Ale Asylum - New Beer

More definitive answers from a different section of the FAQ. Definitely no bottle sharing or beer trading.

 

Wow – this Ferment Dissent thing is an epic fail on the part of Ale Asylum. Apparently they don't realize that you can't just decide that you're going to have a highly-sought-after high-end beer release and everyone will go along with it – you actually have to establish a track record releasing high-end beers worth seeking first.

 

They'll probably still have plenty of local people who will attend. Madison is still very much the locavore town. It's like a beer-related farmer's market-type event.

It's that most of the people (hardcore beer geeks) who go to Darkness Day and Dark Lord Day (and Central Waters' Anniversary parties) who won't, and it seems clear that Ale Asylum want no part of that, anyway, if they're not allowing outside bottles and glassware to be bought into the festival. But it's not going to help their standing as a brewery amongst people who take craft beer a bit more seriously than the average person.

 

The monetization of craft beer, y'all.

 

Yeah, I'll be curious to see how this plays out. I can't really tell who the festival is supposed to appeal to. Since it has no appeal for me, I've decided to worry about the other question: do I want to drop $43 for two bottles of beer that may or may not be incredible?
I can think of multiple reasons not to (primarily, calculating other beer I could buy for that), and a few bad reasons why I'm probably going to (it's only slightly more than I've spent on other beers; what if it's really good?; everyone's been saying Ale Asylum is too boring, shouldn't we support them when they try something new?).
Hopefully I'm still indecisive on Monday and it sells out before I buy any.

 

Admission to the event is $43. The way I read it originally, I though that include all the Asylum beer you wanted for the day. I thought that was ridiculous in itself. Turns out, the $43 is for 1 glass of each Dissent/Descent, a pint glass, and the right to listen to the band. If you want additional beer, you must purchase beers tickets there to get it.

 

Looks like Impending Decent has a decent rating

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/694/146366/

Yes, Ale Asylum has permission to use the name.

 

It says a sample, I doubt it is a full pour. Forty bucks is the going rate for most beer fests around here.

 

A beer festival, sure. I gladly pay 60 for GTOMW for good reason. I can understand paying $40+ other smaller but similar fests. But a brewery's party is a different thing man. I've never paid admission over $5 to a brewery's own party. Call me cheap, but I don't see any reason why AA should charge this. I don't think I'm alone in thinking that.

 

Yea, I was unclear. I was trying to say charging $40 for admission and then charging per-beer (rather than an inclusive beer fest) isn't going to fly around here.

 

BA Speedway goes on sale the same morning via BPT. For $120 (plus shipping via proxy) you can land 4 bottles. That's the same amount you'd pay for 2 sets of Bomber Bottles and the festival ticket.

I know which I'll be spending my money on.

 

Also noteworthy that Rev Horton Heat is playing the majestic less than a month later, after playing the High Noon somewhat recently, and the majestic show has been announced for a while. Tickets are $25.

 

You can't just manufacture hype. Unless they for some reason think this is as good as any other big release. (CW 16 and 17 were definitely not 20 bucks a bottle and way better and barrel aged)

 

Man. Remember the days when a breweries would set up an on-site release day, sell the bottles at a reasonable price, hire a band to play, and not charge admission? Now that's how you get some hype behind a beer.

 

Response from the founders to me on their FB page when asking about the prices and weird difference between 30 extra bucks for band and pours when 10 dollars for DD.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the $40 festival ticket:

$25 is the typical ticket price of Reverend Horton Heat ticket
$5 Commemorative 16 oz. logo glass, same price as most breweries charge
$12 (2) 6 oz pours of a premium release beer, typically $1 or more/ounce
Overhead: staff, security, tents, portas, etc
Access to one-of-a-kind aged releases and vertical tastings
FREE PERKS throughout the festival

The $10 DD ticket covers the band plus unlimited soda during the festival (this is pretty standard pricing), and who can argue with giving a discount to those fine people making sure their companions get home safe?

As far as the bomber bottle pricing goes, these Imperial Stouts have a much higher ingredient cost (as in a hefty malt bill) than associated with our year-round or seasonal releases. We are not in the market of tossing overpriced (under quality) beers out into the market that we don’t stand behind. We truly hope you decide to purchase a set or two so you can be as excited with how they turned out as we are!

Hopefully this allays any frustrations or concerns you have. We’re not in this to walk away with a huge sack of cash. We’re in this to provide a unique experience for our customers.

Cheers,
Otto Dilba and Dean Coffey
(Ale Asylum Co-Founders)

 

Sounds to me like their band choice is what might price them out of success. I can go see Primus at The Rave for less than $20, so I sure wouldn't pay $25 to see some band I've never heard of. Obviously many other people have heard of that guy, but do they want to pay that premium while at a beer event?

Find a talented local band to play for cheap or for free, chop that $25 off the ticket price, and I bet it will be a much better turnout. Just my $0.02.

 

That's the part I don't really understand. Why bring in a touring band? As mentioned before, they play in Madison less than a month later, so you aren't going to bring in people for the band specifically.

I'm not a live music person and don't have any clue what Psychobilly music is, so it really holds no draw for me outside of the beer, and I'm not going to pay $40 for two pours of an unknown beer, a pint glass, and the opportunity to pay for other beer.

In my opinion, they're likely going to need to bring a pin of each beer to GTMW to build some hype.

 

So...accepting this at face value...this is evidently primarily a profit-making venture on the part of Ale Asylum, not a way of promoting their beer or brewery. In that light, $40 makes a little more sense. I'm still definitely not going and I suspect they're going to end up losing money (and face) on the event, but it does make a certain kind of sense.

 

Absolutely agree here. Seems like it's a great way to get rid of glassware. It's also dumb that they say $1 per ounce of a premium beer just because they think it's premium. It's new. It's not premium yet.

 

Is anyone else not surprised that their tickets have not sold out yet?