Alesmith - Bottle Releases

I appreciate the proxy ability. Affords me the chance to try their beers and support them directly.

Wouldn't feel any different if I had a local brewery allowed to legally do the same.

Hope the Hawaiian is as good as I've made it sound in my head!

 

I'm in SD area that weekend but didn't get any of either, was stuck at work and could only check the web so often.

 

Got two bottles of Hawaiian can't wait to drink these, crossing my fingers they will still have BA Numbskull on the 22nd.

 

Yeah, I understand proxying serves that purpose. The thing is, I don't think any other breweries outside of California allow proxies for their releases, which is another reason why California beers tend to trade lower compared to out-of-state special releases.

 

Fair enough- but I appreciate the fact alesmith and others don't care about trade value for beers. They intended them to be bought, drank and shared.

I'm sure the whole trade value issue isn't on their radar. They have their money and sold their product.

 

There are plenty of releases in WI that allow proxies (Central Waters, Funk Factory). It's not just a California thing.

 

It definitely benefits Alesmith and out-of-state customers, but surely you can see the problem it creates for "locals." I've stopped trading because it's a pain in the ass and when I lose out on a release because of allowed proxies, it's hard not to get slightly annoyed. This is the trend, though, so I've come to accept it.

 

Didn't know that. Thanks for the heads up. BTW, any other breweries besides those two?

 

Boy that was stressful and not fun...

 

That's how I felt for Velvet... This release was cake...

 

Please no - City of the Dead was abysmal. I'll trust AleSmith knows their way around a coffee bean just fine.

 

I liked City of the Dead

 

They already ruined Velvet Speedway by using BA cold brew coffee

 

Didn't much like Velvet? All I know is that the BA beans in City basically took all the bad parts of barrel aging (sharp, astringent oak) and none of the good (rich, choco/caramel/vanilla/coconut goodness).

 

I see one bass can pull two sixers now! There really is hope of Cali beers going up in trade value.

 

Assuming it closes I'm sure he will get talked down to half a sixer with 2 months of age on it.

 

Since I can't make it to S.D. to pick up these bottle, I didn't have a dog in this fight.

But it is amusing to watch another BPT/Alesmith click fest and all its fallout.

I don't think proxies are main the problem. BA Speedway's demand is high enough and the bottle count generally low enough to cause these problems even without proxies. Although, admittedly, proxies do make it worse.

The real problem is BPT simply can not handle the flood of requests for bottles, which leads to system failures and unsatisfied customers. BPT has served us well over the years but let's face it, these BPT high demand low bottle count sales are just another shit show.

I continue to think lotteries work far better than these click fests.The Bruery's Black Tuesday public sale went off with out any problems. Its fairer to all, rather then putting emphasis on people with the best internet connection that are available at a specific time. But more importantly, they don't leave a bad taste in people's mouths like an online sale where you have bottles in your cart only to have a system failure, followed by sold out.

Even better, if you really want to reward your loyal customers, is a society/beer club. This alows the people that spend the most money at your brewery, to get guaranteed access to your most sought after beers.

Of course, Alesmith will do what it thinks is best for its business.

And I will continue to buy Alesmith beer and will even join the occasional click fest.

But at least I know its a shit show going in, so I know what to expect.

 

I just wanna know when we're gonna start seeing sixers of IPA, Nut Brown, and X in the wild. My bomber bias was strong w/ AleSmith, but this six-pack move feels like a turning point in our relationship...

 

I think you're missing a piece here - the ability to use proxies causes a huge surge in demand, which is why BPT ends up unable to handle it. Alesmith sales never crashed BPT when proxies weren't allowed, and even if you factor in increased local/regional demand, there's not enough traffic to crash BPT. Yes, it will sell out quickly, and yes, some people will still end up losing out for one reason or another, but allowing anyone across the country to take a shot at it is inherently increasing traffic, probably by at least triple or quadruple, if not more. Only BPT (and maybe Alesmith) have access to the actual numbers, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that proxies are causing a huge surge in traffic.