The Half-Acre thread (2018)

I don't get why tickets were so necessary in this instance. They told us how many bottles were available, and it seems like people should've been able to count to 60 to see how many people were in line.

It's not like there was some unknown amount of bottles or anything. But, maybe I would feel different if I had been there.

 

Yup, good point. The time thing is actually a big deal; I took a half day off work (before anyone rolls their eyes, I have to burn PTO before the EOY or I'll lose it, so it was mostly an excuse to do so), and still ended up getting to work late. Had I been one person later, I'd have felt like I wasted the PTO and my time. Would it have been my fault for not getting there earlier? Sure. But had I arrived 5 minutes later and been shut out, it would've been really helpful (and I'd have gotten to work on time) to know that I was probably SOL. Again, no judgement, but it'd be great to get more info going forward.

Yeah, I'll probably check out next year's event; didn't have time this year. I agree with you that they're really trying to generate excitement, and in a jaded beer city/world, I really appreciate that.

I dunno, GI Clybourn gives out tickets to their events, and tells you the exact number of tickets available. The thing is, you never know if the people in line are both buying, or if someone is keeping the other company (it does happen...rarely). And in the case of Half Acre, a lot of people clearly weren't buying both Benthic and Orin, so counting to 60 would do very little. Were it a 1 bottle pp limit, sure, count to 60 and figure you have about a 95% chance of getting shut out if you're not in that first group, but the additional bottle in this one was a curve ball.

In general I'm just a fan of tickets because they simplify things. You get a ticket, you're good. Someone jumps in front of you, doesn't matter, you already have a ticket. Something comes up and you have to hop out of line (potty emergency!), you can come back and not be upset that you lost your place, because you have a ticket. Don't wanna wait in line for 2 hours if you won't get anything? Well, do you have a ticket? No? You should probably go home. It also just makes things easier for larger bottle counts (who is going to start from the beginning of the line and count all the way to the end for something like the Benthic release, for example?), although I understand your point about Tuesday (being a smaller crowd, so you can probably do the math). Had I gone to the front of the line and counted until the back, I'd have missed out, though.

Anyway, again, don't want this to sound like sour grapes; I just like discussing it. I'd like HA to streamline their releases a little, but I'm not going to be furious at them if they don't. It's mostly just fun to talk about on these forums.

 

I think GI Clybourn and Binny's Black Friday are the only places I've ever gotten a ticket. Most times I've waited in line have been at stores, where it's an unknown amount of bottles usually, and there aren't tickets. So, it's been rare that I've gotten a ticket when waiting for something. I don't disagree that it's nice and a sense of comfort (can't tell you how relieved I was to get it on Black Friday since there were rumors of being too many people already). However I have never had a problem getting out of line and getting back in, either - you know who's in front of you and behind you and you confirm with them you'll be back (whether it's counting how many people in front or going to the bathroom or getting some food).

In the end, I don't think tickets is something I'd ever expect, even if it is nice when you do get one. I usually just make sure I'm there in time to get what I'm looking for.

 

This is basically how I feel, simple solution to implement and seems to make things streamlined. The smaller the release the easiesr the system. hell, you could figure out a printing system on the off season and use it in all future events. Critique isn't bad, if you like something and you want that place to get better, I think voice helpful ideas for improvement helps the industry as a whole. I get not wanting to be a whining baby on the BA forums but I'm not reading anything that's a bad idea here. I love HA and they are pretty good about sharing the love (getting variants of BH on draft and having cases of regular show up at Whole Foods? Dude, that's fucking rad! What and the owner is an SAIC alum like me? Sick!)

I feel even more strongly though about this with small events. Counting 60 People back doesn't work considering not everyone got 2 boxes and not everyone there was picking up a box. There's too many variables. The Abraxas release did it right, the Binny's guys counted back twice and worked double time to make sure people weren't standing in line after the counted limit was met. Same size, same bottle count, slightly different operation. Everyone felt pretty good.

People probably came out from the burbs and waited just for that chance just to be like, 'well I guess I can get a shirt?'.

Once again, no personal attacks here but if it's easy enough, plenty of other breweries are doing this why the hell not? Generally makes everyone more happy. I feel the discussion goes from, 'well I made a bet' to 'well I knew I was/wasn't getting something.' I think in terms of business it improves convenience and considering that this is pretty much a beer exclusive thing any improvements can lead to a bright and perfect future.

I don't like being spoon fed anything but something physical helps relieve confusion and reduce misinformation (every one of these events someone asks how it's working and theres always some sort of mixed communication).

We all love HA here and we'd all love to seem them have bigger and more awesome events.

 

Half Acre, if you are out there listening, just keep having cool events like the Big North... I don't need the bottles.

 

Which other ones locally do it? As I mentioned above, I've only ever seen it at GI Clybourn.

You could've counted to 60, figured there was a very small chance to get Benthic after that point, and small chance at Orin as well. I highly doubt many people were in line just hanging out. I hate to beat a dead horse with that, but this one seemed simple...again, I wasn't there, though.

 

For what it's worth, even after I was given the last bottle, the people outside didn't know for at least another 10 minutes (only a couple guys were working, and they had to take turns going outside). I think more than anything, the issues (if you call them that) were just HA underestimating demand like this asshole did *points to self*.

One thing I forgot to mention is that they are/were great about getting sample pours to the people in line nearest the taps. I got three different beers poured, and probably could've had more. Great way to wait to checkout!

 

That's true and this does matter less for a small allotment like this release. Also, Half Acre doesn't know if person 27 is getting just benthic, so in this release they can't predict it as well.

But with a release like Benthic that was a lot more bottles - it's much harder to do that. Friend of mine wasted almost 2 hours that day to be 8 people short. He knew he was close but there's just no way for him to go count exactly how many people when the line is 200+ and it's pouring rain.

 

I was like 10 or 15 people short. *pumps fist in solidarity*

 

While not exactly the same thing, but Spiteful sells tickets to their events where they guarantee 3 bottles and a pour of a beer on draft. While not totally local, and a horrible mess due to the weather, DarkLord Day went from: "hey come to the brewery and maybe get the chance to get a variant" to "hey buy our ticket, get 4 regular, one variant, food, and some swag." HA even had an whole enchilata deal which was different from previous years. I also mentioned when Abraxas was released at Binny's but they were in line letting people know when people hit their bottle limit if they would be able to buy a bottle and could get a drink on draft, which was about the same amount.

These are of course a few of examples but I'm sure there's more that I can't name off the top of my head. Seems to be a trend of selling tickets/system to guarantee an allotment to get something or having a system to identify the lucky few who can grab something.

I also get what you're saying but my rebuttal is that counting doesn't guarantee anything. Sure I counted 45, but maybe some people left because it's too cold, maybe I just didn't see everyone, hey I'm sorta close I still think I have a chance. I don't know; I might just suck at counting. Seems like, hey, this is our brewery and we're going to let people know with as little confusion as possible what's going on. I mean, most people came around 10/10:30 so that means within a short span of time a whole group accounted for the allotment of what they were giving. I was also standing in line with someone returning a keg being like, "Hey, what's this line for? Oh! That's why, I don't partake in social media!"

Most 'rare' releases have also hit distro in Chicago I haven't been to all the releases at the breweries, but seems like most of these releases seem to do some system around this to make it slightly more convenient for everyone. I.e. I know you're here for this, so let me tell you for sure if you have the opportunity to grab this tonight.

I'm also kinda playing devils advocate here based on what some other people said, but I find myself leaning towards this way of thinking because it's not an inconvenience and feel it's a fair critique.

TL;DR: just want a little guarantee with these sick brews dewd.

 

Whatever dawg, next time just invest earlier. As they say, mo' time mo' beers.

 

Yeah, that does suck. Whether or not they do tickets, they should have better communication for that...which I think is what @SeanBond was originally getting at. I have only waited in line once at HA, and that was for Benthic. Luckily (or unluckily), I had to be out of there about 30 minutes after they opened, so I knew I had to be within the first 20-30 people, and therefore got there really early. It's only gonna get worse as people realize how good their BA stuff is, so it'll be interesting to see how they handle it going forward.

 

I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but I don't understand how handing out tickets solves anything. If people know that they'll be handing out tickets to avoid people having to needlessly stand in line only to get shut out of buying beer, then those people will just get in line earlier, and some will still needlessly stand around only to get shut out. The only difference is this time they're getting shut out of getting a ticket. It's the same problem. Then we'd be complaining that HA should hand out tickets to get a ticket to buy the beer. And then people would get in line earlier, and get shut out, and so on and so forth. It's a never-ending cycle of disappointment and complaints. As long as there are limits, there will be people that get shut out.

The only way to possibly avoid this situation is for the brewery to announce ahead of time precisely how many bottles are available and bottle limits. Then it's up to the buyer to figure out whether they're wasting their time.

Now, as people have pointed out before, HA's real problem is rifling everyone through their retail store to be checked out with 2 measly registers.

 

The ticket thing works as a form of communication. The issue is not how early people get there, it's that people towards the back of the line think that they have a chance at a beer for which they don't have a chance. If 500 purple line up at 7 am and they hand out tickets at 8, anyone after the first 500 knows they have no real reason to stay. Honestly, one of the HA dudes came out a few times at the Benthic release and did a head count, and then told people past a certain point that they were probably S.O.L.. That works too, but is more of a pain for the poor dude doing it.

All I'm personally advocating is a way to avoid a bunch of people standing in line for long periods of time for no reason. I understand that shit happens, but there are still ways to make sure things are well communicated (in general, not specific to a given situation).

Anyway, whatever, I have a feeling we'll go in circles on this all night. HA will do what they want, and hopefully we'll all still have beer at the end of the day.

 

But you're not accounting for the line that still exists to get the tickets. People still have to line up. Instead of just lining up for beer, however, they're lining up for tickets. And you run into the same problem.

Ticketing is a system that simply eliminates the need for one line (to buy the beer) by creating another (to get a ticket). With tickets, you're going to have a lot of people standing around in line waiting to get a ticket, and they'll inevitably complain that HA should've done a better job of communicating who was going to get a ticket and who was going to get shut out when they leave empty handed.

Again, I think the only way to do that is to announce bottle counts and limits. But even that isn't foolproof.

 

They DID announce bottle counts and limits. I think what @SeanBond is saying is that it would be nice that if they know they only have 110 bottles total (60 Benthic/50 Orin), to let people know that are past the 110 point that there very likely will not be any bottles left for them.

Even though I was semi-against tickets earlier, I'm not sure I understand you saying tickets would create another line. If HA announces Benthic is on sale at 11 am on Friday, and just hands out 500 tickets (assuming there are 500 bottles) around 10:30 to those in line, I don't see why people would line up any different...you still have to stand in line. You can't just get your ticket and leave. Maybe I'm missing your point, though.

Then again, we aren't going to solve world hunger here, so it doesn't really matter. Plenty of good beer, and people can choose to stay home if they don't like a system or are worried about being disappointed.

 

I get what he's saying. All I'm saying is that a ticketed system doesn't entirely solve the problem because people still have to stand in a line.

That's precisely my point. In your example, people are standing line and waiting for a ticket. There will be people standing in that line for a long time without knowing whether they'll get one or not. And then the person in front of them gets the last one. Now that person's just wasted 4 hours standing in line. The ticketed system doesn't eliminate the need to stand it line. It just informs those that did or didn't get a ticket whether they're guaranteed the beer.

But we can still bitch about it, right?

 

I thought it was kind of silly to be talking about it, and here I am in the middle of it.

Back to Half Acre's stuff, I saw that Fog Bowl is available in the taproom and store...anyone know if that means cans are available at the store, or is it just growlers?

 

Draft only it seems. Only cans available are the following:

CANS

• Daisy Cutter Pale Ale
• Pony Pilsner
• GoneAway IPA
• Lead Feather Black Ale
• Navaja Double IPA
• Cliffs of Tephra IPA

 

Thanks - I guess I was too lazy or worn out to think about looking at their website. I kinda figured that based on their IG post about it.