BA Peche Mortel

It's their industry, they should be able to assess that this is a product that's in high demand. If you think successful companies don't have their finger on the pulse of the market in which they operate, well, I don't know what to tell you. If it caught them by surprise, so be it, but it's, as I said already, a rookie mistake that shouldn't happen again.

48 bottles is a ridiculous amount for a limited release, that much is clear. They could've limited it to way, way less per person and have more people able to buy it in person or even distribute it in small amounts to select locations throughout the province to create those lineups in more places than one.

There's no better marketing for any company than a lineup at the door. IMO, it would've given them more exposure, would've allowed more people to enjoy a limited offering from one of their favourite breweries all while not giving people a reason to complain as you see someone struggling to make it back to his car with 2 24's and whatever else they got while being told they're out.

 

DDC treated loyal customers horribly. We arrived at noon, and already there were about 150 people in front of us. I loathe waiting in line for beer - the communists forced people to do that for bread, milk, etc. It's an early 20th century, communist way of rationing. Many breweries, such as Westbrook, have an online lottery system. That is fair. Everyone has the same chance. People should be allowed to prepay online (credit card, Interac, PayPal) and just pick up the order.

We can argue about "rookie" moves till the end of the universe, and I don't think that's productive. DDC can and should be criticized for:
- Only one (1) outhouse, that was outside. That is disgraceful. Why did they not have a couple inside and a couple outside? It forced those of inside to fight through a crown just to get outside, wait in a separate line (!), do our business, and have to fight to get back in.
- No food trucks in the parking lot. A clear miss on DDC's part. It's their private property; why not have a few trucks to let people eat while waiting?
- One (1) security guard at the front. A second guard, at the very least, should have been stationed at the exterior door - to ensure it remained closed and not opened by idiots who could not get inside anyway, but still kept it open. In no time, the inside area dropped close to outside temp of -7C.
- Not having a lower initial limit on Peche Bourbon. If you set it at, say, 12 bottles, it is more fair and democratic. If you want more, then get back into the line. I do not blame people who took 48 Peche. It was their democratic right to do so.

I was happy to emerge with some bottles of L'Exorciste and Solstice d'Hiver BBA, but do not feel that overall, it was worth the time and effort. I would not patronize DDC again in St Jerome unless they announced lower limits.

 

I had no idea this release was such a shit-show.

Brown Paper Tickets is the website most breweries use here in San Diego for coveted releases. It makes buying beer pretty easy, although Alesmith's Velvet Speedway sold out in 8 seconds with 100,000 pings to the site.

I wonder why Canadian breweries don't do this...

 

Holy f.... could you sound more entitled? I'm sure when you saw the line you didn't turn around, did you? But you loathe it so much. It must have killed you to wait for a luxury item.
Define loyal customers? Crapping on them is NOT loyal. Because you give them your business on any regularity entitles you to nothing. Welcome to 2016. Beer releases all require hoops that must be jumped through. Don't like it? Quit beer. Or buy stuff on the shelf.

Lots of brewers make mistakes or do not forecast accurately for releases. I went to a release recently where they placed a NO LIMIT on cases of the featured beer and one guy bought 26 cases. Did the brewery anticipate that? Of course not. Did they set limits for the next time? Sure did. The brewers have a pulse on the industry to a point, but many do not pay attention to the beer geeks forums, blogs and fansites.

Less than 48 bottles would have made it an even longer day for the staff and the patrons. Sure, more beer spread out but people would have been waiting MUCH longer for all those additional transactions.
Distribute those beers? Thats asking for trouble. All those people showing up should have first chance before the open market. IF there were leftovers that may be a safe course of action.

Lineups create hype and hype creates lineups. No question having a busy release only helps DDC. If they lose a few fans, well, they were never true fans to begin with.

 

You're very agitated. I'll reply but then you're on your own as it seems any kind of rational dialogue with you will be impossible.

In my opinion, people who showed up only to leave empty handed after a lenghty wait have a reason to be upset as by all accounts, it was a bit of a mickey mouse release. Now between the overly upset people on Facebook and the great defenders of the DDC brand (feel free to include yourself here), there's a solution so that for the next release, they can prepare accordingly.

It's not like I expect DDC to have it all figured out already eith the lineups, they're not Jordan brand or anything, but the craft beer industry growing exponentially at tge rate that it is, there's bound to be these kinds of growing pains, learn on the fly type of thing. Heck, even they realized that midway through the thing.

I think in terms of quantities (limits) and other amenities that should be at such a lenghty release, DDC realized they'll have to be better prepared next time. Nothing more than an honest mistake.

 

Are there any online ticket/purchase solutions that DDC could employ? The Southern California breweries that get it use Brown Paper Tickets or Eventbrite and they've made releases so much easier to deal with. Someone used the excuse that folks need to get hip to how beer is done in 2016, well, by that same logic, breweries need to get hip to how to make releases as painless as possible for all parties involved. Also, 2 cases of beer as the limit? GTFOOH, only an apologist would defend that.

 

Thank you for telling me how I feel, lol.
Agitated, no. Annoyed by entitled whiners, yes.

Everyone is a know-it-all. Lower limits. More bathrooms. Serve food. Etc, etc.
Great to see all the Monday morning QB's put their valuable $0.02 in.

"Mickey mouse" release. Nice talk.
While I will defend DDC on most stuff I will agree that bathroom facilities may have been underestimated. But I will defend their limit choices. They want to sell bottles and get back to the celebration and their regular job. Spending the afternoon hustling their butts off only to come home to read the ingratitude from so many is terribly insulting.

 

Agreed, but how many brewers actually do this? What percentage? Less than 5%?
Case limit is up to the brewer. Not you. Not I. I've already noted occasions and releases with NO LIMITS and massive lineups.
This isn't Cali. Maybe you guys just can't help yourselves over there. Limits and tickets must be needed to instill some for of civility I suppose.

 

I have yet to see anything like this at an Ontario release. That said, it is only in the past year or so, that the line-ups have started to get anywhere close to "crazy," and even saying that is a bit of a stretch. On Black Friday, the line for BC Vanilla Rye wasn't long enough to sell out without having the first 30 or so in the original line getting back in line for seconds. Bellwoods saw a bit of line for Motley Cru this year, but it was an hour wait at worst. I'm guessing we are still a few years away from needing this kind of system.

That said, i'm guessing the negative reaction to the DDC event will likely see them lower limits next year

 

That release, on that day, is their job.

Also, DDC themselves admitted that they dropped the ball and vowed for better limits etc next time. So not sure what you're going on about.

 

That is their job? Wow. Glad I don't have you as a boss. The Jerk_Store called....
Their job is to brew beer and sell it to the best of their ability. Like anyone. Are they perfect? No. Is any brewery? No. But according to some there is no excuse or room for imperfection. Burn them!!!!!

What stance would DDC take with the hoards and their burning torches? Of course they are going to put their best foot forward. Otherwise you'll have another Cigar City Huna day 2014 mess on your hands.

 

Why is everything hyperboles? You're clearly too emotional to discuss this properly. Anyway, keep at it by yourself. You're alone in this line of thinking pal. Cheers

 

Not really.
There are plenty who have similar thoughts as me. Plenty who were at the release and had a great time too. Of course they were there early enough to get what they want.
They wanted it more than many others and in turn were rewarded with a great day. Thats how things go these days. You put in the time you get your due.
They do not have the gross sense of entitlement that everyone else seems to have.

 

From a distance it seems DDC themselves were surprised by the number of people at this release. Semantically, you could argue all day whether they should have had the foresight to make this a ticketed release with lower limits but at the end of the day they did not, for better or worse (Anybody I talked to who was not near the front of the line would argue for the worse). If I waited all day and got shut out I'd be ticked too, but I cannot begrudge somebody who woke up at 5 AM to be first in line for this type of release. I know a few people who saw the writing on the wall after many hours of waiting and said screw it.

My guess is next time around this release is ticketed. From Damon to Huna, Double-barrel anything releases seem to bring out the worst is us.

 

The number of breweries that utilize online sales is growing. Off the top of my head, there's Alesmith, Modern Times, Lost Abbey, FiftyFifty, Bruery, Highland Park, Monkish, and Smog City--all in-demand and respected breweries. They realize they can foster goodwill by streamlining sales so that customers can spend more time enjoying their beer in a tasting room instead of spending hours in line. You won't be defending first-come first-served in person releases (with 2 case limits) once you have to start waiting overnight (through the elements).

 

I'm not defending anything. I have many opportunities to go to overnight releases (4 Elf) which I did not do because the wait wasn't worth it to me and I have family that is more important. There is also day long craziness at DLD which I also skip year after year. These are choices I make knowing what would be involved based on previous years, intel from friends who have gone, etc.
I have personally waited at ungodly hours for first-come first-served releases (Kuhnhenn, Odd Side). I have an understanding of what goes down, how things work or what doesn't work, and every situation is unique.
One thing for sure is there is no perfect solution or silver bullet for bottle releases.

Bottom line is, people who are aware saw this coming. They made the effort to get what they wanted. Those who are oblivious to the demand and were shut out (of a couple beers, there were other beers available) are the ones whining. Those are the self-riteous entitled people I have zero empathy for.

I agree that online ticketing is the way to go but is a very slow progression for a lot of brewers (for various reasons). DDC has a very young and inconsistent barrel program as compared to many brewers who have been around as long (or are newer). There is demand, but its obviously taking off moreso now with the #newmoney scene even in Quebec.
Only ticket sales are great if you have a job that allows you to be online when the tickets drop, or are quick triggered to jump on tickets. Some people get shut out thereby its not perfect.

 

It's certainly not a perfect solution, but one that eliminates much unnecessary stress (and wasted hours) should you get shut out. Imagine waiting hours and still come up empty because of line-cutting and individuals buying excess amounts because of obligations to their mule network. I prefer 5-10 minutes of wasted time over several hours.

I agree that those who really want a product make the effort to do so, but that's a slippery slope that opens up the scenario to extreme forms of measures taken. I'd much prefer breweries acknowledge the potential train wrecks and take the appropriate steps to minimize them. Shit shows from all over are well-documented by now so there's really no excuse at this point.

 

Valid points. Just not so sure that every brewer reads each release thread on BA/RB/etc. Some don't care.
I think its fair to say that Quebec doesn't have releases like this... hell, nowhere in Canada has releases like this. Bellwoods is the only thing that might compare and even then their BOYD release was what, a 3 hr long line? Thats nothing. There was a Vanilla Rye release at an LCBO in Toronto on Black Friday.... there was a 1 bottle limit, but enough that some people went through twice. Its not something that people are accustomed to here... yet.... but the writing is definitely on the wall. Brewers just need to read it.

 

Well, i was there at 8:30am, first one on the scene. Went for a coffee and came back and about dozen ahead of me, no biggie. Not sure about the fighting to the portapotty? Waited like 10 min max and that was like at 2:30pm and had no troubles really getting back to my spot. I don't think i'll wait that long again though but having been shut out last year of Peche Mortel Bourbon, made sure to get some this year. And no, i didn't take anywhere near 48 lol.

That said, DDC should have made the limit at like 12 to allow more people to have some since it was obvious that was the main beer people were going for. Inversely, people should have known there was gonna be a long line-up and adjusted accordingly. Apparently TDD's bottle release had a few hours of waiting as well and that was for a new, unknown beer. Peche Mortel Bourbon is pretty highly coveted so for sure it was gonna be long.

 

"but the writing is definitely on the wall. Brewers just need to read it."

Lol that's what I've been trying to tell you. I guess you had to figure it out for yourself

As they prepare for the next similar release accordingly, there will be less complaints. If the limits are lower, people won't complain. That's when it becomes their responsibility to show up earlier, or choose not to entirely.