Bottle shops selling out of distro beer

As a consumer, I think it's great. Americans should be free to buy any beer we want. But the goofy beer laws we have in this country often prevent it.

 

Yeah, I think it's bullshit that I live/shop for beer within 5 miles of Stone, yet I have never seen a bottle of Enjoy By on the shelves.

 

I'd say; respect and follow the law. Otherwise, you are just a step or two above a drug dealer.

 

i think that these shops are E-Bay like especially if they advertise and seek brews to exploit the market.. IMO

 

No idea. It must always be gone by the time I get into the 15 stores I frequently visit. It's like a joke.

 

So you're saying that you would like stores closer to you to go buy Enjoy By bottles at the brewery and mark them up a couple extra bucks?

 

Sure, if it meant I could occasionally get a bottle. I don't mind a little gouging every once and a while.

 

I think distribution laws are screwy and don't aid any of the parties involved. I don't drink in DC, but are the prices for out of standard distro stuff super crazy? If it's a case of getting something rare and charging ridiculous prices for it, I'm not down.

That being said, they are the laws and we should abide by them.

Cool way of getting around it are giveaways. Bar by me was giving away a Heady Topper to anyone who answered a fairly obscure trivia question. It made a fun night and no laws were broken.

 

From a consumer standpoint it's obviously a good thing, unless of course they're holding it for a king's ransom. However I can't really advocate breaking the law and it puts other businesses who don't want to break the law at a disadvantage. I haven't seen any shops selling "imported" goods, but a few bars in Boston have been known to import Heady Topper from time to time.

 

Laws that are unjust are made to be broken. I know I'll get a bunch of hate for that, but that's how I personally feel.

Look at it this way...if this were say, 1923, and there was a thriving illegal craft beer store near you, how many here would not buy beer from it just because "well, that's the law?"

 

But is there a way to break this law without screwing one of the parties?

- Bar gets out of distro kegs to sell at their own establishment. Original brewer doesn't (most likely) get kegs back, loses hundreds of dollars in deposits.

- People get gouged to hell to buy out of distro beer. $12 cans of Heady is one that I've seen. $3 at the brewery, through normal distro would probably be $6.

I think that prohibition is something of a poor analogy.

 

It's not 1923. Grow up; you aren't above the law,

 

It's a good thing, gives people who don't trade on BA (also illegal) a chance to try stuff us traders get.

 

Fair markup is whatever a person is willing to spend. I'd be ECSTATIC to have an opportunity to drop $50 on any BCBS variant, BT variant, etc down here in this beer wasteland called Texas. For the right beer, I'd happily spend more. Basic economics, supply and demand. Just because one person thinks its a ripoff doesn't mean a second person will feel the same. $50 for a bramble isn't bad anyway when you factor in searching, trade value, extras, shipping, waiting, possibility of damage. Eff that. I wish I had a bottle store here who would do all that, and all I'd have to do is walk in and pay for it.

 

I'm grown up and have my own brain. Am I supposed to be intimidated by this statement?

 

And your own brain says "whatever laws I don't like, I don't have to follow. I'm just that cool."

 

Thank you for an actual thoughtful disagreement to what I said.

I think your first statement is a legitimate concern. As for the second point, people wouldn't need to buy any of it if they didn't want to do so. Again, thank you for the civil post.