Goose Island Cthulhu

Judging by the comments on how this release was handled, and the way the lines were for past releases, I assume it was the former.

 

Except that doesn't make a ton of sense. If you have the line start at the back of the building, it's literally in a shitty industrial alley, away from all the stores.

There's an easy way to do it. You give a ticket when you arrive, and then you turn that ticket in while in line to get a wristband. That way, you can still have people buying stuff in the brewpub.

 

I'm not disagreeing with you, but that's not the way the releases I've been to (I skipped Cherry Run and Big Train) have gone. The line always gets in the way of the...is it a furniture place? Not to mention that parking gets tough for people going to Patagonia, BBB, etc.

I would hope they're going to take a look in the near future at how these releases are organized, though.

 

Oh, I agree.

I'm just saying that it really only takes 10 seconds of prep to get the line started in the back of the building as opposed to the front.

 

Assuming there are releases in the future. Does anyone know what the InBev sale and the brewpub -> taproom thing means as far as bottle releases go? Like, can they still bottle/sell stuff brewed on site, or... ?

 

I have wondered the same thing, and am guessing we'll have to just wait and see.

As far as the line aspect, I could see them not wanting it to be outside at all. If you stay in the shopping area, then the BBB/Patagonia stores & customers probably won't like it. If you have it go up north on Marcey Street in the industrial area, there isn't really any sidewalk space by GI there, so it could be a dangerous situation with the traffic. Plus, they want those people inside the brewpub buying beer & food.

My solution would be to keep a line inside, either by having a line form starting at the door to the bottle sales area and then wrap around the inside somehow. Or, give out numbered tickets as people arrive beginning at Noon or 3 or something. Of course, they may not feel the need to do it - they are getting their $$ either way, but based on their Twitter/IG response, I think they recognize it needs to be done better than it was this week.

 

I don't see why they wouldn't be able to; I assume it will be a situation like Half Acre's. I know that the brewpub will no longer be allowed to sell hard liquor/things not made on-premises, but I would imagine bottle/growler sales will be unaffected.

Take that with a grain of salt though, since I have no industry or law experience; just the experience of being a space alien who loves beer.

 

Like I said, you get a ticket when you come in. Be it 3pm or whatever. You then chill out until the line starts at 5.30 outside (like they did with previous releases). At that time, they need to check ids/give wristbands. In order to get a wristband, you must turn in the ticket you received earlier.


And really, this only needs to be taken into account if they're doing a ba stout. If it's another Ba brown ale or sour, it'll be around, and not have a giant demand.

 

So there's no candy cane Cthluhu this year. I wonder if the anniversary party and normal events will continue under new ownership.

 

I've always been curious why they never opened up bottle sales first to the top repeat beer-drinking customers - the folks who completed the additional 25 beers on top of the MBA program. (The same group who can take home howlers of just about any beer on tap, with a few exceptions). Wouldn't that be "rewarding" the folks who drink the most beer first, and getting away from those who stop in only on big event days and then quickly resell the bottles for a 700%+ markup?

 

My limited understanding is that laws for breweries are different depending on barrels/year produced. So, InBev Clybourn will operate under different rules.

 

Honestly, after this past year's version, I'm ready for something similar but new. I wasn't blown away this year like I have been in past years. But yeah, hopefully it's business as usual in general (they've said it will be, but you know how that is).

That's a good point, I suppose. I wonder if there's an exception when a brewery is owned by a larger brewery? If so, Clybourn may still be unaffected (and I hope that that's the case).

 

Well, after talking to a couple of people that I know that have worked there for quite awhile, they seemed to think that things would be mostly unchanged. It sounds like John Hall will still be running things or at the very least very much involved. They know that the liquor sales will be a thing of the past, but other than that they don't anticipate anything changing. Everyone thought that bottle releases would continue and heck, they have new bottles this year...so they have to use them, right? My only worry is if AB/InBev was interested in doing them, why haven't we seen something come out of Fulton St. since they opened? Cuvee of Darkness would have been a perfect one to start with. Then again, maybe this will be the kick in the pants that Fulton St. needs.

If I had to guess, the sale of Clybourn to AB/InBev was agreed on with the original sale to at least the extent that AB/InBev had first rights of refusal. They just had to wait for the laws to get changed and thus AB has had plenty of time to figure this one out.

 

I don't think so? Someone versed in the law around these things (Chris Quinn, Josh Noel, Vav) would probably know.

We'll see. Good to know that it's mostly unchanged, even if the no wine/liquor thing rules out going there with non-beer people.

 

The no-line thing was a nice cash grab. You sit, you order things, *boom,* revenue for the brewpub.

 

Cthulhu is a great beer, but you gotta just lol, and I mean lol, with the price and action it took took to acquire this beer, and then what people are asking for in trades, when the objectively better BCBS is so readily available in this city. Just lol.

 

This is kinda what I was thinking. I liked the beer, but I prefer a regular BCBS over it. Yes, I went to try to get one because I do enjoy it, but the odds of me trading my Prop or Vanilla Rye for it are as likely as pigs flying.

 

I actually prefer it to regular BCBS, but I can't see trading a variant for Cthulhu, despite the objectively better name, and subjectively cooler bottle (dat blue wax!).

 

I'm not so sure that's objective.

 

Clearly you have not seen the galactic and mind-bending wonders of the Great Old One, then...