Tired Hands bottle releases?

There's always gonna be assholes figure a way around any system put in place for these hype the beer & fool the IRS, cash only events.

Captain Lawrence now does silent releases, and lets the beer spread word of its own quality after folks try it. No more shitshows, thankfully. Rosso E Marrone even saw ltd. distro this time. The Rosso release previous to this one was a shitshow of epic proportion.

 

After reading this I feel like I'm back at Hunahpu's Day

 

I was referring to the Out of the Emptiness release the day before Thanksgiving. Based on the announced bottle count, about 80 people got an allocation. Beer went on sale at 4 and it wasn't called until almost 5:30. It sounds like the lines are at least moving faster now; I guess they started using a cash drawer instead of throwing all the cash into a pile on the bar?

 

You mean, no more shitshows at Capt. Lawrence. I'm sure the shitshows will commence at retail outlets if they haven't already.

 

Yeah

Yeah, I think some of one of the sours, maybe the golden, ran out after only a couple of days at the brewery, didn't see any distro. I was able to buy a bottle of Rosso on store shelves some three months after last release. Real shitshows.

I know it is hard for us to admit to the degree we are manipulated by manufactured demand for products these breweries create with low bottle counts, and exclusive releases advertised months ahead. Silent releases, ala Captain Lawrence, are certainly not as good for a brewery as a waterfall of cash landing in one day, and without having to share it with distributors or retailers. They are great for us, though.

 

I agree with all of this.

I've gone to every release except for two (Artisnale & b3 Handfarm) and at each one, if you were there about a half hour before they opened, you got bottles. I used to show up 2-3 hours early and stopped doing it a few releases ago because it wasn't necessary at the time. With a significant up-tick in the press that TH has been getting lately, I shouldn't have been surprised to see the line wrapped around the post office when I arrived at 11:15, but I was.

The "leather jacket guy" told me that the people standing around me were right around the cut-off point, and he wasn't sure if we were getting bottles or not. He said there was some guy in a lime green beanie cap that was #175 by his count, and I was about 20 spots behind him. I figured I was going to get shut-out for the reasons you mentioned (people at McDonalds/Chipotle & walking back and forth to their cars) but I also figured it was worth standing in line for an hour just in case I was wrong. What surprised me wasn't that I got shut out, it was that a good 25-30+ people in front of me got shut out. I have to believe the estimate of 400 bottles was a bit exaggerated if the person that was supposedly #175 (and in turn, bottles #349 & 350) got nothing and/or there was massive line cutting between 11:30 and 12:00, but I just don't think that happened in those kinds of numbers.

I think a much bigger problem than line cutters were the number of mules present because of the two bottle limit. I saw several people inside the pub with large quantities of bottles sitting on their tables. One group of two people had 8-10 bottles, and several people had full or 2/3 full 6 bottle tote bags. Obviously there's not really a good way to cut down on mules, but I think that's a bigger problem than cutting by a mile.

Hopefully when they open up the new place, this problem will go away and these special release batches will be larger and more accessible to all. I think a ticketed release system would be a step in the right direction for sure in the meantime, but the fact is that their bottle counts are so small that people will continue to show up three hours early to ensure their place in line and handing out tickets only helps to avoid cutting, not pushing back line-up times.

I actually kind of liked what Forest & Main did for their Marius release even though a lot of people hated it. I'd just take it a step farther. Start by posting an accurate number of bottles available a few days in advance, then have people line up the morning of the release. Everyone there before a certain time (11:30?) with a ticket is guaranteed one bottle (unless there are more people than bottles available, but once tickets are gone, they're gone and that's that). Once you hit the cutoff time, figure out the limit from there and if there are 500 bottles available and 300 people in line, the first 200 get 2 bottles and the last 100 get 1. If you advertised a limit of two in advance, that's obviously not fair to people #201-250, but if you don't advertise a limit and say that the limit will be calculated based on the size of the line, I think it would be a more enjoyable experience overall since it's bad for business for TH if local non-BA members who would enjoy the beer leave bottle releases disappointed/empty-handed so that more bottles can get traded off. Most of the people around me in line were just locals wanting beer - I heard basically no talk of trading or BA or any of that.

I know this type of setup messes up people who go with 2 mules for the purpose of trading off 5 of their 6 bottles, but if TH's ethos is really that "localization guides everything we do", the promise that everyone locally that shows up will receive one bottle (up until tickets run out) ensures that the most people in their own backyard are getting the beer.

I'm not saying this because I got shut out - if I wanted it bad enough I know the game and could've arrived at 9:45 - 10:00 like some people did to make sure I got my allocation. I just think these releases would be better if people (especially locals who don't care about trading and just want to drink TH beer) didn't leave disappointed, now that it's apparent that demand has increased to the point where a fair number of people at each release for the foreseeable future will be walking away with nothing.

 

I was that guy with the lime green beanie cap that got shut out. There were at least 7 people in front of me that got shut out. All of us, even @dspinler who was 3 persons behind me were so sure we would get our allocations. We were really excited and just literally pulled money out of our pockets to get ready. I really don't think 400 bottles were made available for people in line.

 

At least you guys that got shut out were courteous enough not to start banging on the windows and yelling "Tired Hands Sucks!"

 

Yeah - you were at least 25-30 people ahead of me, and there were another 15 people or so behind me, so it sounds like about 50 people got nothing. I think you're right - less than 400 bottles had to be available.

 

If you don't want to miss out on the beer, don't put yourself on the bubble. It's better to wait 3 hours and know you're getting something than wasting 2 hours stressing about the exact line and beer counts, only to leave empty handed.

 

If you're familiar with the general scene at most beer releases, I absolutely agree with you. If you're a local (like some people around me, myself not included) that follows TH on their Facebook page but has never been to a release event like the ones at TH and thinks "ooo, that beer sounds good, I'll go for that", I don't agree.

If at your first release you stand in line for 2 hours only to leave disappointed/empty handed, I can see how that would easily turn you off to going to future release events (at TH or anywhere else for that matter). I'd think that's especially true if they advertise 400 bottles and by their line counter's projection you're around #195, then watch 40 people in front of you get shut-out and on top of that, have to wait in a "one in, one out" line to get in another 20-25 minute line to get a growler fill. People who usually go to releases expect and tolerate these kinds of things, but I can't imagine someone getting into the scene not thinking "good lord...never again". If they were keeping to the size of the already existing pub, I can understand an "oh well..." attitude about that, but with a big expansion on the horizon, I'd assume those are the exact kinds of people that TH would love to bring into the fold. I'm not suggesting that TH has an "oh well..." attitude (every time I've talked to Jean or any of the folks that work there, they've been very kind), I'm just saying now that demand has obviously outpaced quantity supplied, it raises some issues beyond just a handful of people missing out.

I'm blaming no one but myself for not getting bottles; and I'm not upset/mad/bent out of shape/hunahpu'd about it, I'm just saying for the crowd that doesn't frequent releases or spend a bit of time on BA almost every day, I have to believe an experience like that can be a big turn off. Maybe next time, it will be limit 1 bottle per person, then leftovers (if any) could be sold to the people that jump back in line?

 

I really do wonder how many bottles were available and why they were off on their own count so drastically. It looks like only about 330-350 bottles were actually available for sale yesterday.

 

Thirsty workers gotta drink, decent theory don't you think?

 

If the total batch was 400, I'm not sure how many believers there are, but I'd guess 25ish? So, 2/ea would take the count on Sunday down to 350 if that 400 number didn't account for their bottles. That might be about right...

 

I thought believers were down to under a dozen at this point. But who knows. They always used to account for believers/employee allocations when they posted bottle count numbers. But who knows if that continues.

 

I do think the next release might be a little differently set up. Other than a handful of people that showed up right at noon, people getting shut out hasn't been an issue in the past...I can't imagine any brewery would want a couple dozen people to walk away from a release empty handed without adjusting the bottle limit down. Maybe 375ml bottles in the future to increase the physical count? I honestly have no idea. It could just be as simple as "get there earlier" until the new place opens. So it goes.

(Sorry, lame joke, but I had to...)

 

I'm all for them going the 'silent' release route. I know release days bring an influx of people and therefor money. But when silent releases have happened in the past you were still there spending money.

 

I think there was definitely commucation issue. I just looked on the FB announcement and they said they produced 400, not have 400 for the line. I think that's what most people including myself interpreted since that was what they said in the past (I think). If it was made clear that 350 were available for purchase, no one past me would've stayed and I would've left as well.

 

A fair number of people leave after getting their bottles only to not return until the next release. Silent releases are a good way to reward locals and the people that spend the most money there.

 

While I (think I) understand the buzz and energy of waiting in line for a limited release--both for the customers and for the brewers--there's just no practical way I could ever do this. Not with a family, sports, commitments, etc.

I know it's completely, 100% impractical, but what if the thing that scored people a bottle of a limited release was something like how much community service they have performed in the past month (not as mandated by a judge, that is)? Wouldn't this be better overall than using the implicit rule of "the person who has the most disposable time and is willing to wait in line the longest gets the beer"?