Chicagoland NE IPAs (2018)

Agreed

 

I tend to agree, but it's likely that I'm just jealous that I'm not going to be able to grab any of the beer. On one hand, a low limit will likely mean that more people get to grab some of the beer. On the other hand, it also means that the hoarders will bring their mom, girlfriend, grandpa to insure that they get theirs anyhow.

From a business standpoint, a lower limit might also stop some people from making the journey and it also means more transactions. At a certain point, I imagine, they've just got to say F it and come up with a reasonable solution that works for the largest number of people. They can't please everyone and ultimately they're going to sell everything within a day or two so they've got to be pleased. And whether it's by design, or not, it keeps the hype machine moving.

 

These are all valid points. Summarizing everyone else's thoughts and adding my own, from a business standpoint, higher limits are probably best for a few reasons:
1) Trading is great for breweries. It builds hype for the brewery in other markets where they can't distribute. This is great if they ever do decide to expand distribution. Even if they don't expand distribution, the hype in these other markets is contagious and would most certainly have a positive impact on hype locally. It also allows the brewery to indirectly "sell" their beer to other marketplaces without the costs of distribution and obtaining the proper licenses.
2) Selling the product as quickly as possible is in the brewery's best interest from a cash flow standpoint.
3) FOMO most certainly has an impact on demand as well. So by allowing less people access to a beer, it likely increases the hype.

The only cons I can think of are:
1) It makes it harder for the brewery to develop a large loyal customer base. But let's face it. In the craft beer world, most drinkers like variety, so brewery loyalty isn't as important as it is in the macro world.
2) Less people purchasing from Transient decreases taproom sales. This is just speculation, but I imagine draft sales at the taproom make up such a small portion of Transient's total revenue that the loss there is negligible. And Transient doesn't seem to have an issue moving product (plus all of their non-hoppy offerings have a long shelf life), so the loss of sales on other beers likely doesn't have much of an impact on total revenue.
3) People get pissed off at the brewery when they miss out. However, given the quality of Transient's beers relative to the market, I don't think this would have much of an impact on demand.

As a consumer, I prefer low limits since I don't drink a ton of beer and want the opportunity to purchase limited releases, but from a brewery perspective, higher limits are probably the better option.

 

This is something that I've been kicking around in my head recently, especially with Mikerphone's obvious ties to music. Similar to how bands like the Grateful Dead, Phish, Widespread Panic, etc... were able to make a name for themselves outside of their home regions by allowing fans of the band to tape and circulate copies of their shows. It seems that breweries are seeing a similar trend in that loyal fans of a brewery are spreading the word by trading the beer out of region/out of state.

It doesn't get more grassroots as far as a marketing plan goes.

 

Of course there are people that are drinking a case of JIL themselves. I got a case in Nov and it lasted me almost 6 weeks. What's that 4 beers per week?? Not crazy at all especially considering I shared at least a 1/3 of them with various friends that had never had it. Didn't trade a single can and the thought never crossed my mind.

 

My thoughts exactly for recent(ish) releases around here. While in the Morning Fog line, I heard multiple people saying they will circle back through the line another 2-3 times to pick up more four packs. I grabbed the limit (2 four packs), drank 4 super fresh IPAs, and traded away the other 4.

I can understand people wanting to buy a ton for trading purposes, since I traded one four pack away, but picking up 6-8 four packs seemed excessive to me. I was highly satisfied with just the 4 I had, and Morning Fog was my favorite of the 3 that dropped almost all on the same day (Morning Fog, Reply Hazy, JiL).

 

The amount of money people spend on beer is insane to me

 

If anyone is going up, I'll give you $15 bucks to bring me back a 4pack.

 

I don't think I get why people think Transient should be catering to the Chicago crowd (I get it, we're in the Chicagoland [loosely defined] NE IPA thread). He has beer ready to go, and it sells out no matter what...why should he care that those of us in Chicago can't get to it? He made a point on his IG post today that there is no reason MI people can't enjoy the beer as well.

I mean, I would love to grab a 4 pack of them as well, but I don't think there should be any expectation that Transient should accommodate us.

 

I love how they've been doing these releases, and hope the fine people at Transient decide to keep it up for the foreseeable future. Keep those hops flowing guys, you're absolutely killing it!

 

On one hand he has chosen to establish his business in MI. If that is going to be home, you have to focus on that market. I wouldn't touch Chicago if I were him unless there were plans to open a production brewery here in the future. That being said, if he had an IL society for beer and then took the place elsewhere, I would feel slighted for investing in something I would have assumed would be a local business. If that is the case, token drops of good quality stuff to appease those early backers in Chicago should be done (don't need to take care of Chicago non-society folks).

 

I find it fascinating that people can complain about everything a brewery does with respect to distribution, literally everything, except for price.

Hours, release methods, limits, etc. are all on the table but the moment a dollar figure is mentioned it's "woah woah why are you stepping on the business MAN"

 

I'm pretty sure folks were commenting about the hours Transient opens and how it's tough for Chicagoans. That's the part I don't agree with (although I'd certainly love easier access to it as well).

Yeah, I can see feeling a little bit bummed if I were to have been an IL society member as well. I do wonder how much longer he can keep up the IL side if he's got his main production in MI - just seems like a lot of work to keep that IL version going.

 

But free refills?

 

I agree. Really enjoyed it.