Assassin/KBBS day 2017...

I think a mix of tap and bottle would be best, I know this would be super unpopular but do bottles for mug club only (yes I know I'm in mug club). Easier to find out who sells then.

 

Clarks already stated that he's not against trading.

At any rate he just posted something about a new batch of 375ml bottles of VB Assassin.

 

I'll take, "Things that I'll never get to try for 500, Alex."

 

Sounds like it will be a silent release? I can see how those cryptic tweets upset some nearby Iowa folk...

 

Andy showed me his bottle of KBBS. Not only did the bottle number line say "Andy", the glass was engraved with the Rubaiyat logo. Poor guy. He's the only recipient who literally CAN"T sell his bottle!

 

So worth it

 

I heard last night he traded his bottle for a car. Reliable source of course

 

I seriously doubt that!

 

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10154433391773406

Also heard from a friend of mine who is good friends with Andy that the story is legit.

 

So you can sell them back in Belgium?

 

FWIW I have no skin in this game either, but perhaps more stupid and laughable is not seeing the moral and ethical issues inherent in your comparison of illegal black market resale to well-established, legal and regulated markets.

 

That and even if it wasn't illegal I have always likened it to ticket scalping. Will I ever pay for resale on tickets? Sure. Will I ever sell a ticket for more than I paid for it? No, because most people have always held ticket scalpers in pretty low regard.

We are paying for a consumable or experience and not a collectible or asset. It is hard to compare the two but I understand people's justifications. Some people do it to have the hobby pay for itself. A far worse subset are in it to make money and I kind of find that shitty like most beer people and those people are a cancer in craft beer.

<Steps down from soapbox>

 

I agree with you in principle but the fact is that beers such as KBBS are blurring the lines between consummable and collectible/asset. Is KBBS at $1000 or whatever worth 100x a $10 bottle of off the shelf stout? I mean, not in terms of consummable value probably, by just about any objective scale. But as a rare sought after collectible? Absolutely, because that is what the market of those who want it bad enough will bear.

 

Secondary in this instance is fine when you consider it was damn difficult to cheat the system. Most people selling their bottles only got 1, so they are selling their "place in line." My remark was more aimed at someone that will scoop up as much as possible of something and then hold it ransom at a much higher price. Meanwhile, the brewery or artist gets a fraction of the spoils.

More breweries are combating this with on-premise bottle lists which I applaud them for. It always strikes me as funny when people give some of these breweries shit for charging half, or less, of secondary prices for something that is available well after the release. Beer is still growing up in the sense that people cannot fathom paying beyond $30 for a bottle. Wine and spirits have long since established different price points for quality and rarity and people accept it. I can't wait to be able to get more shelfie whales in the future.

 

Yes, I agree, the difference between wine/spirits and beer has never been smaller than it is today. No reason a large format of beer can't have the same "value" as wine or champagne. I don't diagree on your points regarding controlling secondary market stuff etc, it certainly is the prerogative of the brewery if they feel like it's necessary, just pointing out that at some point in the evolution of beer it is become more like wine in that is is a collectible more than a consumable.

 

The re-selling story is convenient distraction from the fact that they are charging $60+ for a 12oz bottle of beer bought direct from the manufacturer. If anything, it provides justification for what they are charging. Brewers are pushing their prices up and up for these releases trying to get a bigger bite of that value without stirring up entitlement among their fans. Beer was once the poor man's drink, but not anymore.

I'm not saying it is not worth it, they have a superior product and deserve the rewards of that risk and innovation to make it. I just don't see them or anyone else as a victim here. After all, I can't afford a Lamborghini, but I get around.

 

He says he didn't give up any KBBS. I knew he wouldn't let go of the engraved bottle!

 

I don't buy this ethical and moral BS. I guarantee you do something illegal every day of the week. Don't you think about the moral and ethical side of going over the speed limit? Coming to a complete stop at a stop sign? You have probably drove while being over the legal limit to do so. Crossing the street at a non-designated crossing area? Illegal and immoral. Think of the lives you harm every day by doing these things before you commit them again.

All it would take for you to see my point would be a government regulation stating that it is legal to sell beer. Would you do it then? Would you have qualms about people that do it if it was legal to do so. I assume you would still have a problem with it, but it would not be illegal and immoral to do so.

 

If you break the law you can't really feign ignorance or use everyone else does it as a defense. Reselling alcohol is not legal. I agree with your point about not using it to take the moral high ground. Hell, I've sold extras of bottles I purchased to people at cost which is technically illegal.

I think like I said earlier, most people do not hold ticket scalpers in high regard; those hosting the event and going included. Would I pay one if I wanted to go to a concert badly enough? Yes. Do I want to be one of those people. No. The point is, you are denying someone the opportunity to purchase something they would gladly consume. I believe that is a douche move and I think that is the point in these heated discussions.

I've never heard of someone proudly declaring that they bought up a beer to turn a profit the same way I have never heard of someone bragging about buying a high demand items like NES classic or Wii to sell it for more money. They are shitty people for doing it; end of argument.

Technically, I am a shitty person for buying more of a beer with the intent to trade it for other stuff, but such is the beer scene right now. We're all in it together and we all suck by varying degrees.

 

Nope sharing it for my birthday.