HopSlam availability - SEPA

As of today, they're guessing 2 weeks.

 

Shangy's said could be this Friday or next week

 

Great answer Shangy's! Could be this week, or next week, or the week after, or even the week after that.

 

It isn't being distributed to PA, from what I've read, until 1/20 so if it is this Friday that is impressive.

 

Westy's will release it Monday 1-27

 

My understanding is that Shangy's is the distributor for Hopslam in Eastern PA, so they would be the ones distributing it on the 20th. Not that they distribute much.

 

That's great and all, but Bell's is on record saying they are not shipping to Pennsylvania until the week of the 20th.

It will then start shipping to Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, New York, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington DC, Kentucky and Pennsylvania the week of Jan. 20

 

That's great and all, but if you are going to quote use the whole quote from Bells.

Q: When/where will Hopslam be available?
A:Some availability is dependent on when distributors from each area are able to pick it up at our brewery, but Hopslam will make it to all states we currently distribute to.

It will start shipping to areas in Michigan the week of Jan. 6.

It will begin shipping to Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, Missouri, Ohio and Arizona the week of Jan. 13.

It will then start shipping to Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, New York, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington DC, Kentucky and Pennsylvania the week of Jan. 20.

Notice what is highlighted, it depends when our distributors pick it up at our brewery, so Bells does not ship the beer. So that would imply that the below ship dates are actually when the distributor ships to a retail account or in Shangys' case when they move it from the back room to the floor(1 case at a time)

Also Shangys said on 1/11 that they pray they have it in the next 7-10 days, so no one really knows when it will arrive until it does. We are all just trying to share info here.

Cheers!

 

This really isn't that hard. The ship dates are not when distributors ship to retail accounts, they are when the beer is available in Michigan. As far as I know, Shangy's can't time travel after picking up the beer in Michigan on the 20th and get it to their stores on the 17th. Bells said the same thing last year "Shipping to" Pennsylvania week of January 21. Went on sale at Shangys on January 26. I'll bet you a case of HopSlam that it won't be on sale at Shangy's on January 20th.

There is a reason why Westy's is on record for a January 27th release.

 

All my original post said was this:

So no I'm not betting a case. But good luck at Westy's.

 

Yeah, not sure why people are hating on Shangy's. They get a lot of inventory and they distribute in the most fair way possible. If you can't be patient enough for them to get the inventory in, drive to Michigan and pick it up yourself.

 

I hope nothing I wrote was considered 'hating'. I just doubt they, or anyone else, will have Hopslam before the 1/20 release date Bells provided for PA distribution.

 

I talked to a guy this afternoon that runs a primarily (90%) BMC distributor. He told me can get anything, Hopslam included, that the bigger distributors in the area can get with special request. Does this seem true? I've got him making a call for me but I am almost hesitant to believe it.

 

That's a lot of factors that go into this...such as how long have they been in business and what connections they may have. Scoring 1 case easily doesn't seem out of the realm of possibilities, but there's little information on the allocation PA will receive; a lot depends on that.

 

The only thing I can attest to firsthand is that stores in Philadelphia receive a pittance when it comes to Hopslam. It is limited here to the point that I don't think most bottle shops see more than 1 or 2 cases, so of course it is extremely limited and expensive as a result. Contrast that to NoVA, where every store I used to shop at got 8-10 cases of EACH BATCH of Hopslam every year. Meanwhile, Shangy's sells a large volume of cases out of their own store.

Now obviously, they are the distributor and they have a right to do whatever they want with the beer they buy wholesale. The problem is that there is a major conflict of interest there between their interest in their own store, and fairly and adequately serving the greater marketplace of Eastern PA. Hopslam is a huge deal for Shangy's, they pump it up on Facebook and it is obviously a major event for them where they drive a lot of business to their store. Meanwhile leaving out in the cold pretty much anyone else who has no interest in either driving to Shangy's, or purchasing a full case of Hopslam.

 

Shangy's does nothing wrong and they defend themselves every year. They support the shops that carry the most Bells products. They can do whatever they want as they are the ones who bring in all the different craft beer and are stuck with it when it does not sell. Not the smaller shops.

I make the drive, it sucks but business is business. Its a beer people. Who cares

 

Who cares, but you drive at least a couple hours each way to buy a case? OK then.