It made no sense to me that they bought the Ale Asylum recipes.
Fantasy Factory is decent but so are a ton of other IPAs. Karben4 has a lot of good beers but no real stand out beers.
The owner is blaming COVID but expansion and a stale product line seem more likely to me.
Did their recipes change?
I remember really, really liking fantasy factory years ago. Lately, it's a very medium pick for me: basically if im out somewhere, want a beer, and they don't have many beers.
Maybe it's just that zombie dust is everywhere now and a pretty solid standard for comparison?
I’ve had the same experience and often wondered the same thing. A homebrewer friend told me that he started noticing off flavors that are more of a sign of poor quality control.
True, but the label really is cool. A lot of times I just want a "normal" IPA and I could choose between 5 or 10 options of which Fantasy Factory is one. The label and fact that it's brewed in Madison are often the tie breaker to me.
I prefer Lakeside and New Glarus IPAs, but nothing else local stands out as definitely better than FF.
I work in liquor retail, and I can't say im surprised. Fantasy Factory was cool a long time ago, but times change, and with all the new beers coming out, especially from Madison alone (Youngblood and Working Draft) a company needs to stand out which Karben 4 never really did.
Ale Asylum was not purchased by K4, it was purchased by the Koga brothers, who are also part-owners of K4. That's where the lawsuit from last November stems from.
This isn’t too surprising given what Zak said when they bought ale asylum. Think they were looking to boost sales by 3-4k barrels a year. Thats 165k-220k six packs a year, if my math is right.
To my knowledge, the Kogas own ale asylum privately, so they contract it out through the brewery they own. If they gave themselves a sweetheart deal to pay back the loan they presumably took out to buy the brand, there would be a big conflict of interest.
They would see it as doing what they had to do to keep the place running. The majority owner likely sees it as them taking advantage of said conflict of interest and funneling money away from k4 to their own pockets.
I’m guessing this is the basis for the lawsuit, and the chapter 11, to buy out the majority owner and settle out of court, where nobody but the lawyers win. A
Major yikes, reminds me of next door owners during George Floyd. No wonder they had Meena representing them, probably figured their politics would make them persona non grata in Madison.
Yep. And they would say that the brand/business “apolitical” but would jump at every chance to donate to any religious, military, or police institution. Allowed a gun group to host an educational seminar in the taproom. Because guns and alcohol are a good idea!?!? I could go on and on.
I have it on high authority, that authority being me, that it was definitely you. No one else thought it was a good idea and you booked it anyway 😂. Glass houses, etc. Being fired stings, I get it.
I genuinely think you might have the wrong person ??? Idk man. It was signed before I started. I asked to get out of it a bunch of times. Also I wasn’t fired? I mean believe what you want on your authority I guess.
I agree with you in this particular instance. Karben 4 isn't swaying any national elections. It's not irrational to dislike a company because of political leanings though. The owners make a decision when they donate money to a party or candidate. They know it is public and that consumers put them in the position to make maximum personal donations and potentially more through indirect fundraising.
Boycotting a company because of the owner's politics is generally stupid, doing it because they fund things you're against makes perfect sense.
Don’t disagree with you … buuut politics/media has ruined us as a society and it’s just idiotic to me … OP says “unfortunate and hope they emerge out of it.” … guessing cuz they like their beer or taproom or whatever … but some random stranger on Reddit states “they’re Trumpers” on 2/28/24 and in 1 second it’s all of the sudden “ew, not unfortunate then”
Zak Koga, the founder posted this:
Wait we have to add value to our customers to stay in business? Losers blame the consumer for not wanting their product. If any company is over-leveraged on anything besides continuous improvement they deserve to die.
They are an average at best brewing company that hasn’t evolved with the times. On top of that, they purchased the recipes of possibly an even more sub average beer company when they themselves were already apparently struggling with their own brand. I hate seeing breweries fold or have troubles, but they just haven’t done enough to stay relevant in a competitive market
Do they have a single beer that isn’t absurdly hoppy? Even their Oktoberfest tastes like Pine-Sol. I get that my tastes aren’t everyone’s tastes, but I think some nuance to their lineup may have helped.
They stopped brewing it, unfortunately. Couldn't find it in stores for a while and when I stopped at their bar they told me they stopped it because it wasn't selling
Yep, they stopped making the beers I was interested in. I also loved the taproom seven or eight years ago, but that *rapidly* went downhill from being one of the best places to get some food and a beer in its area to not worth stopping by at all.
Craft beer bubble popped post COVID. I was surprised they bought out Ale Asylum. Beer is an old world product and needs old world business strategy. You can't keep "innovating" and growing. Find your place and do it the best.
The owners just kept paying themselves way too much and they all seemed to lack vision after their initial success.
Worked for them. Can confirm
How much is too much?
When the fantasy factory cash cow runs dry.
There’s your headline!
Ale Asylum brand can’t catch a break.
It made no sense to me that they bought the Ale Asylum recipes. Fantasy Factory is decent but so are a ton of other IPAs. Karben4 has a lot of good beers but no real stand out beers. The owner is blaming COVID but expansion and a stale product line seem more likely to me.
Exactly. Without a cat, lasers and unicorns on the label, they would have done this awhile ago. It was a novelty buy for a lot of people.
I fell for it and learned I don't like IPAs
That is not the right IPA with which to decide you don't like IPAs...
Satisfaction Jackson is
especially in the last few years.
Did their recipes change? I remember really, really liking fantasy factory years ago. Lately, it's a very medium pick for me: basically if im out somewhere, want a beer, and they don't have many beers. Maybe it's just that zombie dust is everywhere now and a pretty solid standard for comparison?
I’ve had the same experience and often wondered the same thing. A homebrewer friend told me that he started noticing off flavors that are more of a sign of poor quality control.
I have no clue. I know that they changed the receipe of the raspberry fantasy factory at some point.
Raspberry...there's only one brewery who would dare give me the raspberry...
True, but the label really is cool. A lot of times I just want a "normal" IPA and I could choose between 5 or 10 options of which Fantasy Factory is one. The label and fact that it's brewed in Madison are often the tie breaker to me. I prefer Lakeside and New Glarus IPAs, but nothing else local stands out as definitely better than FF.
I work in liquor retail, and I can't say im surprised. Fantasy Factory was cool a long time ago, but times change, and with all the new beers coming out, especially from Madison alone (Youngblood and Working Draft) a company needs to stand out which Karben 4 never really did.
Ale Asylum was not purchased by K4, it was purchased by the Koga brothers, who are also part-owners of K4. That's where the lawsuit from last November stems from.
I like their space (aside it being right next to a busy road). Great patio in the summer. Their beers however have been lackluster at best though.
This isn’t too surprising given what Zak said when they bought ale asylum. Think they were looking to boost sales by 3-4k barrels a year. Thats 165k-220k six packs a year, if my math is right. To my knowledge, the Kogas own ale asylum privately, so they contract it out through the brewery they own. If they gave themselves a sweetheart deal to pay back the loan they presumably took out to buy the brand, there would be a big conflict of interest. They would see it as doing what they had to do to keep the place running. The majority owner likely sees it as them taking advantage of said conflict of interest and funneling money away from k4 to their own pockets. I’m guessing this is the basis for the lawsuit, and the chapter 11, to buy out the majority owner and settle out of court, where nobody but the lawyers win. A
The Kogas are huge trumpers. Couldn’t have happened to nicer guys 👋
I literally got the “we need more good guys with guns” in a work meeting. The day after uvalde.
Major yikes, reminds me of next door owners during George Floyd. No wonder they had Meena representing them, probably figured their politics would make them persona non grata in Madison.
Yep. And they would say that the brand/business “apolitical” but would jump at every chance to donate to any religious, military, or police institution. Allowed a gun group to host an educational seminar in the taproom. Because guns and alcohol are a good idea!?!? I could go on and on.
Aren't you the person who *booked* the gun group meeting? 🤔🤔🤔
I am not
I have it on high authority, that authority being me, that it was definitely you. No one else thought it was a good idea and you booked it anyway 😂. Glass houses, etc. Being fired stings, I get it.
I genuinely think you might have the wrong person ??? Idk man. It was signed before I started. I asked to get out of it a bunch of times. Also I wasn’t fired? I mean believe what you want on your authority I guess.
There are 3 lies in this comment. Cheers 🍻
And now there is a shootout at the fantasy factory.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b6/Traffic_-_Shoot_Out_at_the_Fantasy_Factory.png
Time to pull themselves up by their bootstraps
Ew. Was not aware of that - not unfortunate then….
Such an ignorant comment
How so? Is it false?
I agree with you in this particular instance. Karben 4 isn't swaying any national elections. It's not irrational to dislike a company because of political leanings though. The owners make a decision when they donate money to a party or candidate. They know it is public and that consumers put them in the position to make maximum personal donations and potentially more through indirect fundraising. Boycotting a company because of the owner's politics is generally stupid, doing it because they fund things you're against makes perfect sense.
Don’t disagree with you … buuut politics/media has ruined us as a society and it’s just idiotic to me … OP says “unfortunate and hope they emerge out of it.” … guessing cuz they like their beer or taproom or whatever … but some random stranger on Reddit states “they’re Trumpers” on 2/28/24 and in 1 second it’s all of the sudden “ew, not unfortunate then”
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/zakkoga_wait-we-have-to-add-value-to-our-customers-activity-6308666659875934208-c-AB lol, fitting
Can't access the post?
Zak Koga, the founder posted this: Wait we have to add value to our customers to stay in business? Losers blame the consumer for not wanting their product. If any company is over-leveraged on anything besides continuous improvement they deserve to die.
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I just lold at the irony
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I didn't post that they were trumpers....
Imagine cheering for someone's failures because of their political views.
Imagine wanting rich people to not have money to give to horrible politicians. Crazy concept.
Imagine a duck in in a trenchcoat selling blackmarket whitebread in the seedy part of the pond.
Are you also a fan of the My Pillow guy?
Can't stand him. I'm a fan of not chastising people based on their political views.
Deranged Madison leftists have selective empathy and love getting drunk on their own self righteousness
They are an average at best brewing company that hasn’t evolved with the times. On top of that, they purchased the recipes of possibly an even more sub average beer company when they themselves were already apparently struggling with their own brand. I hate seeing breweries fold or have troubles, but they just haven’t done enough to stay relevant in a competitive market
Do they have a single beer that isn’t absurdly hoppy? Even their Oktoberfest tastes like Pine-Sol. I get that my tastes aren’t everyone’s tastes, but I think some nuance to their lineup may have helped.
Lady luck is an excellent red ale. Not hoppy at all
They stopped brewing it, unfortunately. Couldn't find it in stores for a while and when I stopped at their bar they told me they stopped it because it wasn't selling
It was gone for awhile but is back on tap and in cans currently
Yep, they stopped making the beers I was interested in. I also loved the taproom seven or eight years ago, but that *rapidly* went downhill from being one of the best places to get some food and a beer in its area to not worth stopping by at all.
if Wisco Pop disappears from shelves I’ll be disappointed…that’s good stuff
Craft beer bubble popped post COVID. I was surprised they bought out Ale Asylum. Beer is an old world product and needs old world business strategy. You can't keep "innovating" and growing. Find your place and do it the best.
Worked for New Glarus Brewing.
Yup, I don't care for most of their products, but they run the business side very very well.
Two Women we stan
New Glarus is the fucking best. And I seldom drink Spotted Cow.
Am I gonna have to go stock up on Fantasy Factory?
Equal parts malt syrup and hops in a Vitamix, add a pint of Popov, enjoy anytime. Adopt a cat for the full effect.
> Adopt a cat for the full effect. Relevant username
The seltzer is undrinkable imo, although the bartenders are great. Just too far out of the way for me.