Pipeworks Releases and Updates (2019)

They only got one case.

 

Stopped by my store and snagged two cans, really looking forward to trying this as I missed it first time around.

 

For something like this that they can make again whenever they want, I think it makes sense to test the waters on demand by making a larger batch and allowing large purchases simultaneously. This gives Pipeworks a good signal of how much they can produce that will confidently sell through retailers within a more limited window for freshness. I'm not totally sure why NvUvH seems to have so much more hype on it than PDub hazies like Velocity of Light, Speed of Sound, or King of Borgs (ok, so maybe the latter has also gone this quickly), but I don't think 2 cases per person on a second batch was unreasonable. (Full disclosure: I drove up to Chicago on Saturday primarily to obtain their Schwarzbier and a few bottles of Sure Bet, but the NvUvH release was a bonus and I picked up two 4-packs.)

 

Eh, 2 cases is more than I'd ever buy of a single beer, but it's not like this was a "wake up at some godawful hour and stand in line for hours" release. I stopped by Saturday afternoon and it was seriously deadsville. I sat in the car for 15 minutes letting one of my kids sleep and literally one guy walked in and came out with a mixed case. And in the time it took to get the kids out, drag them across the parking lot, buy my beer, and get them back in their car seats, nobody else showed up. It's incredible how stupidly easy PW makes it to get great beer. You basically just have to show up (kinda like work).

PS. My wife says it's a little too easy, but she clearly (as usual) has no idea what the h*ll she's talking about seeing as how I totally missed out on KoB.

 

I agree on all counts, especially in that NvUvH is not that great for my palate. It's good, to be sure, but I have preferred VoL, SoS, KoB, Infinite Galaxy, Absolute Motion (not really a hazy but has the profile), Supremium Hypster, and even Stay Gold from way back. I definitely prefer regular NvU to the hazy version, too. I guess I just don't get the hype for this particular beer apart from the obvious love that everyone has for the "base" beer. More for you guys (though my local Binny's said they got a single case, so good luck if you don't already have it).

 

can you walk me through this rationale? they made a bigger batch and even less went into the market than the previous, smaller yield. i don't care that much about trying it or I would have gone to the dojo on Saturday, but I'm genuinely curious about what goes into the thought process behind setting purchase limits, beer and/or ticket releases, etc

Regarding testing the market, what keen insights would you be able to obtain and throw into the 'ol business optimizer by sending 1 case to a handful of retailers?

Obviously, having a strong estimate of how much can sell at stores during a preferred time frame is a critical component which goes into quality control and revenue projections, but comically sparse distribution is an approach that provides no value whatsoever.

for the sake of discussion, let's say most walked out with 1 case. are you of the opinion that $110 spent at the dojo by 1 person = $110 spent by 6 different people across chicagoland?

again, just trying to understand the logic of PW's approach here, and I truly can't understand it.

 

I'm no expert, but I think some of it is about providing some rar beer to the retail accounts that helped Pipeworks get to where they are today. Keeping beer stores in business ultimately helps keep them in business, cuz I sure as heck ain't driving into the city every other weekend just for a Dojo visit.

 

I think the showing up part is the difficult part for me. It's just so inconvenient for me where they are located. I loved NvUvH, but with the amount of beer I already have, just didn't feel like making the drive over there. Plus, I'm sure they will make plenty more of it and I can get it when the time is right for me.

I got a kick out of this...but I thought it was "ye' ol' business optimizer.

 

Yeah, this was my issue. I've never been to the Dojo, so I forgot where it was. Was planning to drive over on Sat and checked the map..."Oh, uh, that's a little out of the way, not dragging my wife all the way there on her day off" (we were out).

I mean, hey, they can do what they want with their beer; I'm just surprised they're shipping so little to Chicago beer shops.

 

Beermiscuous still had a decent amount of NvUvH as of closing last night. Limit 2 cans. Really delicious stuff.

 

I was talking more about the signal they get from selling in-house about what could sell if they sent more out through other retail distribution. Especially when you have one of your first batches of a potential new star, it's good to sell most of it at your own shop, where you have access to all of your own data.

I agree that getting a case or two to your biggest accounts won't tell you much, especially when all you know first-hand is whether the retailer is willing to buy the paltry quantity you want to sell them. But if you can set a high per-person limit at your own shop and then analyze the distribution of how much people choose to buy when relatively unconstrained, you can measure not just overall sales but also enthusiasm. When you're selling a NEIPA that should be moved ASAP for freshness, at $17 a 4-pack, it's very helpful to have a sense of how many people in your local market are willing to drive out of the way from their local shop to obtain multiple packs or cases. There's definitely a selection effect, in that people are showing up at the brewery itself (and in the case of PW, not even to get a meal or a pint while they're there) to make a purchase, but understanding the timeline and the distribution of sales on your own premises is extremely valuable if you're thinking strategically about what to brew next.

I have no idea the extent to which PW is doing analytics on their sales figures (or monitoring this thread ), but it's the kind of data set I would love to turn one of my graduate students loose on, or to see what valuable insights a class of sharp undergrads learning predictive analytics could produce.

 

Sir, we crunched the cans... errrr, data, and we found that there is a strong correlation between crushing beers and feeling awesome.

 

Welp, if you missed out on NvUvH and are disappointed, this looks like might be worth the trip...

 

So, to be clear, this is NOT the barrel aged version, correct? Or is my reading comprehension as bad as I fear?

 

That’s how I read it

 

I love that you drove up for a schwartzbeir, and sure bet. God bless you.

Pdubs retail accounts were allotted 1 case of NvU vs Haze. That sucks. People casually buying a 4pk of NvU every week aren’t getting to try this new version. Some of them might not care. But the people who have been on PDubs from the beginning are probably getting annoyed.

 

I love everything about that, the name, artwork, etc. Too bad I went too hard on stouts in the pre-2014s and have no room for more....