Shooting Creek Brewery Community Supported Ales

Shooting Creek Brewery is putting the final touches on an online sales system that will allow customers to pick up orders at local retailers. From their recent newsletter:

Now let's talk about this CSA program (Community Supported Ales) we've been threatening to unleash on society. We're no longer in the talking stages. That's right, we've graduated to the next level. Right now our shopping cart is being built and will hopefully be integrated with the website in the next couple of weeks. This is going to allow our members to click on the product you want, and receive a delivery of ale at a designated drop site near you.

Each drop site will have its own manager who will be responsible for verifying I.D. and distributing orders to the members as they arrive during the specified time frame. Additionally, the drop site manager will be tasked with providing the location in which the beer will be stored and distributed. The main criteria for the site is that it needs to be enclosed and able to be secured in the event that someone fails to pick up their order. Drop site managers will be compensated with a rebate and an additional incentive will be offered should sales meet or exceed designated price.

I thought this was an interesting concept which will serve to put the beer into more hands. I contacted Shooting Creek Manager Jason Anderson for more details. Jason tells me that the drop sites themselves will not function as a retail establishments, but as designated areas for retail members to come and pick up their pre-purchased orders of ale. Shooting Creek still has some work to do on the system, but they are going to begin with about a half dozen sites. The distribution will be limited to their local area. (Remember, Shooting Creek is prohibited from on-site sales.) Unfortunately, Fredericksburg is too far away to be included in the CSA program.