Other Half Brewing November 2017

Wow. So this release will either:
A) make tomorrow’s release not sell out too quickly
B) not have a lick of difference in tomorrow’s release since people get all of the beer all of the time
..or..
C) have hundreds (if not tens) of OH fans arguing over whether or not Always and Forever was the best choice of names for the bigger version of Forever Ever

 

Should have been: Forever, Forever, Ever, Forever, Ever?

 

We all know the answer to this one............



B!

 

Yeah I think that would be the answer even if it wasn’t thanksgiving on Thursday. But throwing that into the mix and it’s B all the way

 

I really thought sooner or later the lines would die down, seems like it is getting worse. Not sure if more people are going now, if not, I can't see how people can buy so much beer week in and week out. I tend to think the people buying for the black market could be increasing. How in the world did a double batch sell out so quickly Saturday.

 

So, any suggestions on arrival time?

 

Bingo on the black market. A LOT of these guys in line buying the beer are reselling it online. Until there is less demand, this will continue.

 

Absolutely. I've definitely noticed an uptick in the number of people offering "muling services" for every release, many with "slots" for more people than a typical allotment would allow (meaning the mules have mules?). The few semi-insufferable trading/enthusiast Facebook groups of which I'm still a member offer a pretty good look into this, as do Instagram posts/comments. And speaking strictly from the standpoint of personal finance, the incentive to mule is totally clear. For many, it's free money. If you've made the decision to wait on line for X amount of time and are 100% positive that you can resell part of what you purchase for a 50+% profit, why wouldn't you? The decision boils down to, "Hey, do you want this money?" Of course, many others also consider the accompanying question of, "Hey, do you want to buy and resell this beer that would otherwise be purchased and likely enjoyed by someone else?", and decide that the latter outweighs the former, but I can certainly see why some customers (especially those for whom obtaining all of the OH releases isn't exactly financially scrupulous) would do the opposite.

 

Why wouldn't you? We could start with it is illegal. And by you, I don't mean you.

 

I hear ya. I'm sure that deters some, but illegality is somewhat moot when enforcement is nonexistent. Plus, the same argument could be applied to beer trading that includes shipping. Technically, the shipping of alcohol via USPS is illegal under federal law, and it violates the terms of service of both FedEx and UPS. But the lack of enforcement results in minimal risk and, hence, results in the failure of the policy to serve as a viable deterrent.

Anyway, I only bring up this point because I am still trying to understand where we are today and where we are heading in this crazy microscene of the beer world. As someone who doesn't enjoy sacrificing my Saturday mornings to wait on line for beer, I've often found myself upset with those who take more than they are going to consume at the expense of customers like me (who only want a 4-pack at 1pm), but I've come to justify it with this explanation--that is, that the personal economic incentive to mule is undeniable. In fact, to an economist, the behavior of consumers who could easily mule but chooses not to would be deemed straight up irrational, counter to a basic economic understanding of how humans behave when offered free money!

 

So do #linelyfers mule to be #hazeboiz or is it the other way around?

 

Every #linelyfer's dream is to be ordained a #hazeboi. Some #linelyfer's spend their entire lives studying in their parents basement to one day undertake the #hazeboi challenge of lining up in subzero conditions for 12+ hours for that latest can of #hazejoose. Nevermind that the beers are on tap and can easily be drank without lining up! Draft pours are worthless to #hazeboi culture!! Although, I am hearing that the #lactoboiz are beginning to gather in numbers and COULD be encroaching on #hazeboi territory. Interesting times indeed...

 

All of this sounds suspiciously like those loot boxes EA sells sucker gamers.

 

Could also kill some time at Folksbier, which is a 5 minute walk (vs OH's ~10) from Lucali.

 

I don't want to derail this thread, need to leave space for people to speculate on what time to line-up and whether they will get beer or not ! But .....

Big difference between jaywalking, beer trading, etc. and people who are illegally selling beer for PROFIT in a highly regulated industry. And it is not a victimless crime. How about the retail stores who play by the rules and don't illegally sell black market beer? Their competitors cheat and make profit it doing it. That certainly takes business away from the stores who don't break the law.

And maybe you don't deserve the beer more than someone in Alabama, but you LIVE here and have access to the beer, they don't, so in that sense you do deserve the beer. And all the people who line-up to make a profit off of the beer and clean out the supply have victims, victims is not the right word, but the victims are the people who just want to grab a couple of 4 packs and can't get them. Not a big life problem, but still it impacts people.

And the bottom line, this topic can be debated upside down, sideways and all over with many different opinions, reselling beer for profit is illegal.

And I do realize that little tag next to profile indicates I am a beer trader .

 

While resellers are worse, traders still take beer out of the hands of locals and are still directing the beer to Alabama (to use your example). And while a trader may not be profiting in a value sense (although that does happen, and not irregularly), they still do it for personal gain (ie to get a beer that would otherwise be unavailable to them). Both illegal technically speaking as well.

Two sides of the same coin. I don’t think you can be incredibly disparaging of one and fully supportive of the other.

At the end of the day what difference is it to me, the one 4-pack “victim”, if the guy buying 4 cases that shuts me out is selling some of it, or trading some of it for beers he wants to try - either way I’m losing out because they’re motivated by personal gain that goes beyond wanting a taste of the latest release.

 

Anyone in line yet?

 

Did OH block me from IG? I search their handle and nothing comes up and now if I click it from one the posts here it tells me they have no posts yet. I havent said anything that offending lately...