Other Half Brewing August 2017

How did it get to this? When did people start collecting beer and stop drinking beer? Is this going to be like Pokemon cards and Beanie Babies and eventually go away? And what is going to happen to all these breweries when people get tired of this and move on? The thing that is keeping a lot of breweries afloat is the ticking mentality. No one seems to ever want to drink the same beer twice.

 

I do think it's a fad and will die out or significantly change along the way. It's just too lame for adults to keep this up. The non obsessed beer drinkers will just need to ride it out, maybe have a traditionally hopped lager or two.

 

there is definitely going to be some kind of micro brewery bubble and many one trick ponies will eventually either adapt or go under. Even in NJ seems like a new brewery is opening every other week - they start out doing a bunch of styles, then start canning xPAs and ride the wave.

 

i don't get it. 3 weeks in a row I accidentally was in a line for a beer for less than 30 minutes each time and it sucked.

 

To defend OH though, there are times you can walk in and grab what you want. I never feel the need to buy more than 2 4packs anymore, so if there are 2 cans available at 11:00 I'm not mad, I'm actually pumped. They just need to tone down the line life craze a bit, but I kind of understand why they do it. Once the hazy IPA craze is over that's it, they'll need to adjust to the next craze to stay afloat. I don't know, beer.

 

How did you accidentally get in line for beer?

 

NO, NO, NO...a thousand, no, a MILLION times NOOOOOO! Sheer insanity.
Couldn't pay me enough to do that. Wait, did I just price myself out of the task rabbit/mule job market?

Wonder what the BMI average is for that crowd.

I'm gonna look into trademarking "To 7 corners...and beyond!" to describe that kind of beer release.

 

Haha, that's what I was wondering.

 

Someone should tape the line for the mid-week releases...would be a short video of a guy walking into the brewery, walking up to the counter and picking up a four pack. Whoo #linelife!!!

(And to OH...thank you for the mid-week releases, keep them coming!!!)

 

Likes on social media or the rush of "winning a trade" maybe?

I've seen a few people on Instagram who have fridges full of beer and MOSTLY IPA's that were released months ago. I don't understand from my own perspective, but yeah... I've seen it.

 

I think the "accidental line" was sarcasm?

Regarding he idea of a brewery bubble, I've always found the per capita statistic helpful- in the 1870's there were (according to an article in Money) one brewery per 11,000 residents. Today that would be about 30k breweries which we're not even halfway to. I don't know if the average American consumed more beer then (I would guess yes, if for no other reason I'm pretty sure safe drinking water was not as widely available then as it is now). But the preference for "experiential" consumption (over accumulating goods) probably means craft brewers are simply giving people what they want- a steady stream of experiences (new beers, camaraderie, whatever).

 

Reading this (and not a badly written piece, either) made me happy about 3 things: 1) not to disparage the younger BAs on the site, but I'm happy I'm 40. 2) not signing up for "social media" is one of the smartest decisions I've ever made. 3) I'm just happy I don't give that much of a shit about this "scene."

When I went to to OH with my buddies a few Saturdays ago, I seriously had no idea what was being released. My train of thought was...I'm gonna get a little drunk with my friends and if they have anything left I care about I'll buy a 4-pack, before moving onto the next bar. Apparently, I'm in the minority.

On a side note, kinda related to the topic I guess, I was drinking some decent beer with a friend I don't see enough recently, and he's a member of a rather large on-line drinking community (more than a 1000 members) and he was telling me he doesn't post there very often anymore. I was kinda puzzled because he's been a member since the beginning and he tells me some people were posting themselves (kinda like WBAYDN on this site) drinking Lagunitas or Heavy Seas or Great Divide, etc and that more often than once another member of this so-called community would chime in with "enjoy your Little Sumpin Sumpin brah, I'm drinking Julius" then with some stupid mocking hashtag. Just another dick measuring contest for some people, and I didn't blame him for being soured by that type of shit. I was surprised at how callous some people could be with supposed friends, but I guess that's just another example of what it's come to.

TL/DR: control what YOU can

 

i was going to the brewery to refill on their normal releases, when i got there i had found out they were releasing once a year BBA beers, so lined up for them since i was there. the 2 other times i honestly didn't expect lines because they were fairly low key. But once you drive to a brewery, may as well make it worth it. the later 2 were about 15 minutes in line.

 

My favorite part of that article was that the writer was smart enough to write good beer (read:cult beer). That is so true and he nailed it because honestly that is what it is. Also it is to the point of these cult beers being adult Pokémon cards, no way ok trade you this one it's worth so much more. Kind of funny and dead on article

 

How do I "un-see" this? That is insanity. How many of those people at the middle to end of that line missed out? I walked in a couple weeks ago on a Friday any bought DDH dream in green with no line. Was this collab worth waiting for 24 hours compared to the amazing DDH dream in green I purchased with no line? Wow

 

Anyone with prior experience of Friday afternoon/ pre holiday weekend releases? I'm hoping it's a little less crazy than Saturday mornings. Planning to head there with a couple friends tomorrow afternoon to pick up a few 4 packs and check out the new taproom. Not about that line life.

 

It won't be that crazy. At least half the Saturday line travels a decent way from Long Island, NJ, and PA which is obviously much harder on a holiday weekend Friday at 3 than early Saturday morning where you can drive in/out with little to no traffice.

 

If you think there is going to be little to no traffic driving in/out of the city on Saturday I have bad news for you bro...

 

I've been going to releases at Other Half for a couple years and come from NJ. I never hit traffic.

 

He's talking about those whale hunterzzz who get there at 6 am on Saturdays for that #linelife. Different than driving during a Labor Day Friday traffic snarl.