Other Half Brewing Thread (March 2016)

Waiting in line on the street or in a parking lot really doesn't have any affect on how fast the line moves. It's the people working there and their system. Treehouse also just uses 2 registers for cans but they care about moving the line along.

 

yeah, cause a fucking gravel parking lot is the magic treehouse sauce to making a line move quick.

 

Yea, not really sure why location would change the pace of the line, and to be honest Other Half as middle of nowhere as you can get for New York City area.

 

I wonder if the difference in limits between TH and OH make the lines move at different paces. If OH had your 4-8 can limits, everybody would buy the max, but now a good amount of people pick and choose which slows up the line.

 

In defense of @Kanger 's point and OH, and without having been to Treehouse, the tight space that OH operates in has to add to some of the slowdown in traffic. It's hard as hell to maneuver in there when crowded, so with people trying to maneuver with cases or bags or backpacks loaded with beer, this creates some logistical problems that I imagine Tree House doesn't deal with.

 

You just reminded me of another thing, which is that OH is also pouring beer, which I don't think Tree House does. So not only are people buying cans to go, they are ordering samples, pours and growlers while picking up their cans. Yet more cause for slowdown.

 

I dont know. Tree House has one tiny door people have to funnel in and out of then they snake you through where you buy growlers and around to cans, its pretty tight. Other Half on the other hand has a pretty large garage door with a fairly straight forward flow in and out.

 

Right, but cans are in a completely different area than where you buy pours or growlers, totally different lines.

 

Yeah, I can only speculate on the TH situation as I haven't been there, but I can attest that even on my most recent visit arriving after cans were gone, there was a line wrapping through the taproom, it was hard to move and it took about 10 minutes to get beers.

 

So much this. Please stop making excuses for how inefficient the canning process is.

 

The plus side is that if more and more people get tired of the Saturday shitshows and stop going, then one might be able to go the following day and find cans, fill growlers, and drink a few beers in peace. Silver lining and all. Haha.

 

You'd think that people who wait on these miserably-slow-moving lines regularly would appreciate the fact that packing up their cans inside is a major contributor to the bottleneck and instead take their shit out to the street and do it there...

As far as pouring and selling merch, they could probably move through a good number of people if they only did can sales for the first hour. Realistically, each transaction should take no more than a minute, so you could get through 100+ people in line with 2 POS systems in that time.

 

I think the real solution is they just need to get ppl to prepay while waiting in line, give them a ticket per 4 pack they want, and you cant add more once you get up front. then its just a pick up and go operation

 

Unfortunately, it's probably not legal for OH to be ringing people up outside their facility, on the streets of NYC.

I think the ticket idea is good, even if you have people pay inside. This way, OH knows exactly how many 4-packs are accounted for, it still limits line-cutting, and prevents any indecision from people regarding allotments once they're inside.

 

you do know that other half has an open garage and a line that can feed outside, right? and you do know that treehouse has a single doorway with hundreds of people snaking through the entire building, with other people sitting around the growler area waiting for their fills, and more people paying for their growlers at the same single doorway, right?

and you do know that treehouse has 2-3 people swiping cards for cans (compared to other halfs one) that don't spend 30-40 seconds bullshitting with each person like other half does, right?

your fucking homerism knows no bounds

and apologies that i don't like waiting in line 4+ hours for beer, but i'm not really sure how that equates to others who can't afford food or whatever point you're trying to make.

 

I understand your want to white knight for OH, but you're seriously reaching here, on both points. Having limited space does not preclude there from being a process by which people in a (somewhat) orderly line can purchase goods in a reasonable amount of time. I've gone to electrical supply houses that have thousands upon thousands of items and had them picked for me, rung up, and been out the door faster than your average OH can transaction. There's no reason that it should take that long for someone to communicate the quantity they would like of two (or three) different items, pay for those goods, and be on to the next person in line. I'm not saying the consumers aren't a problem, but OH should be actively trying to speed up the process, even if it involves being dicks to the customers and telling them to move it along, take their stuff outside to pack it up, etc.

And people being stuck waiting on line for food has nothing to do with consumers voicing dissatisfaction with this horribly inefficient process. This isn't an issue of entitlement, sorry.

 

Yea, space is definitely an issue with regards to the beer pickup area. But that's certainly not the only issue, and OH doesn't do anything about the pickup issue either. They could easily tell people to take their beer outside and pack it up on the streets.

Sure, when you put it that way, it's probably hilarious to bitch about anything that isn't life-or-death. But the fact is, OH does have a serious problem with the speed of the line. It's a legitimate complaint. They make great beer, but it's incredibly frustrating to stand in a line that moves at a glacial pace when it doesn't have to. OH can take steps to make the line move faster (a starter would be for the cashiers to not have minutes-long conversations with people who are checking out), but they don't seem to care. This is poor customer service and they are not immune from criticism for it.