Zwanze Day 2019 @ Hopleaf

You're partially right, I think the big difference is that WLV did a bunch of things to piss off (some of) their patrons in the past, which is what caused people here to be less forgiving than they are in this case.

 

There's a WORLD OF DIFFERENCE between here's our event, here's when we're having it, here's when tickets go on sale and......literally nothing.

People didn't go last year because no one knew anything about it. Why would you come out there when there were literally ZERO details?

 

Is there though?

Everyone obviously knew what days it was, and everyone knew it was at WLV.

At this point people know as much about Hopleaf Zwanze '19 as they did about WLV Zwanze '18.

Whatever other gripes anyone has about WLV is a separate story. I'm just saying we're in a similar situation at this moment and no one is freaking out about the details.

That being said, I have no reason to doubt that Hopleaf will announce details tomorrow so at that point this convo is pointless anyhow... even more pointless than it already is right now.

 

Hopleaf is actually open and conducting business right now. Can the same be said of West Lakeview at this time a year ago?

 

Side note: Hopleaf has bottles of Thomas Hardy's Ale from 2006. Only place in Chicago I've seen this beer!!!

 

Huge difference. WLV didn't tell us to constantly refresh brownpaper tickets for details like Hop Leaf did.

 

Yeah but no one knew the procedure for getting tickets. It became an insider event and that’s great and all for frequent patrons of WLV, but not for others who would like to go to events like this. Place was and will always be garbage in my mind. Especially when requiring me to purchase other beer in order to buy a more coveted beer.

 

https://zwanzeathopleaf.bpt.me/?fbclid=IwAR3lDIpVoNDf33I-KkDFuVtqvudMqq-oT36YuuSvZcvFL6a6N5ielJwt6CM

Am I reading this right? $50 for two pours?

 

Lol "The idea behind Zwanze Day is to offer an opportunity for as many people as possible to try both rare and regular Cantillon lambics by giving them a set time and place where theyll be able to find the beer at an approachable price."

Sure looks like $25 a pour... is that for a pint or 6oz which would put this on par with $100 bottles...

 

Wow. I think I’ll take my chances somewhere else if $50 gets me 2 small Cantillon pours and nothing else.

 

When people complain about WLV and then this happens. Enjoy your shit sandwich.

 

Hi, Kristina!!

 

Also, it isn’t clear if Hopleaf will be open to the general public as well that day, or just ticket holders. Because it sounds like it will be open to the public...

 

Crazy. And they'll still be open to the public for regular business anyhow. Doesn't seem like much of a special event or party IMO. Maybe I'm missing something?

 

I guess I should have updated my location to Michigan and not Oaxaca where Kristina is. Anyway, I was at every Zwanze Day at WLV minus 1 and I won't be making the trip this year. I had hoped it would be faithful to the point of the event, but this is hilariously bad if all you get is two beers for $50.

 

Right!

$70 for essentially unlimited pours + bottle share + food for ~8 hours

OR

$50 for two glasses of lambic

Hmmmmmm let me think.

 

I don't mean to be overly critical of Hopleaf - they are a legendary establishment and have been doing great things in the beer world for longer than many of us have been able to legally drink.

And I realize it isn't really fair to make a direct comparison to how WLV ran their Zwanze Day events - different businesses do things differently after all... but still... this just seems a bit underwhelming.

 

That's a great pricing model for the consumer, but it didn't seem to generate enough money for WLV to afford a liquor license....

 

Yep you're right. It was their overly generous Zwanze party that ended things.

 

It takes an exceptional amount of talent to bankrupt a liquor store that had been in business for 30 years during a craft beer boom....