, advertise, and document the lines that build. These antics are not unexpected, and you will see similar things in the future.
 
Not backing RRBC, but I know of one shop that posts it, and if you go in 30 minutes later, they've say they sold out or have one left, and suggest buying something else, when in fact they are just being held in the back. I have that plus a few other issues with that store, so I skip it regardless. But that's more a store issue than a brewery's. Maybe RRBC just doesn't want to be used for bait and switching?
 
I heard they no longer allow menstruating into their Brewery. Can someone verify this?

In A.D. 77, the philosopher Pliny the Elder wrote that menstrual blood would make plant seeds infertile, kill insects, dull razors, and drive dogs insane—myths that lived on until the late 15th century. And as recently as the 1920s, menstruating women were banned from some churches for fear of “contamination,” and even from some wineries, due to a belief that they’d make the wine spoil.
 
They're egotists about their product. It's not a judgmental statement: they've shown they're very controlling about what they make, and they continually profess false surprise at how packed their brewery is even when they go to great lengths to create, advertise, and document the lines that build. These antics are not unexpected, and you will see similar things in the future.

I agree, but I think they have gotten better recently (especially since the Beatification release) at releasing beers without announcing/hyping them. Compunction, the Sonoma Pride beers, and Temptation all went on sale in the brewpub several days before updating their website, and the website updates before they happen to announce anything on Facebook.
 
They're egotists about their product. It's not a judgmental statement: they've shown they're very controlling about what they make, and they continually profess false surprise at how packed their brewery is even when they go to great lengths to create, advertise, and document the lines that build. These antics are not unexpected, and you will see similar things in the future.
They want it to be hyped but also be treated like any other product, which is pretty egotistical in a falsely humble kind of way.
 
I agree, but I think they have gotten better recently (especially since the Beatification release) at releasing beers without announcing/hyping them. Compunction, the Sonoma Pride beers, and Temptation all went on sale in the brewpub several days before updating their website, and the website updates before they happen to announce anything on Facebook.
They bottled Compunction? Have a photo? I can't find anything on the Googles.
 
I mean, it DOES reward regulars rather than folks who just see a pic online and go "OMG PLINEY!!!!" and run into the story, only buy Pliny, and leave, until the next batch comes around...

True, but it's still a net loss to both regulars and the occasional customer. There's a store near my work that I frequent regularly, but I will make a special trip during lunch or something if they've posted something I'm looking for on social media. My point is, regulars look to social media as well.
 
Noob question. Is it not technically illegal for the producer in a three-tier distribution system to dictate terms to the retailer?

It all depends on whether or not the distributor is willing to back the producer up. Russian River can't pull accounts from stores that don't comply, but if they have a better relationship with their distributor than the store does, it can be done that way.
 
Every bottle sells regardless of promotion or not, so I don't see the benefits of prohibition of posting it on social media. If I'm shopping I will usually ask if they have any, but with not much hope or care if they do or don't. If they do, I buy two bottles, the limit. My store gets two cases a month, and are gone within hours. It's good, but like arbitrator said, there is a LOT of great IPA's on the West Coast to choose from. I don't mind drinking it, and for $5 a bottle seems fair enough, so why not? I just don't chase it, if it's there, OK, if not, not a big deal. I remember the days when I felt like I hit the jackpot walking out with two bottles. Now? Just another couple bottles of beer!
 
They could solve a lot of their problems by expanding production, but that would be foolish, obviously.

As I recall, they wanted to expand but were unable to rent the property next to their production brewery so they could only expand a certain amount. And it's not that simple to just expand, anyway. They have said repeatedly that they are currently still not in complete control of their business and are in the process of buying out investors before they want to put any money into expansion, but they've also said they're not interested in expanding. Neither are the Alchemist or Hill Farmstead interested in expanding indefinitely and said they will stop expanding after a certain point (which neither have reached yet, but is not much larger than their current capacity).
 
It all depends on whether or not the distributor is willing to back the producer up. Russian River can't pull accounts from stores that don't comply, but if they have a better relationship with their distributor than the store does, it can be done that way.
Actually, they can, at least in NorCal. They self-distribute. Stone handles SoCal for them and follow brewery instructions carefully.
 
Actually, they can, at least in NorCal. They self-distribute. Stone handles SoCal for them and follow brewery instructions carefully.

Oh for sure, I was referring only to where they don't self-distribute. And as you said, sounds like Stone is more than willing to go along with whatever RR wants.
 
Oh for sure, I was referring only to where they don't self-distribute. And as you said, sounds like Stone is more than willing to go along with whatever RR wants.
Got it -- California's self-distribution rules are somewhat unique. I wasn't sure if you'd encountered them before.
 
It sort of makes sense in the way that you don't post on facebook when you're out partying the night when you told your buddy you couldn't go to his community theater production for some other reason.

I'm sure they get blow back when X store gets their order and post it on their social media from Y store wondering what the ****, Vin, why you not giving us our order today?!
 
Eh, I don't see a problem with it. Social Media has made it harder to get anything that comes out that is in demand anyways, I will just continue to stroll in my spots randomly and see what's up. Not expect the cool beers to be there, and just surprise myself if I do find something cool. I also don't think it is necessary to demand that stores don't post, but in the end, I really just don't care. I don't know who is really hurting from this decision either.

Out of respect for their wishes though, I will not post photos on social media of the growler I plan on soloing this week. I may forget and post anyways after my 2nd glass though.
 
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