Hazel's Nuts

I heard KBBS is gonna be a 5 case limit in the Fall...

But seriously. Shitty way to handle a release letting people walk off with 5 cases and others can't score any.

 

That's great, but when you advertise 5 case limit, and change it on the guy who camped out since 2 AM, how does that make you look? You stick to what you put the limit as...and as such people should plan accordingly (again this is coming somebody who attended today and didn't get the case he came for).

That's great of Side Project and the other breweries to go this route, provided that's what they advertise the release as. I don't see how you can change the limits last minute and essentially piss off the first 150ish who came for their 5 case limit. Sucks for those who didn't plan accordingly (see: myself), but again those who got there in time shouldn't be punished because Odd Side Ales makes some world class beer.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22564/201499/ Check that for Hazel's reviews... SO many reviews it hasn't even garnered a rating on here. Again many people wanted something they knew literally very little about (and those who WERE able to buy some on Black Friday came back knowing what the hype was about). I understand it's getting a ton of buzz on via other channels, but again, less than Hipster.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22564/140014/ Check that for Hipster Brunch reviews... Having attended this release I actually expected to get shut out here given the added notoriety (and similarities to CBS).

So again, yes, I'm pretty surprised... Shocked? Hardly. Angry? Not in the least. Shit happens, and I'll plan more accordingly for their next release (as I'm guessing Odd Side Ales will also do).

 

I've mentioned it before but imo the most fair way of doing a release like this i.e, non-ticketed, is for the brewery to state that the limit will be x cases but that they reserve the right to amend the limits based on the line turnout. It's a pretty simple approach - everyone knows beforehand that the limits could change at the time sales start so no one can be pissed if they change. Heck, if only 10 people show up they can even change the limit to 60 cases.

 

First of all - the release was a cluster - we all knew it would be so no complaints there on that. But I think a lot of people on here are not even coming close to telling the real story. If you showed up at 10am and missed beer by 20-30 people - you cut in line. Was there at 9:30am & they announced that Hazel's was gone before we got to the winding stairs - which was 3 and a half hours into the cluster.

The line management was a joke - people walked in, slide into the bottle purchase line and purchase 5 cases of Hazel's numerous times. Or does no one remember the guy(s) selling cases for profit to others in line all day. It didn't stop until they jacked the price to $250 and no one would buy.

Also - for the brewery to allow someone to sell bottles for twice the price 5 feet from the bar is just bad business.

Overall met a few good people & a lot of people that are basically destroy this for all of us. And anyone that brings a mule to a 5 case limit release - well hopeful Karma comes back to.

 

They did learn...Hipster = no limit, Hazel's = 5 case limit

Having missed out by about 50-60 people I want to agree but I'll say that I get super pissed when a limit is announced & I plan my limit, travel, whatever based on that limit & then it is changed

I wouldn't bet on it, usually they only distro what doesn't sell out at the brewery release.

As others mentioned there were tons of people maxing out on a beer that they literally had zero clue what it tasted like...such is craft beer in 2016. I love Hazel's, I had it on draft & bottles on Black Friday so I knew what I was getting but the guys in front of me drove up from Indiana & had no clue what Hazel's tasted like but all 4 of them were getting some (no clue how much they planned on)

I talked to @joshflashgordon when I was there & he mentioned that he thought the limit made some people buy more which I kind of agree with, I think people that saw the line decided "shit this IS a big deal so I should get the limit instead of the 2-3 that I planned on, I can trade/sell what I don't want". I trust Oddside will learn from this as they have other releases but the reality is that small breweries that make great beer like this see demand growth far EXCEED their supply or anticipated demand. Hopefully all of the big releases in the future will be 3 cases which is more than enough for someone to enjoy &/or trade while still allowing a lot more people to enjoy it plus still sell out within a day so that Oddside doesn't have the added Distro expense attached

tl:dr I got no Hazel's despite Oddside making changes from Hipster release because we craft beer freaks are buying the limit everytime & trading more than drinking

 

Were there really people in line at 2 am? Jesus. Sounds like a complete shit show. I was planning to drive over from Detroit, then ended up having to stay home Sat. If I had driven 2.5 hours and left empty-handed I would have been livid. If you buy 5 cases you're just a bad person. Period.

 

The first few people in line got there at 4:30, nobody was there at 2. I arrived at 5:00 and had 10 people in front of me.

 

luckily i didn't drive 2.5hrs... only 1.5hrs. Left with a consolation prize crowler. wasn't thrilled about it, but complaining about it won't get me any bottles

 

This x100 my friend. Lining up at 5am for a 10am release and people dropping hundreds of dollars on cases like it's chump change has become the norm. What a crazy beer world we live in now.

When I got to Oddside just after 12:40p, I immediately knew it wasn't looking good. I waited about 15 minutes in line and watched 4 Oddside workers cart out four full allotments so I called the inside of the brewpub to see how much Hazels was left. Worker that answered the phone said there were roughly 10 cases to go (12:55p).

With so many people in front, I just left and headed over to Kzoo to take the fam to the museum and Bells for dinner.

I'm not upset at Oddside because I didn't really waste much of my time like others did but there is room for massive improvement on their part. Craft beer has advanced so far in the past few years, you would think the concept of a bottle release for a rare item would be easy to handle but it's still not for some of these manufacturers. I also think it's a bit unfair that the last two special releases now we're brewpub only. When you distro to both sides of the state, it would be nice if they didn't alienate one half when it comes to the really good stuff. Anyway, just my thoughts and they echo what a lot have already said on here. As a quick side note, I was able to try Larry's Stupid Quadrupid at Bell's....wow is all I have to say!

 

I walked in at 3:30 this afternoon and bought some King of Tarts, what may well be the best sour they have released. I want to thank all those with Hazels Nuts tunnel vision for NOT buying this so it was so easy for me to obtain after the lines dissipated.

 

I can't believe people are so crazy over Hazel's Nuts.

 

Had a pour while I was in line, great beer indeed. Best of the "Royal series" for sure. I'd have to give the nod of their best sour to Funk Soul Brother. Love the hops with the slightly funky sour. Think NB Le Terrior, but half the price and more fruity tasting hops. I will be finding more of this.

 

I agree with you 100% there, although to play devil's advocate, I did see you walk out with what looked like 5 cases too (not bringing this up because I'm mad either; you put in more effort and were rewarded because of the work you put in; see my little rant against the bitching the rest of this post lolol). Like I've already said a few times, the biggest issue was people just showing up out of the blue, and somehow walking out with a few cases.

The release itself was well staffed, well run, and well organized for that matter (much better than the Black Friday release if you were at that one - a HUGE improvement). I agree about the 10am comment...We got there 9:45ish and I was still about 150-200th in line (by my estimate). Line management was DEFINITELY an issue, but again that responsibility should fall on US to police it better. Being that I was so deep in line by showing up at 10am, I was a little too far back to witness any of this actually happening (other than seeing people in line right by me having cases carted out shortly after 'disappearing'... you don't just get 5 cases by buying them second hand AND having an Odd Side employee cart them out for you. you cut in line...). Odd Side doesn't have enough staff really to babysit what goes on outside their taproom, it's up to us as BA's (and decent people) to keep others in check. If you stop 1 person from cutting, you just made another person's day (who DID put in their time).

I did NOT witness anybody that was selling Hazel's for more than they paid (although again, not surprised this shit happens). I DID, however, witness a few 4 packs GIVEN away. I also witnessed quite a few 4 packs being sold @ $20 a 4 pack (same cost to sellers) to those deeper in line (again, once those getting 5 cases saw many would miss out... see: good BA's). Selling cases for almost 2x what you just paid isn't bad business for Odd Side (hate to say this, but it only ADDS value to their product is assholes pay it...); it's TERRIBLE business for those doing it. While you can likely get away with this for a little while, karma bites you in the ass long term.

That's interesting, because a bartender told my Wife a group stayed once the bar closed. Another couple guys told me personally they were there about 3:30-3:45 AM and were 12th in line (sounds like those guys also had a pretty fun night so things could've been a little fuzzy lol).


Either way, I again had a great time. Ran into so many people that alone made my day (high school buddies I hadn't seen in 10 years for example...college buddies I hadn't seen since leaving college... and all sorts of people I've met in the past few months at other beer releases/festivals.).

Odd Side makes some awesome stuff, and there's a reason they were overwhelmed (see: not realizing so many people were that fucking nuts to flock to Grand Haven in February). The good news is, they are pretty damn good at what they do, and will only get better because of all the hurt feelings from today.

I feel as sorry for everybody else who got shut out today as I do myself - NOT VERY... Sucks but at the end of the day, it's fucking beer guys... RELAX already. If you want it that badly, do a better job next time. It's funny that so many folks are saying, "they should've seen this coming..." when the flipside is, "I should've seen this coming too...and planned better". If you KNEW there were 600-800 cases...and you KNEW there was a 5 case limit, and you THOUGHT there'd be a big demand for this... WHY did you show up at 9:00 AM and expect to be ok???? (says the guy who overslept and showed up at 10:00 AM ). I hate to be the voice of reason for the 3rd time, but again, if you want to blame a brewery for not being prepared, blame yourself at the same time (I personally, will place sole blame on myself lol...Because I like the shit out of everything about Odd Side).

 

In the very short time I was there, I overheard someone talking about Oddside getting a visit from the Grand Haven Fire Marshall at some point during the release. He went on to say that the Fire Marshall stated this "would be the last release, like this, that they do there." Sounds like someone wasn't happy about building occupancy but I'm curious if this was actually true or just a bad rumor created by a pissed off person realizing he wasn't going to get any Hazels. And even if it was true, it seems like it could just be resolved by having people line up outside instead of within the building.

 

To me, a 5 case limit might as well not be a limit at all. I understand that people might be buying for friends or whatever....but are they giving them a case? Seems excessive. Plus, i sorta question the people that say they're giving the beer to friends or whatever....most people in line that early aren't waiting by themselves.

I'm probably in the minority on this....I can't imagine wanting that much of one beer at one time.....no matter what it is. And that's before considering cost

 

Although I missed out on another Oddside release, I did luck out and get some Abyss cognac and rye variants yesterday, so hell yes I'm happy!

 

To be fair I just wanted to see the disappointed/angry looks on everyone's faces as I strolled out with 5 cases. All for myself too, I didn't pick up for 7 different people who couldn't make it .

All joking aside, when they set limits ahead of time, people will ask other people to pick up for them if they can't make it. When you're friends with those people it's tough to tell them "No, I won't pick up for you." I know there's the people who bitch about it, but they also knew the limit and that there was only 600 cases to go around. Do 3 seconds of simple math and you can get a rough estimate on when to show up to be sure to get some. I'm a strong supporter of a two or even single case limit next time. It'll be easier on me for sure, and I'll still spread some of my beer around to friends.
Sounds like OddSide is planning to do things differently so hopefully this is the last "OddSide shitshow bitchfest" thread.
Cheers all!

 

I had a good time, was about 12 back when the line stopped for the hour wait but my friend that came with me and I each ended up getting a case. The only thing that surprised me was the girl from further back in line that asked me to buy my full allotment and sell her what I didn't want. She seemed shocked when I told her no, it wouldn't be fair to the people behind me in line, after a few seconds I think she followed my thought process though. And - that's not got anything to do with OddSide, just someone who matters more than the rest of us I guess. Cheers to a fun release, those shares start to add up, I had to take a nap once I got home. Thanks for the beers fellow line waiters!

 

It's been interesting watching these releases evolve since the '13 Morningwood release. Alleged shitshow aside, it's great to see OSA have success.

 

ISO: Bad Person, FT: Regal

I joke--just trying to elevate the mood in this thread...