Drinking Beer in Charlotte

[go_vertical]

So I just stopped into my brother's restaurant and was able to talk to the Triple C delivery driver who happend to pull in while I was there. He didn't have a ton of detailed information but did say that the owners don't want to make a big spectacle of the whole thing although they are quite annoyed about it. They are hoping for an amicable resolution to it. His opinion was that they might go so far as to possibly rename their seasonal if the guy from Blue Blaze maintains course and doesn't let up. It sounds like they don't see the time, money, and effort worth it for a seasonal (that last sentence was my thoughts, not what was said).

[CLTProductions]

Good for you to have that conversation.  Cheers to the high road!

 

Have they decided to jettison the names and do the right thing?

Well the thing is.....they went through a 2 year process to actually trademark the names (something in all honesty....3C and NoDa should have done) so I doubt they will abandon the names. They are working it out with the owners of the 2 breweries respectively though.

 

Also no legal action is being taken....they are settling it amicably, no bad blood.

Edited June 25, 2015 by Jayvee

[kermit]

Well the thing is.....they went through a 2 year process to actually trademark the names (something in all honesty....3C and NoDa should have done) so I doubt they will abandon the names.

 

OK, so our local players have been remiss at submitting trademark applications becuase they have been too busy brewing beer. However, the situation suggests to me that the upstart (Blue Blaze) has demonstrated little respect for two of our established bewers -- they certainly could have given Triple C and NoDa a courtesy call when they produced the 'infringing' beers if the trademark application had already been filed.

 

While the misunderstanding may get written off as 'just business' and Blue Blaze technically did the 'right' thing, it will make it awfully hard to welcome the new guy to what was, until now, a very amiable community.

[CLTProductions]

OK, so our local players have been remiss at submitting trademark applications becuase they have been too busy brewing beer. However, the situation suggests to me that the upstart (Blue Blaze) has demonstrated little respect for two of our established bewers -- they certainly could have given Triple C and NoDa a courtesy call when they produced the 'infringing' beers if the trademark application had already been filed.

 

While the misunderstanding may get written off as 'just business' and Blue Blaze technically did the 'right' thing, it will make it awfully hard to welcome the new guy to what was, until now, a very amiable community.

How old is Ghost Hop and White Blaze? 

 

I see both sides, I don't think Blue Blaze had any malicious intent. They seem like some dudes that just wanna make some beer and serve the community. 

Edited June 25, 2015 by Jayvee

[NeverSummer]

I'm not sure about Ghost Hop, but I do know that Triple C has been brewing White Blaze for at least two Winter seasons.  Furthermore, why would Chris over at Triple C have tweeted that their lawyer was involved if no attorneys were in the mix?  We then hear that a Triple C delivery guy says his brewery is considering dropping the name if Blue Blaze does't let up. (?!?!)  

 

My two cents, for what they are worth, land on Blue Blaze being in the wrong here.  I don't mean legally, I mean ethically.  

 

I did a search on twitter and saw that way back in autumn of last year, Ford (of Cheers Charlotte podcast fame) tweeted to both breweries a tongue-in-cheek remark about a 'White Blaze' collaboration.  They may have been nice when playing damage control, but IMO Blue Blaze's actions are pretty hostile.

[ah59396]

Trademarking a craft beer just seems lame, especially when you know a local brewery already uses it. It seems like the type of industry that can sit down together as a community, have a pint and figure crap out.

Blue Blaze could have simply done their basic homework and said "hey, we are the new guys on the block, let's not be assholes about this and find a different name for our beer" I.e. "Snow Blaze" or "Cloud Blaze" or "Wit Blaze" even. It's not that damn hard.

I could have told them 2 years ago when they were filing their paperwork that this was a bad idea. I'm sure it wasn't malicious, but still stupid.

All that said, I don't want any local business startup to fail, especially in our awesome brewing industry. So I'll reserve judgment on them beyond minor UP griping until they hash this out. I'm going to send some positive vibes towards Blue Blaze. Happy thoughts!

Edited June 26, 2015 by ah59396

[NeverSummer]

This has become a bit of a strange side hobby over the past two days.  On the upside, I am learning more about trademarks than I ever anticipated.

 

White Blaze was first added to untappd as a Triple C beer on December 5, 2012.

UNTAPPD

 

The White Blaze trademark application was filed by Blue Blaze Brewing on October 17, 2014.

TRADEMARK

[go_vertical]

Just for disclosure:

The delivery guy said that about letting the name go stating that it was his opinion. I didn't get the impression at all that he had overheard that being said from anyone in charge over at 3C. It really could be that they might not have a whole lot of legal recourse here which is why they may not want to drag this out, I have no idea. I do agree that this is a crap move from Blue Blaze and if they want to maintain a good standing within the community then they should come up with a new name and end these shenanigans. If they do continue down this road then I for one will not give their products a try simply out of principle.

[kermit]

 

White Blaze was first added to untappd as a Triple C beer on December 5, 2012.

UNTAPPD

 

The White Blaze trademark application was filed by Blue Blaze Brewing on October 17, 2014.

TRADEMARK

Seems like this is all we need to know about BlazeGhazi (thanks NeverSummer). Blue Blaze didn't do their homework before filing their application -- end of story.

[grodney]

Seems like this is all we need to know about BlazeGhazi (thanks NeverSummer). Blue Blaze didn't do their homework before filing their application -- end of story.

 

Nevermind homework -- how about general awareness of one of the top breweries in your own city?  Blue Blaze is local?  But they didn't know a beer named "White Blaze" existed?  Come on.  Would the average Charlotte person know -- of course not.  But anybody serious enough to be opening their own brewery HAS to be more plugged in that that.  

 

Anyway, where's our trademark lawyer?  Isn't the White Blaze trademark invalidated since the name was already in use on a commercial product in the same region?  

[InSouthPark]

Bullcrap on the "no lawyers involved".

 

There of course is no "lawsuit" but you can bet your ass Triple C has contacted their lawyer about someone else using their beer name for a trademark. Triple C has said as much.  Last I checked, a lawyer isn't picking up the phone for free. 

 

I don't share Jayvee's opinion on backing off them. My guess is they person he talked to is the natural salesman type, and full of poo. I would back off them when I see the trademark request withdrawn. If Triple C is still annoyed, so should we.

 

Note: If White Blaze gets trademarked successfully by Blue Blaze, I will never buy one beer from that place and I will encourage all my friends to do the same. I will also make sure to throw it out there on BeerAdvocate...which is the last place you want beer folks to think you are an asshat. The reign of fire of angry beer dorks is not something a fledgling brewery wants. 

[CLTProductions]

Bullcrap on the "no lawyers involved".

 

There of course is no "lawsuit" but you can bet your ass Triple C has contacted their lawyer about someone else using their beer name for a trademark. Triple C has said as much.  Last I checked, a lawyer isn't picking up the phone for free. 

 

I don't share Jayvee's opinion on backing off them. My guess is they person he talked to is the natural salesman type, and full of poo. I would back off them when I see the trademark request withdrawn. If Triple C is still annoyed, so should we.

 

Note: If White Blaze gets trademarked successfully by Blue Blaze, I will never buy one beer from that place and I will encourage all my friends to do the same. I will also make sure to throw it out there on BeerAdvocate...which is the last place you want beer folks to think you are an asshat. The reign of fire of angry beer dorks is not something a fledgling brewery wants. 

I actually talked to the owner, and he seemed very genuine, got personal, and given my profession I am good at sniffing through nonsense....you can't bs a bs-er. I buy what he's selling. Was there wrong doing? Absolutely but basically what's happened is it's gotten extremely blown out of proportion.

 

That being said people will form their own opinions, and I was originally on team Triple C but I gotta say, this is the ugliest part of the internet taking hold. There's a lot going on behind that scenes (positive) that's not out in the public at the request of BOTH triple c and blue blaze.

 

I am bored of defending either side though haha, I'm going to wait and see if their beer and tap room is good. And, at the end of the day I honestly couldn't care less about a beer name. A lot of the complaining (here, twitter, etc) sounds like angry housewives just needing something to b**** about lol.

Edited June 26, 2015 by Jayvee

[InSouthPark]

^^ I hope your right but like I said, I will reserve final judgement when everything is resolved and the locals still have their beer names. For now I will side with Triple C, just out of sheer stupidity on Blue Blaze's part for filing both of the trademark requests in the first place. 

 

Of course Blue Blaze has to stand down on White Blaze. They don't have a leg to stand on. They still cost Triple C money by at least having to call their lawyer, and BB wasted a grand (two grand if they drop Ghost Blaze) of their own money filing the stupid trademarks.

 

Blue Blaze could easily diffuse all of this with a simple statement to the public, apologize, and say they are withdrawing their trademarks or letting them expire.  Not just say "the truth will prevail". There may be positive things going on behind the scenes, but it sure seem like Triple C was/is annoyed about the issue. And just because a guy is local doesn't let him off the hook. I mean how tied is he into the local beer scene when he copies local beer names?

[NeverSummer]

Try a google search for 'White Blaze Beer'.  Check out result number one. 

 

If they did invest time and energy into their name and the names of their possible beers, surely they did the most basic level of research and googled them prior to filing the necessary paperwork.  I believe they made a conscious decision to pursue a branding concept they liked, irregardless of Triple C and NoDa having existing products in the market place.  In other words, I believe they thought "they have the beers, but we can have the trademarks".

 

...and with that, I'm done.  Good wishes to all involved in this chat.  It will be interesting to see it play out.

[CLTProductions]

^^ I hope your right but like I said, I will reserve final judgement when everything is resolved and the locals still have their beer names. For now I will side with Triple C, just out of sheer stupidity on Blue Blaze's part for filing both of the trademark requests in the first place. 

 

Of course Blue Blaze has to stand down on White Blaze. They don't have a leg to stand on. They still cost Triple C money by at least having to call their lawyer, and BB wasted a grand (two grand if they drop Ghost Blaze) of their own money filing the stupid trademarks.

 

Blue Blaze could easily diffuse all of this with a simple statement to the public, apologize, and say they are withdrawing their trademarks or letting them expire.  Not just say "the truth will prevail". There may be positive things going on behind the scenes, but it sure seem like Triple C was/is annoyed about the issue. And just because a guy is local doesn't let him off the hook. I mean how tied is he into the local beer scene when he copies local beer names?

 

...and with that, I'm done.  Good wishes to all involved in this chat.  It will be interesting to see it play out.

 

 

 

Yeah I am done as well.....again, I've lost all motivation to care. It's really not a big deal....at all....I just can't help but to think this is like some story I read everyday about someone in America being offended by everything and feeling an unnecessary need to complain about it, for the sake of complaining.

Edited June 26, 2015 by Jayvee

[kermit]

FWIW Ghost Hop White IPA was first reviewed in Beer Advocate March 7 2012.

[archiham04]

Personally I think it is a little silly to think that any offense should be taken to the word "ghost".  That's what we are talking about right? Ghost.  We're not talkin bout "Pisgah", or "Charlotte"...  we talkin bout GHOST.  I mean GHOST.

Edited June 26, 2015 by archiham04

[Guest]

Personally I think it is a little silly to think that any offense should be taken to the word "ghost". That's what we are talking about right? Ghost. We're not talkin bout "Pisgah", or "Charlotte"... we talkin bout GHOST. I mean GHOST.

Anyone check out wooden robot today?

[SouthEndCLT811]

Went to Brass Tap today which was great but didn't make it to Wooden Robot. It was packed though, can't wait to check it out!

[grodney]

4 thumbs up from me for Wooden Robot.  So far anyway, based on soft opening.  

 

I liked the space -- of course everything shiny and new, with big stools around 8-seat high tops, with some low 2-seat tables, and a few soft leathery chairs for lounging, plus seats around the bar.  The patio (on the west side) was nice with natural shade from two big trees, and optional garage door access in good weather.  Lots of natural light -- windows facing Summit, and windows to the brewhouse which has more windows to outside, some skylights, and the garage door to the patio is glass as well.

 

It got loud in there (my only minor complaint) as it filled up, especially when the deluge hit and the several people on the patio had to come inside.  Huge rain seeped water in under the garage door, and exposed a leak in the roof.

 

Staff was nice and seemed pretty competent.

 

And the beer.  They served in 3 sizes Small (15cl), Medium (30cl), and Large (50cl).  Doing the metric for you, that's 5.1oz 10.1oz 16.9oz.  I didn't pay attention to prices, but people were taking pictures, so it's probably around somewhere.  They were serving 4 beers:  Saison, Pale, IPA, Double IPA.  I thought all 4 were above average in quality -- not watery, not sweet, carbonated properly.  The IPA was on the piney side, as opposed to citrus side.

 

One waitress told us official opening is Jul 11, and the brewer hopes to have a couple more beers on by then.  I was surprised by the lack of Belgians, as I thought the pre-hype said that's what they were all about. (Not that I cared, I was just surprised.)

 

Overall great first impression.

[ah59396]

I visited both Brasstap and Workman's Friend on Friday.

Brasstap is an improved version of WOB. Solid tap list, decent atmosphere and food. It's a good place to go watch a game and get a good beer.

Workman's friend really impressed me. I didn't eat, but we loved the space and atmosphere. They had NO TV's on, which for Charlotte is like seeing Sasquatch riding a unicorn. The atmosphere reminded me of if Dandelion Market was more Irish pub like. The outdoor patio was solid and they have all the usual suspects on draft, and an a over average whiskey selection.

[CLTProductions]

Yeah it was definitely no surprise that the owners of Workmans also owns prohibition dande and connollys. Not a bad thing but definitely a similar vibe to dande. Nice addition to PM

[kermit]

And speaking of owners with multiple bars, I heard that the Thirsty Beaver guys have purchased the building across from Lupies. Should be open by the end of summer and have more live music than the Beaver.

(This will be run in addition to the Beaver -- I am not suggesting the Beaver is going away)

[grodney]

Wooden Robot beer was good (see my review above), but $6 for 0.5L is outrageous -- robbery for 5.1% and 5.3% abv.

 

From Agenda:

Edited June 29, 2015 by grodney

[CLTProductions]

Wooden Robot beer was good (see my review above), but $6 for 0.5L is outrageous -- robbery for 5.1% and 5.3% abv.

 

From Agenda:

gotta pay for that prime time real estate I guess....but I agree, that is very high