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[TheDarkSide]

Is that Taco?

I thought this was Taco:

[Adam]

I love FLR - he spoke his mind, and he has every right to do so. That was brave of him, especially in this crowd.

Others think the same way, but don't have the history of the Old Guard as credentials. The sentiment is more respected from the Old Guard than from a guy like me that's only been around since 2010 or 2011.

First show I listened to was the show where Beevo called in from Hawaii drunk (not the one that led to hear pregnancy, before that). You made a joke about sand in her vagina with all sorts of vulgarity around it. I was shocked to say the least. Just not what I had in mind for a homebrewing podcast. Yes, I saw the "explicit" mark in iTunes. After that show I went back and Justin had a short story about how he met this girl that gave him a ride when his car broke down, they became friends, she died and named him in her will that he gets his teeth fixed because he was always self conscious about them. That's when I "got" the format. Fun up front, then down to business, then the meltdown. That's the hook.

I will say, though, that putting on The Session is way more work than simply showing up on Sunday (or Monday) and talking for 4 hours. That slacker mentality thing was perhaps the worst face we could have put forward, because it simply isn't true. We are working on so much crap behind the scenes - and have been for years - that it would blow your mind if you knew. So for us to have one week with no show is a perk that we give ourselves because we feel we deserve it.

Personally, I hate having two weeks off in a row. I love being on the radio, and I miss it dearly when we are not on. The idea of a Monday show has been around for awhile, and while I don't like them, it gives us all a rare chance to have a full weekend with the people in our lives - namely, our girlfriends. Sundays kind of suck, because you don't have a full weekend to do anything - if you go out of town you have to be back and at the studio by 4pm, which limits what you can do and where you can do it. When I go to Disneyland, we have to leave by 11am in order to do the show that night. Having a limited vacation time sucks, and after 6 years it puts a strain and a resentment on our significant others. So, I'm sorry to those of you who can't listen live on Mondays.

I've been an entrepreneur since 2006, sold the businesses I created, and am currently managing a couple more businesses that I've formed. I've been putting in 100+ hour work weeks for 6+ years, have a 6yo son and a 21 month old daughter, and have no days off. No vacations. The only time "off" I get is when I'm sleeping for the 6 hours I muster per night, on a good night. I know all about the work behind the scenes that the customers don't see. Entrepreneurship is about living your life like most people won't so you can spend the rest of your life like most people can't. Build wealth so you can enjoy money later. Trust me, I know what it takes to create and build a successful business. I'll be 32 in May and my body feels like I'm 50.

I got up at 9am this morning. My son was at school (wife gets him up and off to class) so I just had my daughter. Took care of my daughter from 9am to 3pm while I worked on business, then brought her down to the sitter. Went to work my full time job (to get health insurance) from 330p-1130p. I take "lunch" from 8pm-830pm with 5 minute travel time between work and home. I get to see my son and wife for 20 minutes per day during the week. Now I'm home and working on my business stuff after 330am. I have to be up at 7am in order to get the kids up so I can take my son in for his dentist appointment at 8am. I might get 3 hours of sleep tonight. Son goes back to school and it's me and my daughter until I have to go to work at the night job. I get to see my wife and son for 20 minutes a day 5 days a week. That's less than 2 hours a week during the workweek. Strain and resentment on our significant others you were saying? You see your SO a lot more than I see my son and wife. This year marks our 11th year together and 7th year in marriage.

If only we had a way of recording those shows and letting you listen at your leisure .... I'll look into it!

It's not so much the information and entertainment, it's the interaction. It's the chat room, the phone calls, etc. The BN had the total package at one time and now it's being lost.

The BN Army keeps growing, so we are doing something right. You can't please everyone - something we have learned years ago - and we keep doing our thing. If you don't like it, that's fine, I don't care. But please don't say that it's because we have stopped putting listeners first, it's insulting. I'll show you my bank account as proof that this is not the case.

Of course you can't please everyone, that's life. This concept was born of the homebrewing idea. When was the last time a homebrewing specific topic was discussed? Maybe the bit with Doc and Moscow about the big batch of beer, kolsch maybe, for Moscow's friend's wedding last year? McDole had a whirlpool hop utilization discussion in 2012 or maybe even 2011. For 2012, there were only 3-4 good shows. The rest were tolerable. I

[spiderwrangler]

You made a joke about sand in her vagina with all sorts of vulgarity around it. I was shocked to say the least.

Awwww... look at Mr. Gentle Cunt Punch and Mouth Rape acting all innocent and offended... unless it was JP that corrupted you.

[Adam]

You made a joke about sand in her vagina with all sorts of vulgarity around it. I was shocked to say the least.

Awwww... look at Mr. Gentle Cunt Punch and Mouth Rape acting all innocent and offended... unless it was JP that corrupted you.

No, shocked as in caught off guard, not offended. Vulgarity never offends me.

[JP]

Adam, That's great for you man, kudos for doing your own thing. I never said that we were special or better than you. All I said was that after 8 years, it's nice to get a full weekend. Don't like your lifestyle? Change it. Want to see your kid more? Then do it. We do.

[Brewcaster J]

I have provided moral, physical and monetary support for the BN even before recurring donations. When recurring donations started, I kicked in with $10 per month continuously for the last 5-6 years. I have more BN t-shirts, hats, hoodies, DVD's, glasses, etc. than I know what to do with. I have been an avid supporter almost since the beginning.

In about the last year or so, I have noticed that the BN has begun to increasingly ignore it's commitment to its listeners. First it was the introduction of off weeks. One per month was the stated decision and it grew from there - any excuse will do. Then it was the switch to the sort-of alternating Monday session. Justin has stated that the 5PM Pacific time on Sunday was carefully chosen to accommodate the most listeners. Now he is essentially saying, "Fuck that, I want more of my weekends off - screw the listeners". So sometimes the Session is Sunday, sometimes it's Monday, sometimes it's never. The listener has to try to figure that out himself without much help. For the last week the website was not updated from the previous week. The time for the Sunday session rolls around and there is still nothing up on the website indicating that there will be no Session for the week. The BN is jerking its listeners around and can't even bothered to let everyone know when there might be another session???

The Session message on the website is now, "The Brewcasters are committed to carrying the slacker torch, and will stay true to themselves by taking this Sunday off. The Session will return on March 10th with Magnolia Brewery founder Dave McLean, interviews with this year's AHA Governing Committee candidates, and much more. See you then!" I suppose it's supposed to be a cute message, unfortunately, I'm afraid it's just a non-humorous statement of fact.

I'm extremely happy that the BN has proven successful and that Justin has his self stated "dream job". I am, however, extremely disappointed that success has led to such an increasing lack of respect for the listener. I'm tired of being taken for a fool, I'm tired of being disrespected, I just cancelled my recurring donation.

Chris Bushman
Colfax, CA
FilmLabRat

Oh look, there's a thread here about this!

All jokes aside, sorry I missed this discussion until now. I think it's appropriate that I respond, and I'll do so on the show as well.

First, FilmLabRat, thank you for your generous support and contributions to the forum, the shows and the finances over the years. It has not gone unnoticed and I am forever greatful. Since your perception is that you have been taken advantage of lately, I'm glad you cancelled your recurring donation. I don't want anyone to pay their hard earned money to something that is not fulfilling their expectations. That said, I'd like to clarify a few untruths, even as the perception might be otherwise.

One is that we have not taken a day off since we moved into the new studio back in June, and even then it was due to not having the studio built in time for the scheduled show. I actually worked overnight and right up until cancellation the day of trying to finish, but it was just not to be given the amount of equipment that needed installation. I over-estimated my ability to get it done in the one-week time frame I was working with. I can, however, understand how it may be perceived that we are taking days off with the way the schedule works. Since we take one Sunday off a month, occasionally it's the last Sunday of one month and the first Sunday of the next, so it feels as though we have skipped a show, when in fact, we have not. Also, sometimes we do shows from events, like Celebrator a couple weeks ago, which may appear as an off day since we are not in the chat or taking calls, but are in fact twice the work and twice the time for us here at the BN, and a show still posts.

As for the alternating Monday Session, there should be some clarification there too. First is that I won't apologize for, after 7 years of working most weekends, wanting the occasional one back. The old argument that "well I work all the time so you should work all the time" is just that, old; from a previous generation. The fact is, I believe in working smarter, not harder. More efficiently, not more time consuming. And above all, not in place of living a joyful life. My parents (and probably your parents) did that shit and it didn't work any better for them than it does for people now. Life is very short and I've made most of my decisions to this point trying to make the best of it. After 7 years of working Sundays, having a Monday show when possible is just part of that. And it wasn't made with a "Fuck you listeners" attitude either. It was actually made after looking at the listener and download numbers and discovering that, aside from a few complaints, it didn't really matter to the vast majority of our listenership whether we did a show on Sunday or Monday. As a side note, it has also allowed us to attend more weekend events without having to take a day off and skip a show.

As for the slacker torch, just a brief response really. We have always joked about us being slackers, and in some ways we are. But mostly, it's just not fun, funny or good radio to talk about how hard we work and all the hours we spend behind the scenes making this little ship the best beer radio we can make it. Consider this the one time I clarify that this group is of the hardest working folks I have ever spent my time with and I am grateful for their efforts with little to no pay, while all the while I call them lazy slackers publicly for the sake of good radio.

Finally, we began taking one Sunday off per month because I was a one-man show back then and couldn't get all the work required to grow and do 4 shows per month. It has remained that way because we don't have enough sponsors or income to pay for a fourth show a month and folks, including me, had worked for free for too long for me to ask them to do it again. It will likely remain this way for some time.

What I will concede is that we have done a very poor job of informing you of all this. Our Monday shows and scheduled off weeks are actually not random at all and we typically know them, with few exceptions, about 4 months out. We have failed to publish an accurate schedule for you that you can look at and plan for and I am working to remedy that, especially now that I see how it has led to a perception of missed shows and random scheduling. Thank you for hammering the point home for me.

With all that, I'll finish by saying that it has never crossed anyone's mind here at the BN that we are, should or will take any of you for the fool. Rather, we are constantly searching for ways, within our meager budget, to better enhance your listener and member experience. We have certainly failed in some ways and I take full responsibility for that. But I assure you that we, at this very moment, are getting very good (again) at what we do and I hope you'll stick around to enjoy the latest phase of BN world domination, or as I like to call it, my dream job.

Thanks for all your input and comments BNARMY. And remember that we have always encouraged criticism, so don't be afraid to post it or shun those that do. Even the ones that are wrong

J

[EllisTX]

Adam, That's great for you man, kudos for doing your own thing. I never said that we were special or better than you. All I said was that after 8 years, it's nice to get a full weekend. Don't like your lifestyle? Change it. Want to see your kid more? Then do it. We do.

You take time off to look at Adam's kids? This shit just got more realer...


I bet Justin's secretary in his private jet typed that message as he dictated it.

[Dirk McLargeHuge]

Adam, That's great for you man, kudos for doing your own thing. I never said that we were special or better than you. All I said was that after 8 years, it's nice to get a full weekend. Don't like your lifestyle? Change it. Want to see your kid more? Then do it. We do.

You take time off to look at Adam's kids? This shit just got more realer...


I bet Justin's secretary in his private jet typed that message as he dictated it.

You said "dic".