Inexpensive group brew shipping?
- Thread starter icedmetal
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My two cents based on being in the lime group brew and some similar projects on other sites:
On the shipping method, there was a proposal in the lime mead exchange to use a central shipping point but a consensus never emerged and no one ever stepped up to volunteer.
A single shipping point presents a couple of significant problems: It's a lot of work for the point person. If that person drops out (and we had a lot of drop outs in the lime exchange including the organizer), we're back to having this discussion all over again. If a package disappears or gets run over by a truck or whatever someone's entire shipment is lost. I'm very sympathetic to the cost component but I'm also pretty risk averse and prefer shipping directly to other participants.
On bottle size, I'm okay with whatever gets decided. I like 750 ml bottles but can do 12 oz / 350 ml bottles if that's the decision.
On the shipping method, there was a proposal in the lime mead exchange to use a central shipping point but a consensus never emerged and no one ever stepped up to volunteer.
A single shipping point presents a couple of significant problems: It's a lot of work for the point person. If that person drops out (and we had a lot of drop outs in the lime exchange including the organizer), we're back to having this discussion all over again. If a package disappears or gets run over by a truck or whatever someone's entire shipment is lost. I'm very sympathetic to the cost component but I'm also pretty risk averse and prefer shipping directly to other participants.
On bottle size, I'm okay with whatever gets decided. I like 750 ml bottles but can do 12 oz / 350 ml bottles if that's the decision.
crowquill, if I'm the central person I can just pick up yours 
My batch is already started, I'm not dropping out, so unless my time on Earth runs out I'll be here to swap boxes around...
My batch is already started, I'm not dropping out, so unless my time on Earth runs out I'll be here to swap boxes around...
crowquill, if I'm the central person I can just pick up yours
I like that cost savings for me....
Just so I'm clear, I'm not saying I'm only doing the exchange if we are shipping directly to every other participant. I'm just raising my concerns so they can be considered in the final decision.
Crowquill,
I think my solution of shipping 2 or 3 (4 or 6 for 12 oz) additional bottles to the centralized shipper takes care of your concerns (both the effort of that person and the risk of lost/broken shipments).
As for drop outs, I'm sure there will be a couple. So yes we will have to have this discussion again at shipping time at least to ensure we are shipping the appropriate number of bottles.
So the central question really is: Is everyone agreeable to centralized shipping, given the condition that it will require sending a few extra bottles to the central shipper?
We can discuss who that centralized shipper will be and how many participants make it to the end closer to shipping time.
I think my solution of shipping 2 or 3 (4 or 6 for 12 oz) additional bottles to the centralized shipper takes care of your concerns (both the effort of that person and the risk of lost/broken shipments).
As for drop outs, I'm sure there will be a couple. So yes we will have to have this discussion again at shipping time at least to ensure we are shipping the appropriate number of bottles.
So the central question really is: Is everyone agreeable to centralized shipping, given the condition that it will require sending a few extra bottles to the central shipper?
We can discuss who that centralized shipper will be and how many participants make it to the end closer to shipping time.
I'm still in so far but I'll have to look into shipping stuff across the border. It's possible we may have to cheat a little bit and use wine bottles with the original labels still on and pretend it's not homemade... I found a lot of conflicting info while trying to figure it out yesterday.
Not entirely. If I ship multiple packages of a single bottle each and one gets damaged, I've lost one bottle which is fairly easy to replace. If I ship one package of multiple bottles and the package gets lost or damaged, I've lost multiple bottles which is much more difficult to replace.
If people are comfortable with that level of risk, okay. But it is a risk that should be considered. Mind you, I'm not saying that it's a high risk. I'm not aware of any packages that were lost or damaged in the lime mead exchange. I also get a lot of wine shipped from wine.woot and I've never had a damaged or lost shipment there either (but they do this professionally).
With that said, I think I've made my point about what I see as the risks are and it's just a question if the group is comfortable with it or not.
If a number of shipments get lost or broken and later I post a thread with pictures of my new mead cellar, don't anyone jump to any conclusions...>
In all honesty since I am on something of what is considered a fixed income I'd rather trade a little "sweat equity" for $$$ when it comes to shipping.
One other issue with a centralized shipper is the timing issue. Someone may have a mead that is ready at 6 months, where someone else has a sack strength dry batch that takes 2 years to mature. It is hard to get 14 batches ready and bottled at the same time. If the central shipper is waiting for everyone to get it bottled and sent, it may require sitting on 13 cases of mead for a long time.
Indeed. But I didn't REALLY want to add "bootlegger" to my resume!
As D.J. said, these are yeast samples. They happen to be living in something tasty, yes, but that is a mere bonus.
If folks weren't able to store their brew until some agreed upon date and then everyone ship at once (which would be optimal I think) there is room where I am planning to store this for many cases, although storing over a summer would be warm. Shouldn't be hard to get everything shipped to me between October and May though I'd guess...
I've had this thought as well. I plan on being out of the country next fall/winter too, so if my mead is not ready to be bottled by August 2011, it will sit in a carboy until at least March 2012 before I can get back to it. Some folks haven't started yet, so maybe that is ok.
I've also thought of dumping a box of mead onto a certain nearby person if my mead is bottled but we aren't shipping until I'm gone.
Here's an out-of-the-box thought: anyone planning on going to IMF 2012? Assuming there is one, folks going could bring mead in their bags & others could ship to CO, do the swap there. Probably more holes in this idea than merit, but hey it could work.
I agree that the centralized shipping is a logistical nightmare, but like I said we really have time to decide. Nothing will ship for at least year, so in the mean time put aside $4 a week.
Doesn't sound like much does it. In a year you've got $208. If these don't actually ship for 2 years, you could safely only put a $2/week and still have more than enough to make shipping costs. Consider it a long term investment in deliciousness.
Doesn't sound like much does it. In a year you've got $208. If these don't actually ship for 2 years, you could safely only put a $2/week and still have more than enough to make shipping costs. Consider it a long term investment in deliciousness.
Whatever we decide will be fine with me...I figure that however much it costs I'll be getting X bottles of mead that I could never get any other way!
I was just figuring on getting a bunch of single-bottle wine shippers and sending them out. But I'll go with whatever everyone decides to do!
I was just figuring on getting a bunch of single-bottle wine shippers and sending them out. But I'll go with whatever everyone decides to do!
