Le Bleu release date announced.

Hey, if you bring 100 friends and get the 100 cases then that's awesome on your part...and by no means would I be upset at your effort if that was to be the situation...it would go to show that you really wanted it more than the next guy. With that said, this all relates back to my point on assumption that surrounds these events. I was recently burned at the Idiots Drool Event...being a local to the event, I never remotely imagined it would be such a mad house (it was crazier than any Riserva release) and balked at my chance to get bottles as I didn't show up until after it was opened. My loss.

But to comment on 'why shouldn't they' I guess my reply would be (not meant in a sarcasm or trolling sense) why should they. Sure you could say if they put a cap at 6 bottles, then more people would like it and more people would get it and etc etc...but I'll argue from the other side of the fact that why not reward those who *really* wanted it...who went out of their way to actually leave early/get there eaarly etc etc. In a this regard, there was plenty of information in regard to the case limit/opening time/lesser total amount....I don't think IBC needed to go too much further than they did in that situation either.

I can see both sides of the circumstance and do not think either solution is 100% right. In the grand scheme of things I think any of this waiting for hours before hand is ridiculous at best, however that is how it works anymore. Truthfully I'd prefer that they had 'silent' releases more often, and let word of mouth spread that way.

 

I guess I should have gone to the 2x4 release at home depot. I hear everyone who shows up should be able to get the full alotment

 

Dudes if u don't know whhy they should you have a poor buisness mind, which is totally fine

 

The amount of people at the event did not surprise me at all today. The previous releases were on New Years Eve - hardly a day many people can get away to attend a beer release not to mention dealing with Upstate NY winters.

Based on the threads here, it was clear people were coming in from far further afield than in previous years and the demand would be great. My beer friends here in Rochester were convinced we had to get there earlier because this was going to be a sell out due to the small number of cases available and likely demand.

I left later than I wanted after getting home Saturday morning at 4 am. I arrived around 10:20 am or so and was fortunate to get one of the last cases.

If I was able to forecast demand, it baffles me that the brewery could not. Or perhaps they did but chose not to do anything about it. Before I finally got into the brewery after 1 pm, no one from the brewery had come out and said anything about supply. They should have had someone go out imho and let people know their chances based on their place in line. As it was, numerous people ended up standing in the hot sun for hours for no reason. I would have been fine if they had set a 6 bottle limit as well.

Hopefully, they will learn from this and will handle it better in the future. Once the new brewery is built, I assume they will have more than one register to ring people up and things will run more smoothly.

The good news is that there are many generous BA's that will likely be bringing bottles to upcoming tastings - at least in the Rochester area. Hope many of you get a chance to try it. Cheers!

 

Those who got LeBleu wanted it enough to get there early. It was not a brewery caused clusterfuck like at CL CdC release, where line-place tickets were dropped casually on a barrel head at 2:00 AM for people to hoard, and there was rampant cutting in line. It was exactly as advertised, first come, first served, with the exact number of cases made available as was said by brewery beforehand.

I worked until 1:30 AM this morning, picked up a friend, and drove four hours to Ithaca. I still haven't slept. We got beer because we did what was necessary. If you didn't, look into a mirror to see whose fault that is.

 

What I don't understand is the case per person allotment. Why not make it 3 or 4 per person and allow more people the chance to get a bottle? Hardly makes sense to shut out that many people for the sake of having a one person/case maximum.

 

So, I went today. Drove about 7 hours round trip. Did not get any Le Bleu. Am I disappointed? For sure. I am not complaining; I went with the hope that I would get some, and failed. I learned years ago not everyone makes the team. Will I continue to buy Ithaca products? No question. I am not upset with the brewery (and I don't think many people really are). I wish they had done things differently, but that was their choice. Hell, I met some interesting people and learned some interesting things today. Like some parents actually name their kids after a bird.

Comments like this...well, sometimes this is what frustrates me with this culture. Congratulations on getting the beer. But why the need to jump on here and pile on those who did not? If I were you I would be sitting back and enjoying my well-earned prize, not going out of my way to antagonize those who aren't. This was my first 'brewery release' I had the opportunity to attend; I will know to plan better in the future. But really? "Look into a mirror to see whose fault that is"? Comments like these serve no purpose, so why make them. Next time, enjoy your quarry and stay away from the keyboard. Everyone will be the better for it.

 

Congrats. Unfortunately, I was not able to leave at 1:30am to get there on time for a release that in the past has been available for at least a day or two after the release day. I did make the drive and get a sunburn though! However, instead of bitch about it on a website I will express my views with my wallet instead.

 

Never underestimate the beer geek as human locust phenomenon.

 

How much was a bottle/case?

 

$15 and $180 respectively.

 

To be quite honest, being one of the first people in line today, I would have been furious if they decided to lower the set allotment due to the amount of people at the release. Why should those who decided to take the appropriate measures be penalized for the tardiness of others? Also, the 6 of us that were in line at 6:30 this morning froze our asses off.

We at the front today enjoyed ourselves immensely. Some great bottles were opened up, and many laughs were had.

I look forward to next years release (and hopefully the Brute release).

 

I heard it being discussed but it was too late by the time I got in for a case... I don't know why anyone is surprised by beer releases nowadays... Especially this one with all the last lb release ever rumors.

 

That is INSANE that they allowed people to buy full cases with so many other people waiting and ultimately getting screwed. Seriously? They couldnt send someone out to do a headcount and make a judgement call to cut the limit? And I thought the Alesmith BA Speedway release was bad last year.

 

How about more Beer Advocacy and less greed?

 

I set up 3 trades just in case one or two didn't go through. None went through as planned. Demand > Supply.

Am I pissed at those gracious people who tried to help me or Ithaca Brewery for me not getting my LeBleu?

No. Hell NO! Ithaca laid out the specifications ahead of time. They stuck to their guns. My peeps tried to help out. Shit happens.

A lack of planning/unfortunate events on your part, does not constitute an emergency on Ithaca's. Don't be pissed at them (or anyone).

Here's where real beer advocacy comes into play. There's still plenty of beer to go around. Its not like everyone drank every bottle they bought today. Am I gonna fret about all the shit/$$$ I already sent out? No. I'm plenty confident we'll all make contingent plans or change it on the fly and get it set. Yeah man, 1-10% of that beer will end up on ebay. So what. If making $20-100 on a half days work is what floats your boat, cool. But the rest of that 90% of beer, that will be drank, shared, traded etc. . . going to those (more?) valuabe human relations and experiences. . .

In recent limited releases, some of us got Beatification, some got King Henry, some got LeBleu, Dark Lord etc. . . for $15 recently in decent numbers. Some of us have awesome locals that others don't right?

This is why beer trading/sharing came about/is fun right?

 

I have some good Cigar City stuff if anyone wants to trade me one of these

 

So I went to the release yesterday, leaving from NYC at 7. I did not get to purchase any LeBleu, but after waiting in line to buy some 14 and have tastes of some fresh delicious beer, I headed back to my car disappointed. I pulled together a few nice folks I waited in line with and offered some consolatolion tail-gating beers and one of the kind gentlemen offered up a bottle of last year's LeBleu to try. Having never had it before I was very grateful to have such kindness bestowed upon me. The sharing was great, it helped cure the hole left by striking out on getting any. Thank you advocates. With that being said, the taste of LeBleu was amazing and I still want a bottle to share with my near and dear. BM me if you have one to trade and let's work something out. Power to beer brotherhood!

 

I was replying to those who criticized the brewery. Thought that was obvious. If it wasn't, hope it is now. I was on line for hours. Actually left the line and we went to the park to see if any others were there to share the chest of cold beer I had brought, and only lost a couple places in line. Everyone who didn't get beer overslept, left late, had false expectations, etc.. and none of that is the brewery's fault.

 

There is nothing greedy about being mad for not getting what is promised with you; especially after i took the time to wait an additional 4 hours on line. It would have been greedy if I dragged my girlfriend along with me, who hates beer, just so I can get an extra case for myself.