Author: Marshall Schott
Whoowee, have we been busy! With so much going on, we’ve been forced to temporarily shift our focus, but not too much. We maintain our commitment to publishing new xBmt results every Monday as well as something a little different ever Thursday. If you’ve been wondering where The Hop Chronicles have been, fear not, we’ve got some going right now and will be getting back to publishing them more regularly very shortly. Today, I wanted to address a few issues that have come up over the last few months, present some new stuff, and beg you to take a short survey.
Survey Time!
Please take 2-3 minutes to complete this brief survey regarding perceptual abilities. The data is anonymous and the results will be made available very soon. It isn’t crazy long like last year’s Modern Homebrewer survey, I promise, there are only 7 questions.
SURVEY NO LONGER ACTIVE – RESULTS COMING SOON!
Update On Vent-Matic Faucet Review
There are times in life when decisions are made with good intentions yet end up resulting in problems. When it comes to product reviews, many are aware of my less-than-conventional approach, basically that I’ll only publish reviews of products I truly believe are great while refusing to publish negative reviews. This isn’t to be sneaky or manipulative, though I understand it’s a philosophy that some view as slanted in some way. I’m okay with. I don’t see the point in talking shit and would prefer to invest my energy in being positive, both in brewing and in life. Unfortunately, things don’t always go as planned…
In October of last year, I published a review for Vent-Matic faucets. As is the case with every product review we do on Brülosophy, I didn’t just accept the product in exchange for promotion, but spent quite a bit of time going back-and-forth with the owner, investigating the company, and going over other users’ reviews. After a 2 hour phone call, I agreed to try the faucets out and thought they were truly amazing, a sentiment I continue to feel today. The review, well, it sort of blew up, which neither Vent-Matic nor I expected. Within hours, they had depleted nearly all of their stock. I was stoked for them and for all the customers who I trusted would be receiving badass faucets. Some did, but sadly, many didn’t.
Over the following couple of months after publishing the review, I began to field complaints from people who received faucets of obviously lesser quality than what I got, folks who reported negative interactions with Vent-Matic customer service, and a few who simply never received the product they paid for. I personally reached out to Vent-Matic and was assured the problems with quality were being worked out, that they were seeking a new American manufacturer to make the quality product I reviewed, and that they would soon be able to keep up with demand. Things seemed to quiet down a bit, just a few trickling complaints, then suddenly over the last few weeks, an uptick. People reporting similar problems as before. Again, I emailed Vent-Matic, only this time I received no response, so I emailed them again 2 weeks later, this time explaining I would be forced to publicly address the issue for integrity’s sake if I didn’t hear back from them within a reasonable amount of time. That was nearly 2 weeks ago. So, this is me addressing the issue publicly.
I cannot comfortably recommend purchasing Vent-Matic faucets at this time. Despite my wonderful experience with their product, the unpredictable quality and lack of communication has brought me to this point. Plus, their website appears to have gone down anyway. A commenter on the review article recently mentioned hearing back from the folks at Vent-Matic who said they were working on the website as well as a new faucet style, one Brad had told me about last year. While I’ve yet to hear anything of this sort, I truly hope it’s accurate and look forward to seeing Vent-Matic come back strong so that others can experience the great quality pours I have been.
Until then, if you’re in the market for quality faucets, I would recommend Perlick 630SS, which I’ve used on a couple recent builds. They work great and sell for $39.99 at both MoreBeer and Adventures In Homebrewing.
I apologize for any issues anyone experienced as a result of my review. It will remain on the site with a disclaimer, which will be removed once I’ve regained confidence in Vent-Matic.
What The Hell Is That?!
Not many, but a few people have asked about the recent introduction of ads on the site. Yep, I went there, kinda had to given the costs of running this gig. I know some people view this as the epitome of evil, a sure sign I’ve sold out, which I can sort of relate with. I love doing this, more than I ever imagined, but I honestly had no clue how expensive it would get. So, oh well. If you abhor ads, download a blocker; if you appreciate what we’re doing and want to support our cause, consider allowing the ads on this site. It’s not much, but every little bit helps us bring you the content we do. If you see something other than words below this line, your support is very much appreciated! If not, cheers, we love you all the same 🙂
UPDATE: I’ve received quite a few recommendations to start a Patreon account, primarily from those who want to support Brülosophy while avoiding ads. I went ahead and setup an account with a few different reward levels, for those who are interested. Thank you!
SUPPORT VIA PATREON
Brülosophy T-Shirt, The Motto is Silent
We just launched an adapted version of the standard Brülosophy t-shirt on Teespring that does not have the motto. The idea for this comes from my wife who not only doesn’t drink beer, but spends a decent portion of her time in situations less conducive to overtly beer related attire, yet wants to wear a shirt. Available in 9 colors, be sure to select the one you prefer. Check it out!
Rad Contest Starting Soon!!
Over the last week, I’ve been working with a few of our sponsors who offer some of the most badass brewing equipment out there. We’ve decided to run a contest on the Brülosophy Facebook page where not just 1, but 3 very lucky people are going to win truly incredible prize packages. Entering couldn’t be any easier, all you have to do is help us get the word out about the contest by liking and sharing the post with others. That’s it. At the end of the contest, 3 (maybe more) winners will be chosen at random. I’ll be revealing all of the details when the contest is announced, so if you like the rad gear you’ve seen featured in so many of our articles, I strongly encourage you to go follow Brülosophy on Facebook right now so you don’t miss this killer opportunity!
Let’s Hang Out
If you haven’t already, go register for HomebrewCon 2016 right now. My excitement for this awesome meeting of the brewing minds grows with every passing day, I can’t wait for all the beer tasting, people meeting, crop dusting, karaoke singing (if we’re lucky), and seminar attending! And I mean it, if you’re going, I’d love to meet you. If you’re wearing a Brülosophy shirt, I’ll even give you a hug… ehh, I’ll hug you anyway. Cheers!
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18 Ideas to Help Simplify Your Brew Day
7 Considerations for Making Better Homebrew
List of completed exBEERiments
How-to: Harvest yeast from starters
How-to: Make a lager in less than a month
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10% Off Chapman Equipment ThermoBarrels using code: THINKBEERDRINKBEER03
Brand New 5 gallon ball lock kegs discounted to $75 at Adventures in Homebrewing
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Sale and Clearance Items at MoreBeer.com
If you enjoy this stuff and feel compelled to support Brulosophy.com, please check out the Support Us page for details on how you can very easily do so. Thanks!
35 thoughts on “Brief Survey, New Shirt, and Some Updates”
Can’t wait for Homebrew Con. I’ll probably be wearing a homebrew club shirt but that works out since I’m not a big hug-ger. I”ll be sure to use the Amazon and Morebeer associated links and I buy a lot of shit from both so hopefully that will help.
Just wanted to clarify it’s the link for this post you want people to share on facebook for the sponsors contest?
Thanks for the great blog. Keep it up!
Oh, I’ll hug you regardless, I’m a HUGGER!
NO– I want you to follow the Brülosophy FB page (http://facebook.com/brulosophy) then when I announce the contest, simply like and share that post. It’s really that simple 🙂
Cheers!
AdBlocker absolution is conveniently given through Patreon support. Would you mind opening a Patreon page, so that the dollars I don’t give you through my ad-saturated eyes can still get into your pocket?
Ah! I had to get back to that page to learn about your Patreon page! Maybe you should advertise it a tad bit more? Cheers!
Honestly, I need to completely rethink the rewards and how I want to set it up, once that’s set, I’ll add a permanent link to the site. Cheers!
Sure, do that! And as your schedule is pretty much set, you may think about going the “monthly support” way. This is, in a way, less frightening, as people thus know how much they give without worrying that you may all of a sudden DOUBLE the amount of articles, and thus receive double the stipend (there is an option to put a “monthly upper limit” already, but it’s more about the mental barrier). Happy cashing in!
Also: at the 5$ level, Patreon asked me for my address, which is not needed. Maybe you missed a tick saying that there’s no need for shipping at that level?
I am blown away by some of these results. Namely the low # of respondents endorsing podcasts as where they learn from. Crazy interesting stat there. As a fellow homebrew blogger I guess we still have it where it counts.
Results from the Modern Homebrewer survey from last year? I have to believe it’s at least slightly skewed since I promoted the survey almost wholly online; had it been promoted on podcasts, perhaps that number would have been higher. Either way, I’m with you, it’s fascinating!
Ads are how we get things for “free.” You’ve gotta pay money to run this site, and that has to come from somewhere.
I’m not a huge fan, but ignoring an ad isn’t too hard for me to do. But please, never do pop-ups.
Indeed, thanks for your understanding.
You were white listed from my ad blocker after reading a few articles. It’s literally the least I can do to support you and all the wonderful information you provide.
Cheers, dude, I appreciate the support!
I couldn’t finish the survey because, while I know what the flavors are that you included, I don’t know how good I am at identifying them. Adding “I don’t know” as an option for each would allow me to finish the survey.
What’s this?! = I don’t know
Sorry, I was thinking of the wrong question. We intentionally left and “I don’t know” option off because we wanted people to rank what they think about themselves. “I don’t know” provides no useful data. Thanks for the thought, either way. Cheers!
I don’t think your less-than-conventional approach on reviewing is bad. I have a friend who is well know in the sailing world and does a lot of writing and reviewing for various sailing magazines and that is his approach as well. If a product works great, he will speak highly of the product, if it does not, he will not publish anything bad about it. Hopefully Vent-Matic will get it together, I was looking forward to giving one of their faucets a try.
Is it a Lake Wobegon test?
Sorry, “Lake Wobegon Effect” test is what I meant.
Very common on internet forums – everyone’s the smartest!
…aka illusory superiority. The majority of people rate their ability as higher than average, which is impossible when the ability follows the normal distribution (bell curve).
…aka Dunning-Kruger Effect 🙂
🙂 Look forward to the results. It sounds like the right diagnosis for most homebrewers.
Ma, that Homebrewcon looks awesome!
It’s times like this I wish I lived in america….
In saying that we recently had our first ever National Homebrew conference here in Little old New Zealand, good times were had. Tasty John Palmer and Andy Mcnab came for a visit and did sometalks etc.
I was invited to speak at your conference, but alas, I couldn’t make it 🙁
I can’t wait to see how many people say they are super tasters, and could’ve picked out the different beer in every single experiment.
I’m a supertaster (supposedly), but I doubt I could tell a difference on any but the mineral experiments. Could be my bias; I boil pils for 60 and not 90 minutes, don’t panic if I miss my mash temp by a couple of degrees, and ferment everything (002, 029, 051, 1084, US-05) at 19 degrees C without detecting esters (fusels and phenols though… WLP500 I’m looking at you… the one time I wished I had temp control). I’m not so sure that people don’t taste “fruity” and automatically think ester when in fact it is something from the particular combo of malt and hops they are using. Either that, or maybe I’m not much of a supertaster. It’s quite possible.
And Marshall, don’t worry about the ads. You guys are providing all of us with a wealth of information for free. I can deal with an ad for kegs or whatnot. Not sure about the one for dating “hot single Asian women” though, or maybe that’s just on my computer. Who knows what my kids have been looking at?
Were you tested, genetically?
Could’nt reply to you, so I’ll reply to myself. No, just standard highschool stuff (the disgustingly bitter compound on the paper strip, number of tastebuds per x amount of area) hence “supposedly”. I always thought I had a decent palate, but every time my wife was pregnant she could probably tell you if the Brewer had a beard or was clean shaven. Serious superpowers.
That’s the test. Usually the gene (TAS2R38) is tested for via taste strips of PROP or PTC. To me they were like strong bitter collard greens – yet not offensive.
Shh… tomorrow morning 🙂
Concerning Vent-matic, I discovered yesterday that they have taken down their Facebook page as well… This doesn’t smell very good…
I have three Vent-matic faucets from December that don’t leak, but function like an old farm truck transmission. I’m phasing them out for Perlicks as I have the $$’s.
I’m curious if anyone has had any luck with Paypal on getting refunded for just poor quality product?
Did not try yet. Was waiting for a response from them. Got this yesterday evening:
“We will be sending you new tower O-rings kits as well as a rebuild kit.
You should have it in about three days after we get your mailing address form you.”
Wait and see…
I just heard back from Paypal, and after filing a dispute against the purchase I made in December, they just ruled in my favor and refunded me the full cost of the faucets (none of which are in service anymore). It took a number of weeks to process, because they give everyone time to respond before making a decision.
Good option for anyone who is still within the Paypal dispute period.
Justin, do you think you could leave me your email? I tried to open a standard dispute last month, but I was a couple of days too late, so they just closed my request. I will call Paypal directly, but I think it could help if I have another customer who was refunded for the same product from the same seller.
You can send me you email directly to mine: patrick.beaumont … at gmail.com
Thanks!