Waiting in Line for Beer

I agree with this. I think people being willing to wait in lines and/or pay high prices is a necessary and inevitable aspect of the maturation of the craft beer market. As the market and consumer base grows there will greater segmentation of products offered by brewers and what consumers are willing to do to get those products. Expecting all brewers and retailers simply ignore the enthusiast segment of the market is ridiculous; and convincing others how they should spend their time and money is equally futile.

The line of reasoning that lines are ruining beer for everyone else is pretty self-centered and entitled too, beer is a luxury good and selling it is a business. There is no obligation make all beer available and cheap for everyone. I'm sure many people would like to have easy access to other luxuries like famous restaurants/chefs, fine wines, Swiss watches, luxury/sport cars, etc. and beer is no different, no matter how much some people wish it otherwise. In fact, I think it could be argued that it's the enthusiasts that allow any industry to push the limits that allow new niches of opportunity within a larger market. I don't have to be drinking beers like BCBS, Heady Topper, Pliny, Cantillion, etc. to enjoy the many of the other aspects of craft beer and the 4,000+ other breweries out there.

Personally, I choose not to stand in lines for beer, but if others are willing then more power to them. There are plenty of brewers ready to cater to my needs.

 

All I know is that time spent waiting in line for a taste of something rare could have been spent searching for undiscovered gems.

 

First time I visited Westbrook I asked about Mexican Cake. Turned out they were releasing it the next day. I thought "what a coincidence since it is my birthday weekend!, what time should I get here?"

"To be safe around 3-4AM"

My girlfriend goes "well you can do that shit, but dont bother waking me up".

 

I have and will continue to wait in a line to buy a quantity [as in at least a case] of beer that I would like to try or have tried and want again. What I will not do is wait on a line for one [1] glass of beer, as a local establishment has to do for a particular once-a-year release. Translation: I won't wait in a line longer than it would take me to finish the beer I waited for.

 

So, did you get there at 3 AM to buy the beer!?!

Cheers!

 

That would depend upon how much the brewery increases production. Russian River brews about 15,000 barrels a year not close to the demand for it's beer. If they doubled production to 30,000 barrels would that be enough or could it be too much?

 

I've been happily drinking shelf beer for years. These days I am fortunate enough to live in a time/place where I can also get high quality, brewery fresh beer on a regular basis.

Judge all you want, I'm a happy man.

 

Noooo, but we did go later the day of the release and they had variants tapped. So I at least got to try it!

 

I wish I had time to wait in line for beer. I barely have time to drink the stuff!

 

I don't think it's fair to say "don't line up for beer," because someone always will. People line up for stupid shit; that's just a fact of life. So in order to obtain the same stupid shit, I have to line up as well.

To those saying they can get comparable stuff at their local beer shop:

1) Good! Nothing makes me happier than finding something easily obtainable that I like almost as much/as much/more than a limited release.

2) The few things I've lined up for (Bourbon County on Black Friday two years back, GI Clybourn one-off bottle releases) are things I value above most other beers (because of the taste), so it's worth an hour or two of my time to get a hold of them. Is it worth more time than that to me? Nah, and sometimes an hour or two is even pushing it. But every once in a while I'll go out of the way for my favorite beers; I don't think that's too weird, especially given the current state of craft beer in Chicago.

My motto is not everything in moderation, but I think it applies here. No issue with lining up to make sure you get a beer you want--As long as you're not crazy about it.

 

I have a really big problem with the article, beyond how poorly written it is. It's contradictory.

"They're turning craft beer into something it never was and never should be: unrelatable, unaffordable, and unwelcoming. Beer is inclusive by nature, but lines only exist to exclude. With each line stood and each trophy beer captured, they threaten the community's fundamentally democratic nature."

So he's saying that beers that require waiting in line are exclusive, not inclusive. Beer that requires waiting in line is what is wrong with craft beer. The beer community should be a community, everybody should be able to get every beer they've ever wanted without waiting! It's the craft beer way! But then he says:

"Pure of heart and sincere of purpose though they may be, this group challenges the very core of craft beer's ethos. They are to the craft beer-drinking public what the Tea Party is to the GOP.

They are the people who wait in line for rare craft beer."

How in the world do statements like this enforce the "craft beer ethos?" This is as pure of an example of beer snobbery as anything else. His way of doing craft beer is right, and if you do it different, you're wrong. Thinking like that is exclusive, not waiting in line for beer. The craft beer community would be much, much better if people just cared about the beer they drank, and didn't worry about whatever else anybody does. Are you happy with buying SNPA from your grocery store? Good for you. Do you find enjoyment from waiting in line, with like-minded enthusiasts and friends, meeting new people while waiting to purchase a beer? Good for you as well. There is no wrong way to do this beer thing we all love, but it is wrong to judge people for how they approach beer.

Beer lines are never going to go away, as long as small breweries making high quality products can't make enough to meet demand. Most people want more people to "convert" to craft beer, but don't love that these new people want the crazy limited beers that we all want, too. It's just the way it is.

 

The writer of the article brings up some good ideas, but I dont like the article as a whole. I have/had/ and will continue to stand in a line for beer that I want. If you want something bad enough you will do what is necessary to obtain it. I dont however, do it to be an elitist. Quite the opposite actually. I do it for the same reasons I started into this hobby, its to share it with friends and like minded people. People have already mentioned about the shares that happen and the people you meet in line. All is true. If I have to wait in a line to get a beer that no one else that I know has to bring back and share it with said people then so be it. I also agree that it creates more intrigue than pushes people away. It never fails that whenever I find myself standing in a line for beer at least 5-10 passers by always ask "What are you lined up for" or "Why are you standing in line". I have even witnessed instances where said inquirers then jumped in line without further explanation. Everybody wants to be included.

Now on the other hand I hate that lines even have to be formed. I have gone to releases where, while the bar/brewery is still open for business, people have left to go outside and start a line. For what, just so they can say they were first? This is especially puzzeling when there is plenty of beer to go around for all people in attendance. I have seen lines begin earlier and earlier for realeases, again for no apparent reason. I was again at a particular bottle release where a share was happening at an establishment and 80% of the people up and left to get in line because one was started. There were awesome half empty bottles of beers left behind just so people could go stand outside in the cold. No idea why. I hung around inside, drank a lot of awesome beers. Once I had my fill I went outside and joined my friends/group I was with and waited with everyone else. This is the part about lines I will not get behind. (See I can make line puns to. )

 

Do you think that they have become 'conditioned' to expect that they need to wait in lines to purchase those beers?

Cheers!

 

I'm with you I have never wanted to wait in line, but I have wanted beer enough to endure it on occasion.

I can see craft beer lovers are approaching 15% of the beer drinking population. Can't imagine we will grow much past that. OTOH there are a ton of new breweries coming on line, including (if you include satellite locations for existing brewers) 5 opening around here. That is more of an increase in production than any possible increase in consumption we are likely to see. This is happening across the country. Eventually, and soon I think, there will be oversupply and diminishing lines.

As to when the hipsters discover Absinthe or something else more trendy and less mainstream, and leave us in peace, I can only hope it starts tomorrow, but in truth the assholes never left the Dead or Phish scenes after showing up late and glomming on, so maybe we just get used to them?

 

"One look? One look?!! I don't think so!!!"

 

That may be part of it. I like to think of myself as a logical thinker, which I have come to understand that a lot of people are not. I can tell when a line is necessary and when one is not, and the former heavily outweighs the latter. Ive come to the conclusion that people almost enjoy the waiting in line thing. I cant figure out why they continue to form earlier and earlier for releases.

 

That may be part of it. I like to think of myself as a logical thinker, which I have come to understand that a lot of people are not. I can tell when a line is necessary and when one is not, and the former heavily outweighs the latter. Ive come to the conclusion that people almost enjoy the waiting in line thing. I cant figure out why they continue to form earlier and earlier for releases.

 

I have a hard believing that statement but perhaps I am biased about my personal thoughts about having to wait in line to buy beer.

Cheers!

 

i've never done and will most likely never do it. one day i'll be at those great New England breweries trying to get their cans and would consider waiting in line for that. even then, it would depend how long the line is.

if there was only 1 brewery in the country and you had to wait in line to buy beer then yes. BUT there are so many great breweries/beers out there that waiting in line (even for a rare/amazing beer) is not necessary. i can just grab something great from my beer store.