Darkness 14' Chicago Distribution

last year orland park binnys had a lot of darkness. There was about 50 people in line and everyone got 2 bottles.

 

Is every store just getting 12 bottles or what?

 

Seems like most places are only getting 1 or 2 cases. LP got more, around 4 maybe.

 

Has anyone seen this at Whole Foods yet?

 

Only the big stores getting it ?

 

Just got a bottle at Evanston First Liquors… only got a case and two bottles were gone in seconds.. but might still be around for anyone in Evanston

 

Binny's in Lakeview got theirs in today. About a case or so left maybe. 1 per.

 

Lake Zurich sold out

 

Skokie Beer@SkokieBeer · 39m 39 minutes ago
Darkness is about to sell out...

Skokie Beer@SkokieBeer · 1h 1 hour ago
The truck with Darkness is here, just waiting on it to come in the door.

 

All I want is 1. Hopefully some are waiting to release until people that actually work normal jobs are out of the office

 

You're probably going to get some hate for the term "normal" job, but yeah, it's pretty frustrating when this stuff gets released during the work week. I mostly blame myself though, since I completely missed that Darkness was coming to Chi this week, and have most likely screwed myself out of it. Still hoping for a Whole Foods miracle.

 

Yea, I know... I worked years of afternoons and nights, but now on an 8-5 schedule, it seems like I'm jumping in the car and speeding to Binny's at lunch every week for something that wont last until the evening

 

Yup.

 

Sold out...

 

lol, losers.

 

Yeah, you're totally right. Realistically speaking, if people aren't already a regular in your store, there's a decent chance that there's a specific reason, be it geography or otherwise, and having a "whale" on hand for them isn't going to change that. I can definitely appreciate the frustration around putting so much effort into something (a rare beer release) and then having non-loyal customers rush in, grab it, leave, and never come back, but like you said, every so often somebody says, "hey, you know what? I actually really like this place, so maybe I'll swing by more often."

More often than not, you won't gain any regulars, but hey, you never know. Without going into specifics, I've visited a lot of the big beer places in Chicago, and found out that rather than do it completely based on geography, I do it based on the ones I like to be in the most, and most of this discovery was based on chasing beers around the city. Well, more like unsuccessfully chasing them, but whatever.

 

The guys at my usual bottle shop are pretty fed up and gave me the whole 'Can you believe 200 people call me for 12 bottles of beer! It gets worse every time whether it's this or Bourbon County or KBS! We just want it to go to our good customers, the ones who pay our rent.' I got my bottle, but I bought $50+ of other stuff since I like these guys and feel like they go through an awful lot of grief to sell a $25 bottle of beer. I really get sick of 'the game', but I think there are a great many of us who won't soon kick this affliction.

 

Maybe one day beer sales will available on amazon and put all these whiny small business owners out of business.

 

Don't know if it's still available, but Beer Temple was selling it for $20.99 today. Seems like that's on the low end of prices mentioned, but that's no surprise; they just sell on margin with no "rare" markups and no surprises. What an awesome store and awesome people. And to tag along, kristina at West Lakeview is the same way, especially with her whiskeys, which she could mark up more but doesn't. I appreciate every place that doesn't try to rip me off, since so many stores will try.

 

This is definitely a topic that generates strong feelings from both beer sellers and buyers. Ultimately, both sellers and buyers engage in behavior that generates annoyance on both sides of the table and prevents people from enjoying good beer.

Buyers annoy sellers by:

1. Acting like jackasses/sore losers. Don't get butthurt and post angry posts like "omg binnys worst, didn't get beer because <insert arbitrary blame on store>". Sometimes the store is at fault, but other times people post up mad because they didn't get the whale of the day due to limited supply. Shit happens, it's not that serious.
2. Calling in repeatedly on the same day to see if a beer is in. "ANY1 GOT ZOMBI3 DUST?!?!!?".
3. Hoarding. This is the most scumbag behavior out of the whole list. There is no reason why you need to buy out a store's entire allotment of rare beer (see seller list #3) just because you want to post a #humblebrag photo on instagram.

Sellers annoy buyers by:

1. Not communicating with their customers, and then complaining about people inquiring about limited release beer.
2. Acting like their liquor store is an ultra exclusive club that is to only be patronized by their 'members'.
3. Not enforcing bottle limits for ultra-rare beer releases.

Every seller that does not want to be annoyed by calls should make everyone listen to an automated message:

• We do not have zombie dust.
• We do not have <wale of choice>
• We do not know when we are getting <wale of choice> in.
• If you ask about any of the above, we will hang up on you as a matter of principle.

TL;DR People need to stop this hunger games shit, it's getting in the way of everyone enjoying good beer.