American Solera Society

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

pmoney

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2013
Messages
504
Reaction score
632
Location
Illinois
https://americansolera.com/products/american-solera-society-2016-2017

Who's excited to see what American Solera has in store for us?

Chase was at Vail Big Beers festival in January and spoke on the coolship and spontaneous fermentation panel. He brought Coolship Truck 2013, Western Culture Blend, and Western Culture Sherry Barrel Blend. All three were fantastic, and made joining his membership program a no-brainer.
 
Just signed up and am excited to get these beers as well. Looking for a trustee if anyone can help me out.
 
Anyone have any thoughts on Man-Made Earthquake, Holiday Open House and Old Dishoom? I really enjoyed MME, more than I thought I would since I'm not particularly a tripel fan. HOH was solid, but Dishoom was kind of a miss for me
 
Anyone have any thoughts on Man-Made Earthquake, Holiday Open House and Old Dishoom? I really enjoyed MME, more than I thought I would since I'm not particularly a tripel fan. HOH was solid, but Dishoom was kind of a miss for me

I thought MME was good - a little over-carbonated, but the flavor profile was excellent. HOH was a good first take on a BA barleywine, although I would have liked a little more body given the 13% ABV. I didn't buy any Old Dishroom.
 
I like getting a small pour of Old Dishoom every so often when I'm there, but 6oz is about the most I'd want in a sitting. I love that they're doing weird **** like this though. Enjoyed the other two, HOH slightly more.. just wish they did have done those in 375mls :mad:
 
I like getting a small pour of Old Dishoom every so often when I'm there, but 6oz is about the most I'd want in a sitting. I love that they're doing weird **** like this though. Enjoyed the other two, HOH slightly more.. just wish they did have done those in 375mls :mad:

True, 500mls of HOH was more than enough, couldn't imagine a 750ml. That's obviously a share bottle
 
17039145_1452659451413285_1643552149852577975_o.jpg


Digging the artwork on these labels
 
Looks like they are going to open up memberships for this year. Did everyone like it?
 
What were the member only bottles this year? I thought about doing this last year, but decided against it. On the fence about joining again.
 
Foeder Cerise 2x 375ml
Western Culture 2x 375ml
Sherry Barrel Western Cultere 2x 375ml
Raspbarrel 2x 375ml
Cranbarrel 2x 375ml
Bluebarrel 2x 375ml
Peach Fellowship 2x 375ml
Plum Fellowship 2x 375ml
Surcee 1x 750ml
 
Yes. A lot of people in the group are bitching about that fact. That's why they're going with "4 bottles of club exclusive beer" for the next round. I for one don't care either way, it's all good beer made by a dude who is passionate about brewing. If the club didn't buy the whole stock (they usually have the option to), why should Chase take a hit on the excess bottles?
 
Yes. A lot of people in the group are bitching about that fact. That's why they're going with "4 bottles of club exclusive beer" for the next round. I for one don't care either way, it's all good beer made by a dude who is passionate about brewing. If the club didn't buy the whole stock (they usually have the option to), why should Chase take a hit on the excess bottles?

The brewery's website doesn't hide that the society is just an option to prepay for a set of beers that will be available to the public.

I fail to understand why anybody would pay that price for the beers in the last society year. As much as I have seen, American Solera beers run an overpriced $14-16/bottle and the society averages out to $17/bottle. If you're just prepaying for what will be publicly available it should be at a discount, not a premium. I understand the society membership guarantees purchase but it doesn't seem most members consider that much of a luxury. (I understand you get a couple glasses and a discount in the taproom but really, how many society members spend enough time in the taproom to gain much value out of that discount?)
 
The brewery's website doesn't hide that the society is just an option to prepay for a set of beers that will be available to the public.

I fail to understand why anybody would pay that price for the beers in the last society year. As much as I have seen, American Solera beers run an overpriced $14-16/bottle and the society averages out to $17/bottle. If you're just prepaying for what will be publicly available it should be at a discount, not a premium. I understand the society membership guarantees purchase but it doesn't seem most members consider that much of a luxury. (I understand you get a couple glasses and a discount in the taproom but really, how many society members spend enough time in the taproom to gain much value out of that discount?)

Not sure, but I know I sure as hell don't, as I live in Houston. That said, seems like ~30% are local, so they could see some benefits that I don't. One interesting thing for me is, as a member, Chase gives the opportunity to drive what beers are actually made. While he probably has a pipeline for all the offerings, the group gets to select which ones come first and end up as member beers.

Some offerings like Surcee are pretty much member only, or limited availability in the taproom, so I wouldn't be able to get that one otherwise.

Still, it's an expensive club. I put money into it because I think Chase is a good brewer that needed some start-up money for a new project. Hopefully he churns out some BA stouts into the club since we all know he's pretty good at those
 
As a first-year member who does not plan to renew, I'll weigh-in with my thoughts as that might help others make the decision about joining.

Value-wise, for the $300 membership, I feel like I got what I was promised, and I got my money's worth. However, I was less than impressed with a number of the offerings, and going forward, I wouldn't want to pre-pay again for that caliber of beer. My favorite beers he released were Raspbarrel and Peach Fellowship. Both of those are fantastic, and are the kind of beers I'd seek-out and even trade for. But some of the beers he "pawned off" on us as members (I've seen numerous people make this comment, and it's not untrue) were not impressive. Sherry Barrel Western Culture was flat. Literally still....with very little acidity, complexity, or flavor. That one pissed me off. And some of the fruits were fine, but not great (Apricot Fellowship, Plum Fellowship, etc). The way I recently explained it to my buddy is this: it's kind of like shelf Almanac beers. Consistently good, but nothing overly impressive. I might buy a couple every now and then, and I like the fact that they're always available, but I wouldn't shell-out $300 to pre-purchase them not knowing what I was getting.

The thing that irritated me the most is the (in some ways) complete lack of communication and (in some ways) obnoxious over-communication. And I'm referring to the members-only FB group. I wish there was more talk about Chase's processes, thought behind his beers, updates on what's in the pipeline, and more clarity about what beers he is planning for us to receive. That's how you get people to connect with you, your brewery, your beer, and to get that "family" feel. I seemed like after the first members' release, everything else was just sort of on a whim regarding what would be a members' beer and what wouldn't. And I can't comprehend why they need to post in the FB group EVERY SINGLE DAY asking who is picking up bottles. That drives me nuts! Just institute a policy where members need to email you at least one day before picking up allocations. Boom. Done.

With all of that said, I think they made a good choice to have ACTUAL exclusive beers for members this year. As opposed to including beers in our membership that they then sell in the taproom for the next 10 months and distribute all over the country.

TLDR: Some negatives outweighed the positives for me and I don't plan to renew. Hopefully the detail helps.

EDIT: Oh, and the quality of the labels and artwork is absolutely awesome. Keep that up for sure, as they're some of the best out there right now.
 
As a first-year member who does not plan to renew, I'll weigh-in with my thoughts as that might help others make the decision about joining.

Value-wise, for the $300 membership, I feel like I got what I was promised, and I got my money's worth. However, I was less than impressed with a number of the offerings, and going forward, I wouldn't want to pre-pay again for that caliber of beer. My favorite beers he released were Raspbarrel and Peach Fellowship. Both of those are fantastic, and are the kind of beers I'd seek-out and even trade for. But some of the beers he "pawned off" on us as members (I've seen numerous people make this comment, and it's not untrue) were not impressive. Sherry Barrel Western Culture was flat. Literally still....with very little acidity, complexity, or flavor. That one pissed me off. And some of the fruits were fine, but not great (Apricot Fellowship, Plum Fellowship, etc). The way I recently explained it to my buddy is this: it's kind of like shelf Almanac beers. Consistently good, but nothing overly impressive. I might buy a couple every now and then, and I like the fact that they're always available, but I wouldn't shell-out $300 to pre-purchase them not knowing what I was getting.

The thing that irritated me the most is the (in some ways) complete lack of communication and (in some ways) obnoxious over-communication. And I'm referring to the members-only FB group. I wish there was more talk about Chase's processes, thought behind his beers, updates on what's in the pipeline, and more clarity about what beers he is planning for us to receive. That's how you get people to connect with you, your brewery, your beer, and to get that "family" feel. I seemed like after the first members' release, everything else was just sort of on a whim regarding what would be a members' beer and what wouldn't. And I can't comprehend why they need to post in the FB group EVERY SINGLE DAY asking who is picking up bottles. That drives me nuts! Just institute a policy where members need to email you at least one day before picking up allocations. Boom. Done.

With all of that said, I think they made a good choice to have ACTUAL exclusive beers for members this year. As opposed to including beers in our membership that they then sell in the taproom for the next 10 months and distribute all over the country.

TLDR: Some negatives outweighed the positives for me and I don't plan to renew. Hopefully the detail helps.

EDIT: Oh, and the quality of the labels and artwork is absolutely awesome. Keep that up for sure, as they're some of the best out there right now.

I mostly agree. For me, I don't have a Facebook, and convinced my wife to let me use her account to sign up for the members only page. I don't frequent it very often, but when I did, I was able to gloss over the fluff for some of the more interesting content. Maybe it's a good thing I'm not constantly getting updates about "5/4/17 Pickups?"
 
Hey, I decided to take the plunge and snag a membership this year. I would need a proxy and am wondering if any of you kind ladies or gents would be willing to help me out? Shoot me a message and we can work out details. Thanks!
 
I did end up renewing (split with a buddy again), and my brother ended up joining also (splitting with two friends). I'm glad at the new format because I was disappointed that we were promised member only beer, which in the end only was 2 different beers (Sucree- which I haven't had yet, and cranbarrel which was ok but not my favorite.)

Had raspbarrel been available to only members we would have bought all the bottles, it was great. I also loved bluebarrel, foeder cerise, and apricot fellowship.

Have not yet had any of the bottled beers released in the last 1 months or so, although I just got them in. Bright Black Delight, cranbarrel, plum fellowhsip, foeder gold were all good beers and I was happy with them. I'm looking forward to Farm Truck. The other sours and the western cultures I was disappointed. I haven't drank any of the non-fruited beers yet that I have not mentioned, but have one bottle of them all. I will hold comment on them.

I was also a bit disappointed in what we were told about distribution. I then think Chase's wife attempted to walk back her comments, then just stopped responding while some of the bro's in the group just started throwing around "butthurt" and "snowflake" to defend the fact that they basically gave us wrong information.

Overall, the beers that I had that were great is enough for me to do this another year. I think they will just get better and no one should expect that every beer a brewery makes is going to be a winner. I still got first ability to get any bottled beer they had, so even though they sold in store I don't live there so this was an easier way to get them.

For me, the money issue was a bit of a wash. I was disappointed that in most respects I ended up paying slightly more for the bottles, but the online ordering made it worthwhile for me. I never got to visit the brewery this year, but still happy with the value.

I'm also always happy to share any American Solera beers with anyone in Austin who wants to try them.
 
I did end up renewing (split with a buddy again), and my brother ended up joining also (splitting with two friends). I'm glad at the new format because I was disappointed that we were promised member only beer, which in the end only was 2 different beers (Sucree- which I haven't had yet, and cranbarrel which was ok but not my favorite.)

Had raspbarrel been available to only members we would have bought all the bottles, it was great. I also loved bluebarrel, foeder cerise, and apricot fellowship.

Have not yet had any of the bottled beers released in the last 1 months or so, although I just got them in. Bright Black Delight, cranbarrel, plum fellowhsip, foeder gold were all good beers and I was happy with them. I'm looking forward to Farm Truck. The other sours and the western cultures I was disappointed. I haven't drank any of the non-fruited beers yet that I have not mentioned, but have one bottle of them all. I will hold comment on them.

I was also a bit disappointed in what we were told about distribution. I then think Chase's wife attempted to walk back her comments, then just stopped responding while some of the bro's in the group just started throwing around "butthurt" and "snowflake" to defend the fact that they basically gave us wrong information.

Overall, the beers that I had that were great is enough for me to do this another year. I think they will just get better and no one should expect that every beer a brewery makes is going to be a winner. I still got first ability to get any bottled beer they had, so even though they sold in store I don't live there so this was an easier way to get them.

For me, the money issue was a bit of a wash. I was disappointed that in most respects I ended up paying slightly more for the bottles, but the online ordering made it worthwhile for me. I never got to visit the brewery this year, but still happy with the value.

I'm also always happy to share any American Solera beers with anyone in Austin who wants to try them.

Pretty much agree on all points. Hoping to see more Raspbarrel and Foeder Cerise, both were great. Hopefully Surcee lives up to the high price tag (and placeholder of 2 beers in our allotment). I wouldn't mind having a few BA stouts thrown in for this round as well.

I thought Bright Black Delight was one of the most blackberry-forward beers I'd ever had. They did a good job capturing the essence of the fruit with that one.
 
Returning member for 2017/2018 and I am not on FB. Can anyone shed some light on the Year One Blend?

 
Easy choice for me to renew!!! Bluebarrel b1 was best blueberry beer I have ever had. Surcee was really good and haven't had passion yet (all members only beers). I think year 2 will be better than year 1, Its a 50/50 chance I'll be right on this one. My only regret from year one is not winning a large format lottery.
 
I am really looking forward to trying this.

23244563_1717597711586123_2063994305039399090_n.jpg

Sons of Darkness
750mL
We brewed a 16% Imperial Stout with our bud Drew at 18th Street Brewery and aged it in Woodford Reserve barrels. Label art by Chase Healey.

Available online for 24 hours only starting 11.22.17 at 12:00 p.m. CST.

LIMIT 1 PER PERSON.

Pick-up window: November 22 - January 20

Any remaining bottles will be up for sale on Black Friday at RiverWest.
 
Does anyone have any info on the next members only release? I'm not on the FB group.

peach fellowship. Not sure why it has not been announced and released yet however (I guess just not tasting right yet) as they said it would happen during thanksgiving.
 
Back
Top