Aslin Beer Co. Releases

I didn't go but couldn't help notice how many people were complaining about Aslin's "bait and switch" (it wasn't) with the anniversary beer for VIP guests. It seems like a lot of people were willing to pay $50 extra for some super exclusive bottle, not so they could drink it, that would be silly, but to use as trade bait.

And this is craft beer in the year 2018.

 

I thought it was very well run with lots of great beer. We got in line at 3:50 and were inside drinking a beer a bit after 4. 50$'s well spent in my opinion. The only breweries that had a wait were Bottle Logic and Dancing Gnome, and they weren't very long. More bathrooms would have been nice. We didn't get food so I can't comment on that. The band, Glamour Kitty was fantastic.
No opinion on the bait and switch as I wasn't vip, but all the complaints seem to stem from the lack of perceived trade value. Leather tasted great to me.

 

The groups of people directly in front of and behind me in the Buku Ca Phe line were all achatter about how much money they were going to get selling their bottle on the secondary market. And this is why we can't have nice things.

I thought the party was really well run, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. No complaints here.

 

Loved it-much better than last year. I think the biggest miss was the food. Talked to someone who waited forever for the food truck line and had been waiting 20 minutes since ordering for their food. That was certainly an oversight. I thought the beer selection was great-almost no lines. I went to the 4 pm session-there was a long line about 10 minutes before opening, but they had volunteers checking IDs and tickets prior to 4 pm, so we didn’t have to wait at the front entrance.

 

I went back and looked at some Aslin social media posts and the eventbrite page and it never mentioned ‘bottle’, it just says ‘anniversary beer’. The funny thing is the people complaining about the 4 pack of cans would have likely been happy if they got 1 wax sealed 750mL bottle of Leather as it would appear more exclusive.

The VIP ticket didn’t seem to be worth the extra $50 imo as the extras are probably valued at about $50 retail. I guess maybe that’s why people aren’t happy? Definitely no bait and switch or ‘hoodwinking’ from what I’ve seen.

 

Overall a good event. I liked that they let VIP in a few minutes early (first session at least) so that the thirty minute time wasn't spent in line. The huge number of breweries was cool and beer lines were short and the few long ones moved fairly fast. Bathroom wait was quite bad and food line was just a waste of time. Although a few enterprising souls ordered Dominos and met delivery at the fence..hat tip to them.

The VIP bottle vs. can gripe is silly. Definitely not what people were expecting due to last year's bottle, but still a good beer. Not so silly a qualm is continuously saying you're going to have 100+ breweries and then not. It's not a matter of enough beer, there was plenty. It's simply a matter of being honest about what you're selling.

Also overheard some people in line talking about a sort of unspoken alliance of Other Half, Veil, Trillium, and Monkish to not attend Aslin stuff and vice versa. I didn't hear the reason, but would be curious if that's true.

 

I've heard there's some sort of "beef" between Aslin and Veil that has spread to include the breweries Veil is closest with. No details beyond that, and I've only picked that little bit up through vague chatter on internet fora, so take it with an appropriate grain of salt. Would love to know more, though.

 

Yea, that's what I had overheard. It could be nothing, but it does seem odd that given how many events have been hosted by those breweries that Aslin is never present and vice versa.

 

Veil and Triple Crossing seem to have issues as well. You never see them at the same event pouring and no collabs.

 

The issue here was that their original post stated a “limited bottle” was a part of the VIP. This post went up the very first time they posted on Instagram and Facebook about the event. Later, they edited the post to say “limited beer.” If you go back on Facebook, they show edits, you’ll see that there. I think the other gripe was from 99% people were expecting a stout bottle after they saw the initial post (seeing as a stout is released every Saturday) and people were let down by the barleywine. On top of that, you could have rolled up during the party and bought the barleywine yourself as they were also selling it in between and after each session. So essentially, you were gifted a 4 pk that you wouldn’t necessarily needed as you could have bought it on your own. If you were in it for the beer only for VIP, I definitely see the butthurt.

 

If they did say 'bottle' then I guess I could see why some would expect some type of BA beer as they only tend to put BA stuff in bottles. Kind of sucks they didn't keep the VIP beer and extras limited to those who purchased VIP tix.

 

Yeah I think those were the big gripes. You hear bottle and expect BA or stout and then making the Leather available to a gen admission ticket would’ve been a head scratcher for the extra $50

 

Had no idea they switched the post. I legitimately went back and looked and just figured I'd misread it originally. That's misleading and more understandable why people would be frustrated.

 

Minor update on the Herndon taproom:

http://m.herndonconnection.com/news...d-anniversary-party-herndon/?templates=mobile

I would love to see them nail that timeline, but it seems like they've hit every speed bump possible along the way so far. Or, if my vague understanding is correct, their current and/or prospective neighbors have relentlessly built speed bumps all around them.

 

6-8 months? I'll bet the over.

 

If the Herndon place happens, does that mean the Alexandria place doesn't happen?

 

And in bigger news, they've more officially announced the Alexandria location, including the address, and noted it will be their new HQ:



It's so close to my house I'm hesitating to tell my wife. This is great news for me but terrible news for my wallet/liver.

 

That is great news. Just hope it will be as easy to get cans as it's been lately.

 

If I'm understanding this correctly, they are going to eventually close the current Herndon location once the Alexandria location opens. Once that happens, will the only place to get cans will be in Alexandria?

It sounds like there will not be can sales in Herndon from the time the current location closes until the Herndon taproom opens.

 

Who knows what will happen. I guarantee they change plans at least a half dozen times between now and Alexandria opening.