New to Ohio (2016)

What do they mean by "Triple...Imperial Stout"? Is it necessary to call it a triple anything? That's like triple IPAs. Technically, there is no such style.

So to understand some people's anger or frustration or whathaveyou regarding Hoppin' Frog and their pricing, you have to understand some back story related to some of their releases and further "vintage" releases. Personally, what pissed me and quite a few other people off, was when they did a Van Wink vintage release not that long ago. Initially, BORIS Van Wink was a Black Friday release in 2014. There were a lot of people shut out of that beer on that specific day, which was frigid cold with hours of waiting. Nearly a year later (sorry if my timing is off), Fred and HF conducted a "vintage" release of the '14 BORIS Van Wink and they did so at a ridiculously inflated price of ~$60 per bottle (someone correct me if I'm off here) RETAIL!!!. This poses, IMO, several problems, specifically related to customer service and honest business practices. The public who were in attendance for the BVW release and were shutout of any were lied to about the actual availability of the product. If the brewery had come out and said that they were intentionally reserving some bottles for a release at a later date, perhaps it wouldn't be that big of deal. But that was not the case. In addition to that, I'm not a big fan of any brewery reserving any bottles and then retailing them at secondary market pricing. Aging beers once out of barrels has been thrown into question by a lot of people in the industry. How does the public know that these vintage bottles were properly stored. If collectors want to shelf and age beers then trade them and so on, that's all well and good (I as well as many of you are beer traders). We consumers can do what we want with the beers we purchase, but for a brewery to age bottles then sell them at a huge mark up? Im not really a huge supporter of.

So, with all that said, the pricing across their line of beers is, as you have stated, competitive and, in some cases, less per ounce than other beers in the market such as Jackie O's Dark App and Oil, etc. However, the majority of their beers, all of which are in bomber format, have price points that are easy to pass up. Yes, most of their dark beers (read BORIS/DORIS/Café/etc) are good beers and worth the price, but Turbo Shandy, King Gose, all of their IPAs, and so on are not. Additionally, as far as supporting local breweries go, it's not always about just the beer, but also about the people who run these establishments, which goes hand in hand with their business practices, marketing and so on. Northeast Ohio has a wealth of good breweries who make good beer and are run by good people who sell their products at fair prices. The HF BVW deal upset a good deal of people and I feel that that has left a bitter taste in people's mouth, which lends itself to the ongoing negativity towards this brewery.

Just my 2 cents. Thanks for reading

 

That was Black Friday 2013 and was mentioned recently in this discussion. They jacked up the price on "vintage" BVW just 6 months after the initial release. Don't forget about Freds dad telling everyone in line on Black Friday that there's no way you're getting any so you should leave! When he said that, I went into the taproom for a couple beers, came back out maybe 1-1.5 hours later and there was no line because they told everyone to leave. There were 2-3 cases left when I got mine.

Edit: okay so maybe there were like 7-8 cases left. This picture was taken at 3pm on 11/29/13. Can't figure out how to get the picture to show up so I added a link. I fully expect to be permanently banned from the Taproom for posting this. HF, if you guys see this, I'm the guy on the right in my av.

https://imgur.com/a/I5HSX

 

I just have to say, I heard a lot of gripes about that day, but I didn't know it was that bad. I say I was there, but I pulled in to the lot, and immediately turned around. I did not expect that kind of crowd and I had a lot of other stuff to get done that day, needless to say I didn't stick around and didn't get any bottles. As I've said there have been plenty of other opportunities to try BVW on draft since then, but that definitely clears things up. I hope they have learned quite a bit from that experience, I feel like they have, but there really hasn't been a comparable release since then.

 

SS, thanks for the clarification. Wow, that was 2013?!?! Time flies. In any case, I didn't even go that release. I had a mule then saw the vintage release months later and was somewhat disheartened by it.

 

Sorry all for the added "HF pricing" thread and now back to New to Ohio thread

Has BB Coffee Oil hit NEO yet? Vacation starts at 730pm tonight and I need to hunt this down!!

 

The Jackie O's Facebook page and Instagram account have conflicting comments about what is being distributed, but I'm pretty sure BB coffee oil will not be distributed.

 

DAMMIT!!!!

 

Not new to ohio, but is anyone from ohio heading to beer on the bay in erie tomorrow? I go every year and it's always a blast. I tried to post about it in the PA forum, but nobody replied. Definitely not a connoisseur event, but I like getting after some of the local erie stuff that doesn't get distributed near cleveland. Always some good food, a band playing, and right on the water.

 

I look at HF a little differently. I'm more with @miketd on their pricing. They had bombers on shelves before you ever saw anything from Jackie Os, or most breweries in the area. Their bomber pricing has been somewhat the same over the past 5+ years or so. The rest of the market had finally caught up to their pricing. But for years they were the most expensive product on the shelf.

Sprinkle in some shitty customer service. Whammo. Nobody likes you. When your business has a bad image that's hard to shake. Some people never let that go. Just ask Tom Brady about that one.

 

New England just can't quit him though, they're still rabidly defensive of their supermodel QB Those people man...so mellow and polite, until you bring up the Brady bunch!

 

I was standing next to Fred's dad when he told people essentially "you won't get any" after the 200th person in line or whatever the number was. People in line started relaying that message to new people who started showing up. Also, Fred told his dad "don't tell people that". That's precisely what happened. I'm not a big fan of HF and their sell global, rip local policies, but Fred's Dad was kind of to blame for the "you won't get any" stuff. He had no clue what he was doing. So in retrospect...yadda yadda yadda.

My buddy and I also updated HF's Facebook page that day b/c Fred's Dad didn't know how to edit a post he made. So we all kind of fell victim to a 70 year old dude....kind of talking some stuff. So there's that. My 2 cents.

 

Has anybody in Columbus been able to find Bodhi today?

 

The places I frequent normally get drops on Tues. I suggest calling Andersons on Sawmill; haven't been there in awhile, but they used to see Monday deliveries.

 

Andersons is selling it tomorrow one 4 pack per person starting at 10:30am.

 

That's lame. It's a year round release, plus it is being delivered today according to Columbus Brewing.

 

I imagine it will be limited like this for the first few months / releases. Too many people have been wanting this for so long stores don't want just a few people to buy of their allotment.

 

Hate to hear that; would not surprise me if people are waiting at the doors prior to open (8AM)

 

This is what's it unfortunately come to, waiting in line for 2 hours to buy the same beer that you can buy at the bar across the street

 

I'd assume they have enough to make distro to all the finer bottle shops around Columbus. One 4pk/person is a good limit and will make it available for those in the know. I can't say I'd wait in line for a botted beer that I've had on tap for years... Those who do are only looking to trade it and get a trade premium on the secondary market.

 

Anyone know if places like Kroger / Giant Eagle / Whole Foods will get Bohdi tomorrow?