MVB Batch 2!

I'm gonna ask this question, and I don't mean it with any malice or bad feelings towards the brewery or their operations... I think your facility and grounds are amazing from the two times I got there... And I apologize if this has been brought up before (i'm guessing it has, but I don't see the conversation anywhere)... but.. i still want to ask..

Last time I made it to JK, I actually spoke to several people who live within a few miles of the brewery and were walking away with CASES of stuff... when I asked them about it, casually (they were all really nice and happy to chat), a bunch of them said they come everyday that it's open when there's something special available and pick up their bottles and head home... so basically it sounds like the the "1 per person per day" clause only really limits the people that live more than 30 miles away from the brewery, and allows those nearby to hoard the hell out of this stuff...

I know that there is no real way to address this from the brewery's standpoint, but it would seem that it would get the beer into the hands into a lot more people if it was truly 1 per customer, instead of 1 per customer per day.... or even distributing the stuff a little wider than just the brewery...

Anyway... please done flame me too hard for this, was just asking out of curiosity: If part of the intent is to get the bottles into the hands of as many people as possible, why not distribute some of it (at an increased price above the brewery price) and truly reach some more people instead of allowing locals to gobble all this stuff up? I know I'd pay $20 or maybe even as much as $25 if a bottle would make it as far as Houston for me...

 

Basically, if you are willing to go to the brewery, you get beer. If you start distributing, then you have the same issue of people following vans around and buying all of them. Why should someone in Houston have just as much access to JK as someone in Austin?

I do not get beer from a bunch of DFW breweries, Houston breweries, etc. There is no easy way for me to access it. But, I do not live in those cities.

It seems like 95% of the people who have an issue with the way they release the bottles are people who drive in from out of town. But, they are failing to see that the people that do go to the brewery every day are the people who they are catering to more so. The people that actually go out there every weekend, always hang out, grab beers, etc. If they limit to one bottle/person, then you will end up with a situation where the only people who now benefit from it are the people who only go to the brewery from out of town for releases and not every weekend.

Yes, I do go out there more than once a weekend, and bring my wife, and we buy out all of our allotment. Yes, I end up with more than 4 bottles in the end. Why? Because the beer is damn delicious.

There are advantages to living close to a brewery. This is one of them. It won't ever be fair for everyone, so you might as well help the people who go there all the time.

 

Have you seen the entire bottle list or do you think people only buy the fruited stuff? I've been a volunteer for a while and I'm very familiar with the crew. The limit still applies to me and all the other regulars that buy bottles. Jester King is pretty much a bottle shop now, it's amazing what they get in through distro.

 

If you don't only buy the fruited sours to trade for whalez you're doing it wrong. The only good beer is rare beer.

 

Regulars don't get larger allocations of limited bottles than anyone else. Hell, even employees are subject to limits.

Source: I'm a regular.

 

I believe it's about bringing people to the brewery, making it the attraction, and put the focus on their "sense of place". Jeff has said a few times the goal is to have a fruited sour available all the time, but they are just too popular for that to happen with the current output, even with 1 per.

I just don't see them caring if people got enough bottles to take home, but rather caring if they had a good time while they were there.

I'm not sure if you were trying to imply that those locals get around the limit's by being friendly locals, but that's not true at all. I've tried.

 

Can confirm. He is always out there when I am.

 

Yes, I know they are not getting anymore of the allotment than anyone else (i.e. if it's one fruited sour per person, they only get one)... I am not implying anyone is doing anything wrong... I was just asking a question for the sake of discussion.

and yes, I was completely amazed by their bottle list last time out. I understand that was why people were walking away with cases... I got to talk to a few "locals" as a couple of them were sitting off to the side somewhere, with their boxes, having a glass before they left to go home and attend to stuff...

To be clear: I don't have an issue with their practices - I was just asking a question. Their practices make complete sense to me from a business perspective. I am a little jealous that, say, I can't have the same relationship with karbach (uber close to my house) as y'all in Austin have with JK, but thus is life, and the differences in the business structure and laws in the state and how they effect the different business structure.

that being said, it does not make a lot of sense to me when you say you want to "give as many people as possible the chance to buy" and have a structure that favors people who live super close to the brewery. But you're also right that distro-ing it only invites the "truck chasers" to hoard it... so their is no ultimate fix...

hopefully I'll have a weekend to come out again soon and go their again!

 

I get that some people go every day JK is open when they have a fruited sour available, but then I don't understand your anecdote about cases. If you're saying that these people are adhering to the daily limit, but that they are coming everyday, why would they have "cases?"

 

No, regular hours.

 

I am guessing more people actually get to try it when people buy multiple bottles than just 1 bottle/person. If people are able to get multiple bottles, they go out in trades. If they go out in trades, then people in other areas get to try it, likely at a bottle share.

If only one bottle went out per person, I am less likely to have it at a bottle share and just drink it myself.

So, you could easily argue that more people get to try it thanks to the current rules.

 

Probably not cases of fruited sours, but stuff like Repose which had 4 bottle limits. It's beers like this that fill me with anxiety that I might not end up with a bottle. Aurelian was the same way. That one was tough to get a hold of for me

 

I'll make it work regardless of what Jeff and the rest of the team decide. I'm hoping that at least Atrial will be a 2 bottle limit since it is the largest release

 

Regarding the limit of one per customer per day rather than only one per customer, I'd say the motivation is twofold. One, it would be very hard and/or time consuming for us to track everyone who has purchased a bottle over the course of multiple days or weeks. We struggle to do it over the course of just a single day. I suppose there maybe exists software that tracks credit card sales and alerts us to when a repeat customer comes through, but we'd honestly rather not have to deal with this, nor take down personal information when someone pays cash. Two, as @mph005 alluded to, we make no secret about the fact that we want to encourage people to come out to our brewery when we're open. I know there are people who come out on multiple days and only buy the one or two limited release beers and immediately leave. But there are also those who visit multiple days to hang out, have a few glasses onsite, maybe bring a friend who hasn't visited before, have a pizza at our neighbor Stanley's, or purchase whatever new guest beer, wine, or cider we didn't have the prior week. This is of course important to us from a revenue standpoint, but also because we want people to experience our beer in the physical setting that directly impacts its character. The mental association between place and the flavors/aromas in the beer can heighten the enjoyment in my experience. - Jeff

 

Visiting for the first time this Saturday. Coming from Cleveland. My buddy, who just moved down to Dalls, booked a room in the Austin area, for the day, a couple days ago. We were planning on spending most of the day at Jester King. This is just a bonus!! Can't wait to try MvB on draft(if I read correctly) and/or get an opportunity to buy a bottle. Had batch one and it was amazing!! Cheers!

 

You'll be able to do both. Good timing (minus it likely will be rainy).

 

Atrial was a 2 bottle limit last time it was released.

 

Yeah the rainy part is a bummer...but it's all good!

 

Hence my statement hoping batch 5 will also be 2 bottles

 

Assuming they one day decide to implement a tracking system, and if the batch size is large enough, one idea is to offer 3 per weekend. You buy 3 on Friday, you're done. That should satisfy locals and visitors alike.