(San Marcos, CA) – The end of The Lost Abbey Sinners and Saints Clubs has come.
Though it may only be a temporary ending, it is likely that the club won’t operate in the same way that it has for the foreseeable future.
Lost Abbey Marketing Monkey, Sage Osterfeld, says that the brewery may re-open the club with a pickup-only option similar to how The Bruery is doing it next year. The possibility of in-state shipments is being discussed. Osterfeld notes, “But since 90%+ of the members were from out of state, it would be a very different club. The original concept was to get our beers into the hands of folks who aren’t in our distribution areas.”
Why did the brewery cancel the program in the first place? Here’s the crux of it per today’s blog post on LostAbbey.com.
“It’s been a tough few years for states economically and that’s caused direct-to-consumer-shipment regulations to turn into a constantly shifting landscape which has us adding and/or removing states from the do/don’t shipment mix as we attempt to comply with all the various laws and rulings. Other regulatory burdens and reporting issues have also compounded our troubles in complying with all the demands each state places upon alcohol producers. As a result we have concluded that operating the Sinners and Saints clubs was, at best, a risky venture, and our best course of action was to simply suspend the clubs until a more favorable environment presents itself.
We apologize for the delay as we realize that many of you use the Sinner’s and Saints programs as Christmas Gifts (lucky those people who got a membership in their stocking). Sorry to be the bearer of such bad news. On the upside, David and Ruby still call Lost Abbey home and we’re actively pursuing angles that will allow the clubs to rise from the ashes in a new form in the near future. Keep an eye out for an announcement some time in early 2011.”
I live in San Diego. I joined Patron Saints when it first launched in 2007 and continued with the Patron Sinners into 2009. My departure from the club was a combination of factors: a severe lack of quality control (infected or flat beers), customer service (Lost Abbey was not friendly when confronted about quality control), and priority (Lost Abbey often released PS beers to distributors before PS members). However, I cannot understate the impact that the brewery’s arrogance and attitude toward its customers had on my decision. I was burned many times and wasted lots of money on that club. I won’t miss it.
Sorry to see it go…I enjoyed my participation in the club, got to try a lot of great beers during my membership, and any communication I ever had was prompt and courtious thanx to dear Ruby. Best of luck folks, though, I don’t think you’ll be needing it…
Cheers.
P.s. Anonymity is for cowards.
Hmm Mr. Burger a person is a coward for choosing anonymous. It seems you forgot that most everyone behind their computers on the Interweb is basically “anonymous”.
P.S. I love burgers and that is why I have changed my name to BurgerEater
Hey, that’s great, you took a stand…good for you. I don’t care what anyone says, you’re alright.
I will miss this club… it did have its ups and downs but overall my experience for the past 3 yrs that I was in it was a good one. The flip side is that now virutally all of their beers are offered here in IL! LOL There will undoubtedly be limited beers that wont make it here though. I will just have to enjoy the beer that I still have left in the cellar from them.