What fresh hell is this? 'Family Brewpub'

So I heard about this new brewpub in Austin Texas, called The Family Business. It's run by the guy who plays Dean on Supernatural, and 'actor' primarily known for growling out his lines in a batman voice. Anyhoo, apparently he's realized that he needs a new income stream for when the show goes off the air, and opened a brewpub.

Fine you say. However, this place boasts of being family friendly, complete with kiddie playground. WTF? Who is he expecting as customers? Does he really think that combining small children and drunken adults is a good idea? What will the slogan be: "Drop your kids off at the playground while you get wasted, then drive home"? It's a liability nightmare.

Even better, the facebook site has a link where you can donate to the hurricane charity through his business, complete with tax write off for him, of course.

I thought charging the fans $500 a pop for photo ops was pretty greedy, but this is worse.

Link

Yeah, I predict a set of loser parents will get completely sloshed while their brats are at the playground and cause a crash on the way home and then sue Ackles and the brewpub. And that'll be the end of this little business venture.

There will be an initial rush of business because of who it is, but the idea of a family-friendly brewpub isn't going to catch on. The ones who would actually spend money don't want to be around kids while drinking and shooting the shit with friends and coworkers and breeders won't go because then they don't get the fun of destroying other people's good time.

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"Why children take so long to grow? They eat and drink like pig and give nothing back. Must find way to accelerate process..."
- Dr. Yi Suchong, Bioshock

"Society does not need more children; but it does need more loved children. Quite literally, we cannot afford unloved children - but we pay heavily for them every day. There should not be the slightest communal concern when a woman elects to destroy the life of her thousandth-of-an-ounce embryo. But all society should rise up in alarm when it hears that a baby that is not wanted is about to be born."
- Garrett Hardin

"I feel like there's a message involved here somehow, but then I couldn't stop laughing at all the plotholes, like the part when North Korea has food."
- Youtube commentor referring to a North Korean cartoon.

"Reality is a bitch when it slowly crawls out of your vagina and shits in your lap."
- Reddit comment

"Bitch wants a baby, so we're gonna fuck now. #bareback"
- Cambion

Oh whatever. Abortion doctors are crimestoppers."
- Miss Hannigan

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JoJo
Who is he expecting as customers?

Alcoholics with kids? Drunks who want someone else to babysit their sprogs while they get hammered? Sounds awful, all right....

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I thought charging the fans $500 a pop for photo ops was pretty greedy, but this is worse.

Wow. When you can point at something and say "that's worse than Harlan Ellison," it's pretty bad....

Encourage parents to drink while in charge of children. Awesome.

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kittehpeoples

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JoJo
Who is he expecting as customers?

Alcoholics with kids? Drunks who want someone else to babysit their sprogs while they get hammered? Sounds awful, all right....

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I thought charging the fans $500 a pop for photo ops was pretty greedy, but this is worse.

Wow. When you can point at something and say "that's worse than Harlan Ellison," it's pretty bad....

What's worse is that Ackles usually looks completely pissed off in the photos. At least his co-stars smile and give an impression that they're happy to take a picture with someone who paid hundreds of dollars for the privilege.

Anyway, it's even worse, apparently Ackles's brother in law, a 35 year old with no business experience, will be running the pub. That's a recipe for disaster. Yes, I follow the Supernatural fandom for my amusement. If I ever study psychiatry, I'll do my thesis in fandom.

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JoJo

Fine you say. However, this place boasts of being family friendly, complete with kiddie playground. WTF? Who is he expecting as customers? Does he really think that combining small children and drunken adults is a good idea? What will the slogan be: "Drop your kids off at the playground while you get wasted, then drive home"? It's a liability nightmare.

What you have here is a classic example of a group of people (families) intruding on the space that was previously the exclusive domain of adults. You mentioned the liability issue and this will manifest itself when a lawsuit eventually arises. And rightfully so.

More concerning, to me, is that a social norm is developing whereby it is deemed acceptable for children to intrude on what was previously an adults-only space. We've seen this happen everywhere, from baseball clubhouses to bars.

And referring back to the top of this thread, a new precedent is being set, where children are not only being tolerated at a brewpub but also encouraged to be there.

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JoJo
Yes, I follow the Supernatural fandom for my amusement.

I'm a geek (not for SPN, but for plenty of other things). I see no problem in taking an interest in fandom.

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JoJo
If I ever study psychiatry, I'll do my thesis in fandom.

That would actually be pretty fascinating....

We have a situation like this at the zoo where I worked this summer. Up until this year, one could not buy alcohol there on a regular day, though it was served for weddings and receptions. Then, the food vendor we use set up The Beer Den, a beer garden where there used to be a bear exhibit. I have heard older people say, "how could they, people bring kids here"? I notice breeders line up at The Beer Den, buy beer and overpriced food, and often bring the beer wherever in the park, guzzling as they walk. I guess they can do this because it is private property? With a regular bar, I don't think you are allowed to take drinks outside the bar itself. It seems that people guzzle beer and then they can ignore the kids better? It was bad for the groundkeepers, because after an event like Zoo Brew the place was trashed and there was vomit and piss everywhere.

Maybe I feel bad about this because 2 weeks ago, my brother died from liver failure caused by severe alcoholism. People laugh about drinking and it disturbs me.

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JoJo
So I heard about this new brewpub in Austin Texas, called The Family Business. It's run by the guy who plays Dean on Supernatural, and 'actor' primarily known for growling out his lines in a batman voice. Anyhoo, apparently he's realized that he needs a new income stream for when the show goes off the air, and opened a brewpub.

Fine you say. However, this place boasts of being family friendly, complete with kiddie playground. WTF? Who is he expecting as customers? Does he really think that combining small children and drunken adults is a good idea? What will the slogan be: "Drop your kids off at the playground while you get wasted, then drive home"? It's a liability nightmare.

If he's opening a microbrewery like operation, customers would have to have serious money to get trashed.

+++++++++++++

Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!

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mr. neptune
We have a situation like this at the zoo where I worked this summer. Up until this year, one could not buy alcohol there on a regular day, though it was served for weddings and receptions. Then, the food vendor we use set up The Beer Den, a beer garden where there used to be a bear exhibit. I have heard older people say, "how could they, people bring kids here"? I notice breeders line up at The Beer Den, buy beer and overpriced food, and often bring the beer wherever in the park, guzzling as they walk. I guess they can do this because it is private property? With a regular bar, I don't think you are allowed to take drinks outside the bar itself. It seems that people guzzle beer and then they can ignore the kids better? It was bad for the groundkeepers, because after an event like Zoo Brew the place was trashed and there was vomit and piss everywhere.

Maybe I feel bad about this because 2 weeks ago, my brother died from liver failure caused by severe alcoholism. People laugh about drinking and it disturbs me.

Kind of surprised they were allowed to free-range with alcohol. But what a freaking mess to clean! Also imagining the poor animals might be taunted by drunk adults and that is a sad deal.

Drinking isn't a laughing matter. It can destroy lives and/or potential. And if alcoholics are parents it can also destroy or damage children.

Just don't see how any responsible parent can purposely bring a kid to a bar and expect good results. If you can afford to eat out at a trendy microbrew then why not hire a babysitter and then Uber or Lyft to the restaurant so that there isn't any collaterol damage?

Kind of difficult to set a precident of good behavior for kids if parent go out to eat and drag them to a bar so they can watch their parents drink. Whatever happened to trying to hide one's alcoholism...either waiting until the kids are out of the house or in bed to start drinking?

What a bunch of shit. What's next? Family strip clubs? "I used to dance on that pole, Snotleigheeeee! And my stage name was Juicy Tooshy! Tee hee!" Family porn stores, perhaps? Baby's First Vibrator?

Unless they make designated drivers a requirement for each group (or have Uber/Lyft memberships), this just has bad written all over it. Would management allow drunken breeders to reclaim their kids? What happens when Moo and Duh are too fucked up to see straight? Does management keep the kids until the parents sober up? Can they leave their kids at the play area overnight and come back the following day to get them? What if they decide not to come back for their kids?

Some things are not meant to be for famblees, and pubs/bars/breweries/wineries are some of those things. I fully understand the concept of wanting to drink when you have kids - if I had them, I'd make it a point to stay perpetually drunk until the fuckers turned 18 and I could kick them out. But allowing parents to drink their sorrows away and then letting them drive home with their kids while intoxicated is just a little irresponsible. Lawsuits are going to be flying left and right from people who management allowed to leave while drunk with their kids and get into accidents, or because management wouldn't let them take their own kids home even though they were trashed.

These guys are asking for trouble making a family bar.

Freya, I am kind of surprised about the free range guzzling, but I notice at a ski area I go to that there is a lot of guzzling outside the bar, in the shuttle, around the condo neighborhood, in the locker rooms. I think it has to do with the fact it is private property? In the case of the ski area, I know a ski patrol EMT who tells me many ski and snowboard injuries, and nearly all of the fatalities, are related to alcohol consumption. If you are too buzzed, you ski or snowboard at high speed right into a tree; if you are sober, you might be able to fall or slow down some, making it less severe.

How did this guy get a liquor license? I thought Texas was a "control" state.

This actually doesnt surprise me at all. Every tavern around Chicago is becoming a "bar and grill" therefore in come the moos duds grannies all w/ strollers and sullen teens in tow to eat their chicken nuggets while adults drink their craft beers, and some men at bar kinda getting drunk. I never ever understood why they would want this atmosphere for their kids and impressionable teens. Besides, all the family diners are closing and a thing of the past. Parents stuff their obese kids w/ more french fried meals instead of cooking at home, even on Saturday when they could have 'game night' and have more time to throw something together that doesnt include a burger and fries and mac and cheese. Taverns are no longer an adult thing,....It's over Johnny, over! I find more and more reasons to stay home these days.

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cfuter

Taverns are no longer an adult thing,....It's over Johnny, over! I find more and more reasons to stay home these days.

When i was a teen, I so looked forward to being an adult so I could go to adult events and not be around kids. Fast forward to my adulthood, and there's nothing left. Even going to dinner around midnight on a weeknight guarantees no brats. I can remember the first kid I saw (and of course, heard it first) at my fav sushi restaurant years ago. He was demanding a certain kind and then expressed his opinion on the flavor. He was barely old enough to speak. It pissed me off, I didn't want to hear his opinion on the sushi, especially in that creepy, high pitched skreechy voices they have. Sit down, shut up, eat your soosh (his word, not mine). I hate parents that turn their kids into little adults and allow them adult privileges.

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bitca

When i was a teen, I so looked forward to being an adult so I could go to adult events and not be around kids. Fast forward to my adulthood, and there's nothing left.

Yes, I was the same way, and now feel ripped off becuz everything is so called 'famblee friendly' which just means having to put up and shut up with the brats. I also looked forward to being the adult at family gatherings but the bratz and my family are barely taught to be respectful, like I had to be.

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cfuter
This actually doesnt surprise me at all. Every tavern around Chicago is becoming a "bar and grill" therefore in come the moos duds grannies all w/ strollers and sullen teens in tow to eat their chicken nuggets while adults drink their craft beers, and some men at bar kinda getting drunk. I never ever understood why they would want this atmosphere for their kids and impressionable teens. Besides, all the family diners are closing and a thing of the past. Parents stuff their obese kids w/ more french fried meals instead of cooking at home, even on Saturday when they could have 'game night' and have more time to throw something together that doesnt include a burger and fries and mac and cheese. Taverns are no longer an adult thing,....It's over Johnny, over! I find more and more reasons to stay home these days.

Putting up with a shitty public is a big reason why we just don't go out that much anymore. I don't want to pay $$$$$ at an upscale restaurant only to have it ruined by loud brats or really loud groups of people.

So we stay home. I close the drapes, the blinds. The table is swathed in good linens. We pull out the good china and good silver and set the table. We put up the good candlesticks. We play classical music. And I cook a 3 or 4 course French meal that lasts 4 hours at the table.

And that's OK if we stay home. if businesses want to cater to the breeder business, then they'll eventually go OUT OF BUSINESS, because we all know breeders and their ilk are cheap when it comes to ordering food or leaving a tip. Around here I've seen some truly great restaurants shut down after a few years because they just couldn't make a go of it. Well...I'm not going to a breeder friendly or loud, hipster place. People like us are the ones that can afford to go out, and we won't put up with a craptastic public.

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Peace

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cfuter
This actually doesnt surprise me at all. Every tavern around Chicago is becoming a "bar and grill" therefore in come the moos duds grannies all w/ strollers and sullen teens in tow to eat their chicken nuggets while adults drink their craft beers, and some men at bar kinda getting drunk. I never ever understood why they would want this atmosphere for their kids and impressionable teens. Besides, all the family diners are closing and a thing of the past. Parents stuff their obese kids w/ more french fried meals instead of cooking at home, even on Saturday when they could have 'game night' and have more time to throw something together that doesnt include a burger and fries and mac and cheese. Taverns are no longer an adult thing,....It's over Johnny, over! I find more and more reasons to stay home these days.

Putting up with a shitty public is a big reason why we just don't go out that much anymore. I don't want to pay $$$$$ at an upscale restaurant only to have it ruined by loud brats or really loud groups of people.

So we stay home. I close the drapes, the blinds. The table is swathed in good linens. We pull out the good china and good silver and set the table. We put up the good candlesticks. We play classical music. And I cook a 3 or 4 course French meal that lasts 4 hours at the table.

And that's OK if we stay home. if businesses want to cater to the breeder business, then they'll eventually go OUT OF BUSINESS, because we all know breeders and their ilk are cheap when it comes to ordering food or leaving a tip. Around here I've seen some truly great restaurants shut down after a few years because they just couldn't make a go of it. Well...I'm not going to a breeder friendly or loud, hipster place. People like us are the ones that can afford to go out, and we won't put up with a craptastic public.

What you do at home sounds amazing! I love cooking, although I've never tried my hand at French cuisine, except maybe quiche. Whatever I seem to cook, no matter how simple, Husband loves the food!

I have some nice linens and fine china too, and enjoy pulling that stuff out for special occasions.

All I know is that brats and alcohol do not mix. There will be a lawsuit coming from this stupid idea for sure!

I had such a 'thing' for Jensen....until he bred. Now, I can't separate the two. Yes, I'm a fan of Supernatural, but a sane fan.

'The Family Business' is a catchphrase from the show. I'm not surprised he's done this, they have been pushing their kids and kid friendly crap at the conventions. But, I agree with the stupidity - the liability, to begin with, and then leave the drinking environment to the adults. One thing this show has proven - kids are evil.

We have a "family friendly" sports bar town. The food is awful (I swear they deep fry salad) and the clientele is the worst combination of brats and their sports fan parents. It seems to specifically cater to negligent, alcoholic parents. I've been there when invited a couple of times by my friends with kids and I will not do it ever again. Either go drinking with your friends or take care of your children; you can't do both at the same time. If the teeball duhs want to get shit-faced after the game, they should do it without the teeball team in tow. I can say with absolute certainty that dad bods are not due to neglecting physical fitness in favor of childcare.

What really rubbed me the wrong way about this was that when Harvey first hit and he was (supposedly) raising money for the victims, he tweeted not photos of people struggling to survive, but a picture of himself. His wife tweeted a pic of her and their two brats with a cliched caption "help Harvey victims, blah blah blah" underneath. Both were heavily advertising this upcoming monstrosity on their Twitter accounts in between Harvey posts. It was almost like "obligatory Harvey post" "GO TO MY BREEDER BREWPUB" "obligatory Harvey post" "THIS IS WHY YOU WANT TO GO TO MY BREEDER BREWPUB" etc. That is insanely disrespectful and smacks of narcissism. Not that anyone should be surprised, because you know the breeder mantra: MEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEEEEEE!!!!!

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JoJo
Who is he expecting as customers? Does he really think that combining small children and drunken adults is a good idea?

I thought that's what Chuck E Cheese was for. I remember back in the day when we had threads about the violent "mama bear" assholes who were constantly starting fights and shit there.

I am something of a beer snob as my hubs brews his own and I oftentimes have a better palate than he does. Would I go to a hole like this?

Let's say it all together now...FUCK NO.

Starting a brewpub just because you CAN is a world away from the guy who starts a brewpub because beer is his passion and he's been studying it and making beer for a decade or more. And that difference, my friends, shows in the final product.

This is the place to go if you honestly don't know what good beer is. And most pahrunts of course do not.

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mr. neptune
Maybe I feel bad about this because 2 weeks ago, my brother died from liver failure caused by severe alcoholism. People laugh about drinking and it disturbs me.

hijack/

I'm SO sorry about the loss of your brother. I lost my father to cirrhosis in March. He had HepC and refused to quit drinking. It was insanely traumatic to watch him die over the course of weeks and to see his body after he passed. Sometimes I am so overwhelmed by the horror of it that I have to deliberately avoid thinking about it and stomp on the thoughts HARD or I might lose my shit - as in, my cheese which is only tentatively still positioned over my cracker, will slide entirely off and I will have to be 5150ed. What got me through it more than anything else is becoming a stoner. It's the only thing that addressed my pain and anxiety. And then I largely quit drinking, I have the occasional beer or cocktail and that's it. Once or twice a year I will have a Friday or Saturday where I have more than one. But I have backed wayy off and I am disturbed as you are about people's flippant attitude towards alcohol. That shit is serious. It's not a joke. It's not funny.

I am so sorry for your loss and pain. Huge HUGE hugs.