Calling bottle shops to ask for whales

These "bottle shops" are a business. As much fun as it is to be lucky to find a rare beer sitting on the shelf, I actually expect the retailers to reserve really tough stuff for their best customers. It makes sense to save some of the rare stuff for the people that spend the most money...,seems foolish to expect otherwise.

 

But it's not "those people" who keep you in business. "Those people" are 'lazy' truck chasers who call every store within a 100 mile radius on Black Friday looking for variants. Let's not pretend they are loyal customers.

 

Look man, if you want to beat around the bushes and waste your time, go ahead. My point is fairly clear, I doubt it needs more explaining. If you want to make 'desert island' arguments pick it with someone else.

 

I would like to think I'm a regular at some stores, but that's thinking too highly of myself. I stop in when I can and if they happen to have some limited stuff I feel blessed. I still call a few places pretty frequently on a few releases, but like others have mentioned, there's not much else you can do to avoid that. The invention of the telephone/cell phone is great! Might as well use it.

If I really want a recent limited release, I'll normally offer up a recent limited release I acquired on the down low. Most of the time my "beer guys" will gladly take a free bottle or 2 and hook me up. I scratch their back, they scratch my back type deal. I really love to have my back scratched by the way. Ever since I was a child... it just feels good man, so good.

Lately, I've just been calling distributors more. Stop in to bottle shops and call distributors. That's actually a work around for people who constantly bother bottle shops. You're still annoying people, but at least you're not annoying the person who will ultimately sell you the beer (at least in Ohio).

 

I've called stores that I frequent. I don't necessarily know the people that work there, but I shop at them at least once or twice each month. So it would be okay for them to lie to me just because they don't personally know who I am? If I found out one of them lied to me, I'd probably stop shopping there. I'd like to think that my once or twice a month purchases help to keep their business open, but I guess maybe I'm wrong.

These people are assuming that the person calling is the one you described, but you know that's not always the case.

 

When it gets to the point where I have to pay money and give beer to secure a limited release, then I'm not interested.

No offense to you or anyone that does this, but the guys at the store are already benefitting by you buying the beer, which in turns contributes to their wages. And assuming you're going there regularly, then you should be especially valuable to them.

Regular who gives free beer>purple boa-wearing regular>normal regular = another reason why beers should just be put out on the shelf with no announcement and a limit. Gives "regulars" the best chance of getting it without all of the complications, or any sort of murky pecking order within that group of regulars. Regarding phone calls - saying "sorry we don't disclose this on the phone or the internet, and have a policy of putting beer directly on the shelf when it arrives", surely can't be a significant negative impact to the bottom line.

 

I gave up chasing the whales a while ago. It was a major pain and really didn't help calling stores looking for that rare beer. There was always the problem of employees not knowing the beer let alone if they have any.

Special event releases are great if there is a few to go around but not if it's just for a bottle or two.

 

I am not sure why a store would turn down a potential new customer by not selling beer. The people calling in spend the same currency as myself and everyone on here. The local shop owner here will occasionally pull things out of his personal cellar for me as a thank you and I appreciate that but it seems to be a little to choosy as a business owner to tell people over the phone coming into their store is not worth their time. I live by and go to Hill Farmstead they answer their phone and post everything online without any of this and people still go.... just a though is all.

 

I am sure they are planing on closing the doors now that you are not shopping there... ever.

 

This also gave me an idea..

There has to be somewhere here that can code; million dollar idea:

Make an app called Capt'n Ahab, have it track local inventories of beer.

Now you might wonder how this could be possible.. Corporate stores shouldn't be a problem, as for the independent, i'd imagine you'd have to get with the distributors, since they use things like UXT to track their outbound sales and deliveries..it's all pretty much online since ordering tablets and symbol units call home for orders, and distribution centers call home for dispatching orders. You'd only be able to track inbound, outbound is impossible. But if you scraped the county or whatever, you'd get a delivery date, and quantity.

I'm too lazy, and lack the skills to do it.

 

I don't know about other people on this thread that have worked at liquor stores, but I'll use the stores I've worked at as examples.

You are not perceived as an asshole by any means! We get it, and we appreciate that you have came in to the store instead of calling for the exact reasons people keep talking about. When you come in, that is when people get to look around at the whole selection while looking for this whale.

Now, at this point, you still may get the whale. It all depends on how much came in. When Hopslam came out last year, even the smaller store I worked at received ten cases. It was out in the open and sold on a first come, first serve basis. If we only got in one or two cases, then we would hide it in the back and sell a bottle or a six pack to our regulars. What can we say? The order we send in is for more than we get a lot of the time. We wanted more of it so we can sell it to you or anyone else because a whale is a profitable item, but we are at the mercy of the distributor in some cases. Since we only received a small amount, we reward our regulars for being regulars. Its a present for them so to speak for being there for us over the past year or more. And to be quite frank, I don't think that is bullshit.

 

Well, the dilemna for the store worker/owner/manager then is clearly how do they protect themselves from the 'phone truck chaser?' You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. Trust me, I don't like the thought of being outright lied to either, but the stores do have a right to take care of their best/consistant customers and keep the truck chasers at bay. At the end of the day, it's the truck chasers/hoarders screwing this up for the greater community. A guy like yourself is not the problem...

 

Man... after reading some of these responses, I guess I should feel lucky. Getting limited releases around my area has never been much of a problem: no phone calls needed, just check Facebook for when a couple stores post that they've gotten said beer in, or monitor the regional forum on here for any updates of sightings at local stores from other nearby BA's. My usual stops (both a couple Total Wine/Whole Foods locations as well as a couple smaller 'mom-n-pop' types) all do the "limit to 1 per customer and keep behind the counter, just have to ask for it and first-come-first-served" method. I've pretty much always managed to grab what I was after, and in the couple of instances that I didn't I simply shrugged my shoulders and moved on.

At this point I know the manager at my regular Total Wine pretty well and he always greets me when I come in and we will strike up a conversation; but I don't expect him to do me any favors. If I don't make it there in time and the beer's sold out, so be it. One of the most hilarious/nauseating things about this hobby is seeing the number of people who get so bent out of shape about not getting a freakin beer.

 

The store I work at has gotten a few different shipments of FBS in at different quantities. (2 cases, then 5, then 6 I believe). First time was essentially the regulars' batch, and the subsequent shipments have sat for a few weeks or so. It's unbelievable how fickle the hype of a beer gets from it's limited release to it being readily available and how bloodthirsty these Ahabs and Queequegs get as soon as a beer they haven't seen in a few months comes back out.

We also recently planted an empty case of Bourbon County Barleywine on a high shelf just to see how adventurous someone might get to maybe get their hands on some.

 

Messing with the customers, eh? I like it.

 

I generally stick to some certain stores in my area and don't have many issues getting the beers I want. From time to time though I do stop in shops out of my normal realm and ask for rare-ish type bottles. Whether they have them or not, I get something else as well. Maybe its just my personal politics or way of making myself feel better and not quite as much an annoyance. Besides, It's not like that that extra bomber or six pack I'm picking up is gonna go to waste

 

It would be funny to watch security video of customers trying to climb up and get that beer!

 

Totally this. Speedway Stout used to verge on being a shelf whale in NYC.

 

I call even though I hate to do it, but I really have no other choice. Any whales will be at 45 miles away from me. Most will be 100 miles away. So I'm not going to make the trip without knowing. They will usually hold stuff for me even though they only see me once a month or so because they know I'm gonna load up while I'm there.

 

There's usually a step ladder or something near by. I once grabbed a stack of 2 liter shells to get something. Coke shells are nice and sturdy.