Bottle shop's right?

Bottle shop owner keeping all of the bottles himself is definitely unethical... I'd be pissed.

On the other hand, saving the beer for regulars I think is alright. When I lived in China, the owner of the shop I frequented would put aside a bottle or 2 of the things he thought I'd be interested and I definitely appreciated it. Then again, for some of them, I would had been upset had I not been one of the regulars getting one of those bottles.

 

Show them with your wallet (unless its the only shop in town).

 

By show them with your wallet, do you mean don't shop there, or buy so much beer from them that next time a limited release comes around they hold one for you?

 

I'd probably not sell them and drink it myself too, but the difference is I wouldn't tell anyone I was doing that.

 

Yeah. Don't shop there. His one antic may lose $1,000 over the course of many many visits.

And there are different degrees of being a regular. So even that aspect is iffy. Getting a heads up on a date is cool and all. I visit my local shop twice a month. I do what I can do support them. I may not be as regular as some, or my buys may not be as full ( I see many getting party hauls often. 5-6 cases of stuff).

I'd let him know you are very displeased and that you will take your business elsewhere.

What's a shop without customers?

I also agree with @riverlen . If it's that rare or sought after, who leaked the info about said shop? There are quite a few beers that never make it to the shelves

 

Not sure if "ethical" is the right term here, but at the very least I would seriously consider giving money to shops that I know take our money that helps them earn the privilege of a special release to find out they aren't even offering it to us customers at all. However, there's so many other considerations as to whether I'd actual "boycott with my wallet," mainly as to are there other means of getting decent beer on the regular.

 

I'd find a new store to go to.

 

I support every business owner running their private business as they see fit, even if I personally disagree with them. This is a douchey move, no doubt. And who knows what else he might be doing that his customers don't even know about. But if he wants to run his business this way, so be it. I would just not go there anymore, even if it means a long drive to the next bottle shop.

 

shop owners hoarding releases happens in the US as well. very often.

 

It's their business, their money, their stock... They can do what they like.

 

Dear BeerAdvocate,

I'm a bottleshop owner in South Korea, and my favorite beer is Founders KBS, especially with some age on it. Because I run a bottleshop, I got notified of an import shipment of this beer, and I could buy a case. I planned to cellar it and share the case with friends over the next few years, but customers found out about the shipment and want to know when I'm going to sell the beer. What should I do?

Sincerely,

Hypothetical Bottleshop Owner


I think the people/businesses who imported that beer should be able choose whether to sell it or not. You can choose to shop there or not based on a million factors, including this issue, but unless he promised he would have it for sale and took deposits, nobody else is entitled to the beer. Failing to find a more tactful response was pretty bad, though. "Our bottleshop will not be selling the beer now; the owner has a special project planned," would have been better PR.

@nerdboy19 If 10 boxes (I assume you mean a case of 24 bottles?) were imported, and 4 or 5 stores received 1 box, who received the remaining boxes?

 

Personally from my experience working in several different bottle shops I think it's OK if the shop owner wants to keep a few bottles for themselves, note: I said "a few" - "a few" does not constitute a whole case.

As far as saving bottles for regulars I think that's fair enough as you've got to look after your regulars - they're the ones that keep you in business.

It's a tough world out there for us craft lovers - all too often an awesome beer gets limited release and us regular people who don't live near the brewery (i.e. the rest of the world that isn't America) hardly ever see these awesome limited release beers that everyone is raving about (i.e. America).

 

There isn't much difference between the shop owner keeping the bottles or giving them to his friends,if your not one of his friends.Is there?

 

As a beer consumer you will be in a constant state of angst if you worry about the beer you can not get. You mentioned that four or five shops each got one box. I don't know how many beer drinkers are in South Korea but even if these guys shelved their beer for regular retail there is a chance you still wouldn't get any. Maybe you could score some in a trade? Anyway I hope some karma finds its way to South Korea.

 

I just assumed this sort of practice (or a form of it) happens with some bottle shops. For example, Parabola is not easy to come by in our area, most places get a case (6 bottles). I asked if one of my local shops had any in when I stopped by, and they openly told me "No it is long gone, after taking care of a few employees, we only sold two bottles."
Eh. ¯\_(ツ)_/

 

Unethical? Yes, I suppose.

Illegal? No.

At the end of the day, it's not your right for a shop to sell you beer. Hypothetically speaking, he could "sell" it all to his uncle or himself. That would have been easier than saying he wasn't going to sell it to the public. Just tell everyone "its already sold." Done.

If it really bothers you that much send the story to a local news outlet. You can tell them that they refuse to sell a sought after beer to the public, while another store down the street is willing to do so. That would make good press for one shop and less than desirable press for another.

Once someone starts googling bottle shops to go to; well....they just might pass by the scummy one.

 

The rep from the importer bringing the beer into Korea did sound awfully condescending when dealing with the beer drinker crew online. The limited distribution was always going to cause some grumbling. The fact that people won't get a fair shot at getting an already limited product is going to create spite. I do feel that there isn't much choice for most craft beer drinkers in Korea until the distribution channel grows and gets more competition rather than exclusivity.