Toppling Goliath Releases and Updates

My point is I don't think their doing they're best. Unless their best is "show up even though you lost and hope we do this release differently than anything we've ever done before" and "we've got 6 kegs of this rare beer, we're going to release them all on the same day within a few blocks of each other so mostly only the same population of people have access to them"

 

It's almost a guarantee this won't happen next release.

 

We aren't breaking any new ground here fellas. Many Iowa TG customers don't love the worldwide lotto. Folks from other states tend to love it and argue with the Iowans in the days after the release. The only difference is that this time many of those oos folks doubled up so they're extra pleased with TG.

 

I think it's important to note that with the increased production of this year's batch vs previous year's, keeping the leftovers for sale at a later date probably isn't a good logistical option for the brewery (too much leftover beer). Did some folks win the lottery and get leftovers in addition? Of course. Did some diehard, local TG customers lose the lottery but get a chance at leftovers? Yup.

 

Yeah I wasn't saying it to say I was mad or annoyed the way they released it, more so was just thinking more along the lines of this hasn't been protocol for past lottery releases so I wasn't aware this might be an option until they announced it. Now that they might do it this way again I have more incentive to head down for draft releases/shares/pulpit rock releases plus have the possibility to still take home some of the beer that brought me down.

 

If I make the trek to the brewery do they usually have bombers of the standard hoppy beers available to-go? Is there a typical limit? If I wanted to bring back 2 suitcases full (2 cases) would that be a problem?

 

The website has a list of what's available, I wouldn't worry about limits. The last time I was up there it was a case limit each beer for the limited stuff and I don't think there's a limit on any of the common stuff.

 

Toppling Goliath always changes how they do releases, so I'm not sure I'd come to the next one expecting an allotment if I didn't win the lottery, or however they do it.

 

If TG told me they had extra MD sets ... I would of driven from Connecticut to get it and gotten there as early as possible. It's literally on my bucket list of things to try.

Them not saying anything was probably for the best sadly.

 

Exactly, and there would have been 2-3000 more people in town who would have gotten shut out and just created a shit show.

 

I wish they would just stop doing the lotteries altogether. They don't appear to be completely random anyway. I'm sure the majority of the names selected are random but I know too many people who get chosen every time for there to not be some sort of insider list. The manner in which the extras were distributed this year mostly benefited the 1pm lottery winners. I know several who picked up their 8am allotment and left town. Yes some locals and non winners also got some but the many pictures I've seen on Facebook showing 2 or more boxes is irritating. Especially when you also see numerous posts where people are selling for 4 or 5 times the purchase price.

Nobody has mentioned the real problem here. Why is MD so rare and expensive? It's delicious but it's not barrel aged. I don't think it takes all that long to brew a batch. TG wants their name on the most exclusive bottles. I get it. But they already have 3 of the rarest beers made and the fall off between MD and Rover Truck is like the Grand Fucking Canyon! We have a choice between these once a year whale lotteries and a common stout that isn't very good. Yes, they make delicious IPA's and they do a good job of distributing them. But I love stouts and the hassle / effort required to obtain TG's good ones is just too much. It was awesome when they had Term Oil on tap for several months. It made the taproom experience much more special. But I understand those were a one time thing. I won't be making many 3 hour drives to visit the new taproom unless they offer something besides Dorothy, Rover Truck, and 31 flavors of IPA. I know about the feud between them and Pulpit Rock but they should be thanking PR quite honestly. I'm much more inclined to travel on a random weekday for PR these days. And when I do, I'll of course swing by TG too.

 

I feel the same towards Westvleteren.....

 

After hearing about the process of making the maple for this brew it became clear to me this is a painstaking and lengthy process. The raw materials are also probably quite limited--to reduce maple to such a viscous sticky degree takes a lot of liquid.

There are also the meticulous, human hand packaging considerations, although not fully necessary, are quite nice and help prevent counterfeiting.

Btw, did you win the lottery and get a 4-pack? And what are the details with this Pulpit feud?

 

Because people travel from all over the country to (enthusiastically) pay $100 for 4x12 oz bottles of the beer, and 20,000 people enter a lottery to do so. Things are worth what people are willing to pay for them, regardless of the difficulty or cost by which they are made. We have this conversation every god damn time another TG release comes around. Can we be done with this already?

 

As someone who has had Good Morning from TH in a 750 ... the price and amount is perfect for what you get. I probably would of paid double it tbh.

 

This may have already been discussed but I'm curious what the process for the maple is?

 

This batch is just "OK" so if I were you I wouldn't bend over backwards and sell the farm to try it. I had it several times over the Great Taste weekend and while good, I doubt I'd pay more than $50 for a 12oz bottle of it. I think a lot of people artificially hype it up because it's rare and a stout by TG.

 

I think it is easy to figure out why they decided to sell the extra 400 packs, they didn't want to sit on $40k in inventory when they had the people (both willing to buy and working) to move the product that same day. That is a lot of inventory to hold onto, monetarily and spatially. Each pallet contained 128 boxes (I counted, 16 per row, 8 rows). That is at least 3 pallets of beer to move or leave behind the counter.

If they were singles or not sold with the glasses and "special box", I think they would have taken them back and sold them in the tap room. But I think the fact that the boxes took up a lot of space, combined with the amount of people in town, they just figured lets get this over with and move all the product out.