[leesalminen]

We created rc/xxx branches in git. Developers would merge feature branches destined for beta to the rc. The rc gets deployed to the beta environment. Later, we would merge the rc to master and then deploy master to both prod and beta environments.

Prod would be ahead of beta during hot fixes. Though we try and avoid it, it did happen occasionally.

You are correct that it took some extra effort to keep it all clean and manageable.