Introducing Jester King 2016 SPON — Méthode Gueuze

How about releasing it for onsite consumption only? Get rid of the mules in one fell swoop, and make it last throughout the year.

 

The release weekend is going to be ridiculous either way, given this advanced notice, but I do agree with @starkmarvelo in that only bottles-to-go should be sold that weekend. How many will be the question though. One month is way too much time for hoarders and traders to gather their mules and be ready to buy by the the case, so low limits/pp will probably be the only way to go at this point. Would have been nice to have bottles available to go for more than a single weekend.

I love the idea of spacing this release out for onsite consumption and would definitely take advantage of that as much as possible. As for the onsite bottles, they could be allocated at JK's discretion and made clear on the menu for that weekend. Bottles could even be allocated per day for onsite. This could be based on remaining inventory, holiday weekend, coincinding with another release, whatever. So there could be 100, 50 or zero, Jeff's call. That way the patron knows how many bottles there are available for that day/weekend and can plan accordingly if that interests them.

The lottery deal is a good idea in general, but could become a huge headache over time for the JK crew to keep up with. And what about the local who goes out there 3 weekends a month, but never hits the lottery? You can't make everyone happy in the end, but spacing the bottles out as much as possible will ensure that (most) everyone gets a slice.

 

This goes entirely against my own self-interest, but if you want the bottles to last a year, do not sell any of them to-go.

Btw, had a few pours of Spon 1 at GABF...and y'all hit this one out of the park.

 

Yeah this was really good at GABF. Can't wait to get a bottle. Hopefully the weather will be much cooler in a few weeks.

 

Just don't do a lottery. I think it's unrealistic to have it for 12 months, however, you could buy a bell and whenever you want to open a few bottles, ring the SPON bell, on random days at random times.
The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning to "sell all the small bottles that first weekend, 2 per. Keep the 7000 large bottles for on site as long as you have the space (I'm a ok buying big bottles for the record). Pouring out of small bottles seems like a waste of bottles.

 

Make sure you have it thru the first weekend of December, going to be there for the first time

 

If Jeff allocates 60 bottles per weekend for onsite consumption, that's approximately 3100 bottles, or a bit more than 1/4 of the entire allotment. That certainly makes his goal of having it on the menu for a year feasible. Some weekends the SPON may sell out on Friday night and they'll be no more till next Friday, but it still comes back to the menu the following week.

 

I don't plan on responding to a cow bell for beer; but I wholeheartedly agree with selling all of the small bottles up-front; I'd like to get *that* storm out of the way.

I also like the idea of on-site-only 750mL bottles. I think it enhances the experience; having the beer at the place it was made helps bind the connection. Much like getting to sample Gueuze _at_ Cantillon is something much greater than just having tasted Cantillon thousands of miles from the brewery. If you've been there, then you can't help but notice that the *beer* captures the smell of the brewery and the surrounding area.

 

I would suggest holding dancing competitions every day at the brewery. Whoever dances the best without being ridiculous gets the chance to purchase a bottle. Hula hoops and similar props will warrant automatic disqualification. The winner would be decided by the public's applause.
This is the best idea because of several factors: A. It helps keeping Austin weird; 2. It will encourage hoarders to bring mules disguised as general public to applaud for them when they dance. This will highlight the absurdity of the muleing practices, and eventually will make them ashamed of themselves, and thus discouraging mules in the future; and 4. Because dancing for beer.

On a more serious note, I would sell the small bottles on site and use the larger bottles to go. Personal preference on this one I guess, but if I purchase some Spon to go, I will certainly be sharing it with other friends.

 

Thanks for all of these replies! I look forward to digging into them and coming up with our plan. Your feedback is much appreciated.

 

You just really want bottles lol

 

Am I the only one reading this as they did four blends of spontan (4 separate releases) and the total of all four blends are the 7k and 4.5k bottles?

"We did four 2016 SPON -- Methode Gueuze blends. From those blends, we have about 7,000 bottles (750ml) and 4,500 bottles (375ml). "

So each spontan release count would be around 1,100 375ml and 1,750 750 ml if they're all pretty equal?

 

Hey, that's a fair statement, thanks for reading my giant post!

My post was overblown and I don't really know what I was getting at exactly, but basically I just really don't like lotteries. A lottery not only has to be regulated with a bunch of rules etc. but the worst thing about it is that games of chance become a constant headache/stress factor because let's be real, you have no control and there's a chance you won't get any ever. And everyone can play without any commitment. Lines suck but at least there's a clear reward/commitment involved.

I know there's no solution that makes everyone happy and people will always bitch, so I def don't want to be that guy, and I know that JK will figure out what's best for them, but I think limits/allotments or other alternatives are always preferable to lottery/on site consumption only for me and I just wanted to voice that. There are tons of desirable beers released every year and I think one of the reasons we don't see too much lottery/on site only is because getting to take away bottles/cans is one of the best parts, and it sucks to lose that.

I don't have the answers though. I think 1 person limit is pretty effective, honestly. I have no clue how people get their mules (my gf is not willing to wait in line for two hours so I can buy beer, and my friends would want to keep theirs) but 1 pp seems like a pretty good deterrent. 900 bottles of Aurelian lasted the whole weekend with 1pp (granted that was partially summer over saturation).

Although yeah, to be fair, you're def right, I do really want a couple bottles of this for my fridge lol.

 

I think the 60 bottles per week for onsite is a great idea. Also allows for adjusting on the fly the first couple of months. $45 bucks a bottle selling out mid day Saturday week in-week out? Up it to $55. Wait a few weeks and see how the increase changes purchasing trends.

 

I don't think those are absurd price points. SPON should be priced more like wine, because in the time, method and resources used to make it, it is indeed more like wine.

 

The real reason it would be priced that high is demand. That's several times the price of traditional lambic at the source.

 

IMO, Previous multiple day releases like Atrial where less chaotic than the single day releases. But this was announced 1 month in advance and I have seen online a large amount of people making their travel arrangements around the release and driving from out of state. I think this will be the craziest release in terms of how the people are going to behave. As you guys have seen in Gin Nocturn, Sherry Atrial releases people where early and waiting in line for 3hrs +. I agree with the wristband with the beer logo. I think with 2pp (1x750mL) and keep small ones for on site consuption, price always make a big impact but I dont think it will with SPON. Keeping the friday release at 4pm was way better than the noon release. So holding 60 monthly for 1 year, this will be sold faster than Ginturn and Shatrial, keeping everyone on sync through twitter has worked great, it will end up on how JK will handle the thousands of people on a friday evening. IMO silent releases are better it has worked perfectly for Side Project, Perennial, Toppling Goliath etc. Dont do online ticketing, being part of other limited beer releases this year with eventbrite, bpt and others it has been bad because they cant handle the traffic and lottery is always horrible.

 

I have been confused by that as well

 

Its a blend of all years.

 

Being local, it's certainly my preference as well. It's good to see that other breweries with in-demand beer have been doing similar things as well.

I've always felt that the silent release rewards the dedicated JK drinkers who show up weekend after weekend because it's a great place to be to drink great beer.