"Chairgate"

No it isn't.

 

You're right, it is much worse. At least with someone standing in a parking spot, there is a person physically present that can be engaged in a dialog about them being a douche. Lawn chairs can't say shit when you give them away to the homeless or throw them in a dumpster which is exactly what I would do in that situation.

 

I love this so much. Every time I re-read the post it makes me smile

 

I'm not a stand in line type, but that's exactly what I would do, bypass any empty chairs. If told to go to the back, I would just go buy beer elsewhere, not worth it.

 

This seemed so silly to me. No person, no spot saved IMO. Then I thought about the "dibs" system with parking spots in Chicago and the potential shit-show if you violate it.

 

The Tired Hands picture (copied here) so aptly sums up the state of craft beer today. This picture is truly worth a thousand words.

 

To be fair, this picture illustrates the absurd extreme side of the state of "craft beer".

Many if us the have been advocating for great beer for decades have never stood in line at 2am or put lawn chairs in front of a brewery.

Honestly, I find this whole phenomenon is amusing and ridiculous and really has little to do with beer advocacy.

The fact is we are living in the best of times for beer drinkers. Some choose to split hairs by putting lawn chairs in front of breweries, so they can get bragging rights on a beer that is rated maybe 0.1 higher then another more accessible beer, while others establish relationships with local breweries and get access to more great beers than they know what to do with, but more importantly, the average beer consumer can walk into the local bottle shop and has access to the best selection in my lifetime, and probably the best in US history.

Yes, let's laugh at the extremists. But let't not lose sight of how much we have gained.

 

Fair point re: the absurd side. However, this absurd side is fairly prominent & becoming ever increasingly so. Whereas before someone would say, "You want a beer so much you'll stand in line for it???" now it has become, "You want a beer so much you'll stand in line for it but you can't be bothered to actually stand in the line so you place an empty chair there thinking it's equivalent to standing in line???".

 

DDB is a king amongst kings.

DDB is the hero craft needs.

DDB is the mother of dragons.

 

Are those empty suits in those empty chairs?

 

To play devils advocate I picked up a 12 pack of pale ale last week that had just arrived at the traditional beer distributor. It was brewed in September. I was in a store yesterday and only a handful of the hundreds of beers in stock I would consider fresh. The traditional beer distribution channels have failed in the fresh beer departent and local spots have the solution. Albeit as noted by many here the fresh stuff isn't necessarily better then the distributed stuff but I dont need any 2 month old shelf turd ales.

 

You probably are right, but there is still enough craziness at places like Other Half, Tired Hands, Monkish and others I am surely not aware of that reflects poorly on elements of the craft beer culture.

That picture and an accompanying article is something that I would expect to see in The Onion, not real life.

 

So much great stuff without doing this.

This epitomizes a generation of social media, laziness, a sense of self importance/one upmanship. If it was truly about just good beer, lines would be fraction.

 

So much great stuff collecting dust that is months or years past its bottled on / best by date. Sometimes its easier to stand in line for an hour and get something canned that day.

 

I guess some element of truth there but so easy to get super fresh growler fills within 15mins of my house, amazing fresh Asheville stuff and goodies from 120 miles as well. Never old. Always satisfies.

I realize my post was a little harsh. I know that the beer scene is a hobby or pastime not unlike golf, biking, hiking, or fishing to others so to each their own. The chasers just strike a sour note-no pun intended.

My local spot put on a keg of 2011 Black Note a week ago. The number of folks I have never seen who descended (he put in on Facebook), drank, talked loud of their "conquests" to clearly be heard by others was surprising. It's a small 100% local place. They were also there for CBS. Most I will never see again until the next similar thing. Really their loss.

Oh well.

 

What if someone has the same chair as you? This has had to have happened at some point with half-drunk people getting into shouting matches over whose identical chair is the closer one. Try pulling this shit at a concert or movie premiere and see how fast your ass gets thrown out - if not by staff then by everyone else in line. Have fun walking back to your car with a chair sticking out of your ass. I'd make it really fun by bringing a blow up doll or mannequin with a wig dressed in my same clothes and sit it in the chair (See, I was in line the whole time!). Also a possible second allocation for my "twin" who doesn't speak much?

 

But we're also getting a tad out of control on that, too. I work PT at a craft beer store. Someone came in yesterday looking for a gift for Christmas. IPA was canned 11/27. Kid I worked with told the woman, "You don't want to give your husband an IPA that is that old."

It would have been less than a month told. If we're at the point where we're refusing a four-week old beer because it's "old," then we don't deserve nice things.

 

This "phenomenon" (and I am using that term as a synonym for asshatery) is the fault of the brewery. Tired Hands (you can substitute Monkish, Other Half or a couple of dozen others) are going to sell out quickly regardless of whether or not the same is announced.
I'm convinced that announcing a sale that will result in people lining up beforehand for hours is the brewers version of look how big my dick is. If the demand is that great than make it ticketed and do an online lottery.
Making people line up hours before is just treating your customers shitty

 

In my area I have zero problem getting fresh IPAs in the store, and would snap up that 11/27 in a second. This freshness thing really is getting insane, because it seems to be trumping competence lately. I'll take a 2-month old FW beer over a local butter bomb every time.