Freetail Brewing posted a thread in the SW forum asking for suggestions to help make the next/future release(s) more organized and enjoyable. It got me wondering, what SMALL brewery/brewpub bottle sale was really well done and trouble free? Number systems, hoarding issues etc..... Please share your experiences, we might all benefit in the long run. Cheers!
I am also interested to see what people from outside our little group has to say. Freetail specifically has tried several different things. All with varying degrees of success and difficulties as the the releases get more popular. Originally, like pretty much all, just line up and get it. Then they had to put in some bottle limits, which continued to tickets. They even tried having everyone grab a table, and someone would take the order. While, I think everyone got their allotment, there were plenty of people not happy with that cause it took a long time. Now back to tickets, but they continue to grow, which of coarse is causing cluster fuck problems. Anyway, I would be interested in hearing any other bottle release stories, failures, successes, or otherwise that are not as well publicized as other more well know releases.
I think rolling unannounced release is the best way if something is highly sought after. Now looking forward to all the BAs telling me the many reasons why I am wrong.
Recently Alpine released Great with very little notice. I saw their Facebook post less than an hour before they were to open for the day announcing that Great would be released that day. I think their ~1,800 bottles lasted a day and a half, and I didn't hear of any craziness that went on. No system is perfect, but I personally I like a lottery system. It eliminates the line cutters, mules, and other shenanigans.
