2016 JK Atrial Rubicite

These cellar bottles will be for onsite consumption only though, so price will have to be the thing that makes it last longer imo. Maybe $35-$40 onsite versus $20 retail? I'm not sure what the right number is.

 

Sure, nobody knows exactly how fast these things will move, but let's use Side Project as an example again. $25 for a 375. That's more than $2/oz and it's onsite only. Yes, Atrial might throw some logic out the window, but when JK already offers a ton of cheaper choices plus Stanley's, are there that many people there every day looking to pay that much for a beer? Or if there are, are they getting more than one? I could give you my personal story, but the point is that the only reason I paid $50 for two 375s was because it's likely I'll never be there again and I only bought the 2nd because the 1st was so good. Despite the two beers being two of the very best things I've ever had, I wouldn't pay that again for those two, probably, because their other beers were great too. My experience is far from universal, but I think it's closer to average for the people who would even spring for a $2/oz beer at all.

TL;DR version: I think it's cool that JK will do this, even though, as a local, I'll probably very rarely take advantage of it.

 

Agreed. You can go to Westbrook and (onsight consumption only) buy multiple variants and vintages of MC - price keeps them there. The best is pooling some cash with friends (or strangers...who knows?) for a crazy bottle and just picking it apart with likeminded folks. It would make for an even richer experience at an already awesome place if JK did something similar IMO.

 

Maybe we could get $300 bottles of Sherry Atrial

 

Slippery slope here guys... ask and ye shall receive

 

Not saying I agree with that pricing. Not saying I disagree with it either. The fact is, that pricing means those beers will be there when I visit WB in March or October or pretty much any time - with the option to buy. Spend or don't spend.

If you don't happen to make it to JK for the 1 weekend that Atrial drops, you better get out the trade bait, b/c it's done. Visit JK 15 more times that year...it won't magically appear...just sayin for the other 51 weeks of the year sell it at a premium for OSC and the BAs or roadtrippers or beer vacationers that aren't traders might get to try something amazing from Texas that otherwise they may never get to taste.

That isn't to say the non-fruited sours aren't also fantastic beers, but if you are driving crosscountry and have the time for only a handful of carefully selected breweries, wouldn't you like have the opportunity to try the best of the best?

 

So what you're saying is that breweries should charge a premium for certain bottles and hold on to them for people that are traveling and are willing to drop the money on those bottles?

 

Yes, but AFTER the bottle release. Maybe I wasn't clear on that part...suggestion would be to release 75-80% of the bottle yield per the usual Friday release, which would give locals a fair shake, and then cellar the remainder for travelers/casual visitors - if they want to pay for the convenience.

I think there is a pretty fair split out there b/w the folks that will embrace the mania and sweat it out in the lines for a discounted price and a couple of bottles to go versus the people that would rather not deal with all that by paying a bit more to try the beer...so why not appease both groups?

 

I can do that. How many would you like?

 

Just a data point but I was at Casey yesterday on his new "tour" (which is fantastic by the way, 20 people total per tour and you have the place to yourself more or less) and he broke out some cellar beer, more specifically The Cut: Merlot as an onsite bottle to purchase and drink there. When that bottle was first sold in March, it was 36 bucks but they sold it yesterday for roughly 10 bucks more for onsite consumption.

Just something to know for your decision on what to charge for onsite bottles.

 

Not that it matters much but Merlot Cut was $30 back in March. Changes the upcharge a bit. I still like the idea though, excited to see how Jester King handles it.

 

My bad, change the data point then. I must have confused the Merlot pricing with the Balaton. I know one of them was 36...

 

I think Hill Farmstead has the perfect model for onsite bottles. They have unique offerings that change from week to week, they are usually about twice what the regular retail price was. This is enough of a premium that random people won't just buy it for something to drink onsite, but not prohibitively expensive if you're making a special once a year or even once in a lifetime trip to the brewery.

 

More data, I was at de garde yesterday and they had about 12 bottles for onsite consumption, the most expensive of which was a $30 bottle of the Purple. They also had a JK poster and some barrels of a collab sitting in back that they said JK didn't want to release until after their first spontaneous was released in ~October

 

I don't see why this is thought of as a bad thing. Do they not deserve to drink this beer because they don't know all of the special things about it?

 

"Sure, you can have a pour of Sherry Barrel Atrial, right after you take this quiz to test your technical knowledge of it. We have some cold Lone Star cans on hand in the event that you fail the quiz. Good luck!"

 

Hahahahahaha

 

Lone Star > ShAtrial.

 

Nothing is wrong with the current system. Be happy we have JK around and get the beers you can when you are there. If you miss something, oh well. You'll survive. It's just beer in the end.

Why they should have to go through more effort in ensuring beer to certain people who have a membership baffles me when the beer sells itself. Why would they try to make it more exclusive when a lot of what they do (fighting TABC laws) is about making beer more readily available.

 

Can't wait to try this one