Monkish Brewing (January 2017)

The tasting room is continuously busy as it is with the same day sales/pick up window. Stop with this $20 reserved allocation pick up window. That would not help with the "hazebros" and the online sales, if anything it would make it so that the beer gets in to the hands who are drinking it less and more in to those who can afford to just squat on it for resale.

Not everyone can make a 4pm weekday sale, but just this week alone, they had a Saturday at noon sale that they announced at 9am. So... you know, can't get them all but they have changed it from weekday to weekend several times in the last few releases.

 

I think these are all good points... I'm probably willing to accept that the easiest/quickest path for Monkish to get these beers gone are in-person vs online.

That being said, I think most brewers and I expect Henry is in this camp, do want their beers enjoyed by as wide of a variety of people as possible. These releases, while the lowest possible impact to the Monkish day-to-day, are only really possible for anyone living close by Monkish and with a flexible work schedule. I think what may drive Monkish to change to something else is the desire to get the beers in the hands of someone besides the usual folks.

Also, I think Henry knows that the folks hanging out in the parking lot everyday who are first in line for every release, are not merely just "really dedicated beer enthusiasts."

 

How would it do that? In an online sale where demand greatly exceeds supply, it would essentially be random. Instead of people pulling 4 friends together to go to the parking lot with them, they'd be in a random lottery with everyone else who wants their beer.

Is $20 so much of a burden, especially if it gets returned to the people in the form of a credit against their sale or bar tab, for people who are spending $60+ on twelve packs of beer?

 

online

thats her name

no, shes actually "pre-selling" the cans for $100 before she has them in hand. AKA she hasnt bought the beer yet, but is standing in line and selling them.

 

For websites such as "my beer collectibles" couldn't Henry just insist they not list any of his beers on the site? Kind of like what happened with Ebay years ago? I guess there's also another imitator around the corner...

On closer examination, I'm not really sure how my beer collectibles avoids being sued by Ebay which they clearly seem to be ripping off numerous design elements from.

 

Wow, the most ridiculous thing i've heard in awhile. I do believe that happens, just never see it since I'm always at the back of the line - rarely make releases.

 

Selling for 5x what she is paying? And someone is actually dumb enough to buy them?

 

I can confidently say I'd enjoy 42.85714 bottles of Amalgamator more than I'd enjoy four cans of hazy Monkish beer.

 

Another option no one is discussing is to just say F it to brewery can release and send em all to distro

(Ftr, I like the weekday releases just fine)

 

^^Sending them in to distribution would be easier if there wasn't the problem with your distributor now being defunct and having to self distribute.

Sooooo... instead of having to pull 4 friends together with about 30 minutes of notice before having to get down there, the current system of 2 hour window to get in line means that even if you do search for mules to meet you there, unless they can be there BEFORE 4, that the mule isn't as effective.

Online, on the other hand, means you can have multiple friends attempt to get it. So instead of 4 friends that guy can have a dozen friends attempt to as trying to buy online requires far less effort.

 

Ah, the only posts from her I've seen in the groups I'm in have been have included a picture of the cans from on top of the barrel tables that was a different picture than Monkish announced with.

I have seen some posts that use the picture supplied by Monkish to pre-sell, just not from Dot.

 

It's a balancing act... as much as Henry and other brewers want their beers in as many hands as possible, there are a number of other things that impact this decision.

At the end of the day, they are servicing approximately 300-320 unique people with a full run of cans (140-160 cases), so I think they are arguably achieving that goal despite the reseller/traders.

Also, tough to see how they extend to "more customers" without dropping allotments - does it really matter what someone does with the beer if the brewery is doing a good job of limit that person to their 1 allotment?

 

ive been in line and seen her sell multiple 4 packs online before monkish even opened...so yeah... lol

 

If he knows her, why does he keep allowing it to happen. Seems like he could easily shut her down.

 

Had heard the 24K was notably longer than Monkish lines. Granted, their location can accommodate a larger crowd better.

 

So a dozen people competing online against a much bigger pool, the net result is probably 4 people from that group get it? Yet you've now expanded the pool of potential visitors to your brewery from 4 to 12.

Meanwhile, you enable a much wider audience to participate in the sale. You encourage people to visit the tasting room over a wider time frame, which reduces congestion and improves aggregate business.

A $20 deposit against your purchase helps reduce no shows. Maybe they designate a portion of the sale to online and a portion to walk-ins (unclaimed cans?) so that they can service both crowds?

The easiest advice to give a company doing as well as Monkish is to not change anything, but I doubt the current process reflects the core values of the brewery and the experience they want to create.

 

While the quantity of beer is lower than most output, the cans that they release with a 6pk limit last just about, if not less time than those with the larger allocation. And yeah, it pisses off folks when it's so few cans, it actually does drive off folks from trading those smaller limit cans a lot more.

I don't think that lowered limits will really do much to help those with a normal work schedule, truth be told.

Brewery congestion isn't that bad on the can release days. Like said already after the initial rush, the place mellows out within an hour or two after the cans sold out. Sometimes even directly after. So you're not losing walk-in's. And no, this $20 deposit against your purchase just sounds like a convoluted mess and create more chaos to their system. So not sure why you keep bringing it up.

If there's any online sales, BPT would be the way to do it, but even that has so many cons compared to what they are currently doing that have been addressed to death by now and is a step backwards for them in terms of ease of getting the sale done with. So it's simply not going to happen.

 

Exactly the point about how an online release with a longer pickup window can improve aggregate sales at the tasting room. If the place doesn't look like a Walmart on black friday when people show up, they're much more likely to stay and buy stuff then get their beer and bounce, and you know, appreciate the place.

Sometimes making things harder is worth it when you can improve something. A logistics tweak that can improve sales is one of the easiest ways for a business to add $ to their bottom line.