Other Half Brewery Thread (November 2015)

Limit is four 4-packs of each beer, not four cans. Which is the same as the normal limit for Green Diamonds and AGE. Note that AGE sold out the day of last release, and it's been released several other times. And this is going to be many times more people than a normal release.

 

fyi, It's a (4) 4-pack limit, so 16 cans, for both Street Green and Green Diamonds

 

Ah, read that wrong... wishful thinking I suppose.

 

it's a 4x 4pack limit - so 16 cans

 

Sooo...what are the limits?

 

Sarcasm is hard to detect on the interwebz...which I hope was your intent

 

No discussion about how Other Half posted on Facebook and Instagram that people are hiring Taskrabbits to wait in line for them and buy them beer?

Bummer that they posted "not sure how to feel about this"... I mean, I guess it's affirming for them but how is anything other than awful for their fans and for craft beer in general?

 

I mean, on Facebook they posted "Strange and not cool for the people who take the time to line up and wait personally for something they really enjoy." And saying "not sure how to feel about this..." implied to me that they don't like it.

Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that Other Half's posts are only going to give more people the idea. I'm tempted to skip the release altogether at this point and just find it on draft somewhere.

 

But if they don't like it then it's pretty obvious how they could avoid it - just don't announce releases several days in advance!

They could either just put it out on Friday after they finish canning and it'd probably last till Saturday as word got out on it's own. Even announcing it at like 8pm on Friday that they're releasing on Saturday at 10am would cut down the ability for Taskrabbit (and for out-of-towners to plan trips in to snap it all up, but not sure that's a concern of theirs).

 

I could not agree with this more. I think this will give more people the idea to do it. Especially a release like this with low limits. Im sure people will hire taskrabbits and also wait in line themselves to obtain more.

 

Well, maybe they'll start doing this from now on. It's not clear that they realized this was happening until they already announced this release.

 

Flipside to this is that Other Half's buzz just keeps growing. They keep racking up mentions, recognition in the press, and so on, that's got to be good for business. Same with lines for releases, it helps with the buzz and provides a ton of free advertising. This to me explains the ambivalent nature of their comment about Taskrabbits.

By the way, I'd never heard of Taskrabbits but find the name and the concept hilarious.

 

WTF is a Taskrabbit? Craft beer hype is getting WAAAAYYYY out of control when the word "Taskrabbit" now means there are on-line services to pay people to wait in line to scoop up cases and cases of beer. This takes muling to a whole new level. Some people really suck.

I am torn on this, I love OH so thrilled that they are so popular that the demand is so high and they can sell so much beer. But on the other hand my favorite brewery is being impacted by the worst aspects of the craft beer hype.

Easy solution, there is so much beer out there, suppress the feelings of "FOMO", dont worry about always getting cans and go drink some other great beer from another brewery. There will be a lot of hard core beer geeks in line who do the right thing, but let the phase of the posers, profiteers, Taskrabbit warlords come and go, it will pass soon enough.

 

Actually, according to Taskrabbit, Other Half beer releases were like number 5 on their list of lines they are asked to stand in. IPhone releases were probably number one and I would assume sneaker releases would be the other.

Honestly, I used to walk by Footlockers in NYC and see people camped out for 5 blocks and thought, "What a bunch of losers." I imagine their must be people passing by beer releases thinking the same thing. Haha.

 

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Not announcing can releases would also cause a storm of "Why don't they announce their releases in advance?!?!?" and "I missed out on cans because they didn't announce anything!"

 

just because they announced it for Saturday doesn't mean they can't post on Friday at 5pm and be like - 'hey, come and get it!'. I mean, there are people in the comments thread on Instagram arranging for Taskrabbits! It'd be amazing if people paid Taskrabbits to line up at 6 AM for beer that was already gone.

if the last several years in craft beer have shown me anything it's that this sort of thing isn't going to pass, aside from people like me who don't want to wait for hours in line and/or can't afford a Taskrabbit opting out of this hobby.

 

This should be an interesting release. Fully expecting there to be a line around the block and then some by opening.

The only solution i can think of is something like what the Bruery or Rare Barrel do... having people sign up for memberships. Might not actually be a terrible thing.

 

I hear you, but the OH hype will die down to a more manageable level sooner or later. The collab may be awesome, but chances are it won't be any better than the other great beers that OH makes. People go nuts over "special releases", "collabs", etc. Resist the hype, grab a glass of OH somewhere in the city where people aren't lined up.

 

In general, I'd still like to see BPT used more often. Not for every release, but the ones that are guaranteed to generate a shitshow. Give people a couple day window to pick up their allotment. This would also curtail the crowds on Saturdays so people can actually enjoy a few pours in the taproom/garage.

 

No kidding. Go ask Kane how that went over (I know it was for a rarer/more hyped release, but still).

I would support this, but then there will be the cries of "they're gouging their loyal customers!"
Plus, as others have alluded to, the hype and the lines around the corner aren't really bad for business.

Not to say there isn't a better system...but moral of the story, people are going to be mad however you release beer where demand >>> supply.