"Chairgate"

@mrmattosgood @TongoRad

I agree I can also find freshish IPA but I shouldn't have to drive to a regional brewery to find it fresh and not on the shelf. The definition of what is fresh..used to be 2 week old was nice now its 4 weeks the bar keeps getting lower..

meanwhile this release generated about 60k in revenue in one week. That 60k is not going to shelf beer. Multiply that by all the local startups doing this and you see its not as simple as you might think.

 

The main point, though, is that the main dynamic driving this isn't really taste or freshness- it's about getting that trendy and fashionable beer. Also see @SammyJaxxxx 's post, these brewers are deliberately engaged in a marketing scheme of their own to maintain that image of themselves as well as demand.

 

I made that Point before @SammyJaxxxx in Post number 15. "Chairgate"

 

Brewers like Tired Hands have a remarkable biz plan. They can turnover their entire inventory in a day at retail (not wholesale) prices.
What business wouldn't want that formula?
1) you are selling at retail price
2) your not waiting on a distributors "net 30" or more terms
3) a good percentage of your sales are cash.
For a deal with a distributor to make you more money, you probably need to make 3 or 4 Times more beer.

 

And what I am saying is they are doing this because the beer distributors have failed the die hard ipa consumer.

 

I'm not disagreeing with the failure of the distributors. I am simply saying that the brew and retail model is probably more profitable than brew-distributor-retail model for many of these breweries.

 

Consumer wise- It must be great to be young and see this as an accomplishment/experience/Facebook foder. With my years I would not do this no matter how much I want their beer (and I do want it).
Business wise- Congratulations to Tired Hands. Its great to see a brewery doing this well in such a crowded market space.

 

Saw this from Jacks post I followed the link. This is a Tired Hands problem , very simply theyre allowing the shit show. You can't save spots with an empty freaking chair. Maybe it's this kinda publicity they seek to sell their beers. I can't see any other way it tolerated, it's not at the releases I've been too. No saving spots, jumping lines, your ass has to be in line not your chair. Foothills has I Winston Salem officer on duty, she's nice, give her shit and she sends you home. She catches you cutting lines or saving spots she sends you home. You walk around flaunting a bomber of beer in the open she warns you once not twice. They know there's bottle sharing and they really don't care until about 3-4 in the morning. After that when they want to slow down the drinking allowing guys and gals to sober up, she won't allow anything in sight other than a cup. I've had bands issued at other places, that went well, sorry I won't do a shit show like Tired Hands.

 

I wonder what the average age of those waiting in lines is. It's that APPLE iphone waiting in line craze that is also there with BF doorbuster sales, and even new release movies @ theaters.

Those same kids who were waiting in line for the phones and eletronics with mom are now drinking age, and college aged to where IMHO, the vast majority of those waiting in lines have the time since they may not have traditional 9-5 jobs. The 9-5er is getting pushed out from "great" beer. Luckily, there is enough out there, not all is lost.

Atleast half the people I know who used to chase releases around found other hobbies. The thrill and the chase and having something others DON'T is a hobby to many. These people aren't loyal to your brand. Breweries need to realize who is making them stay in business and do releases a little bit better.

 

"We" are not at that point. Personally I would have burst out laughing if I was second in line. Then proceeded to assist the lady with some good advice.

Sounds like the employer needs to educate his staff.

 

I do not think that all of this is "benevolence" for the "die hard IPA consumer"--not one bit. Small producers will sell directly as long as they can stay under the max allowed limit--easy $$$$ and no need to distribute.

In addition, as has been discussed in many other threads, a lot of this stuff has NO intention of ever entering the normal distribution system given the inherently short half life of many of them. Some distributors have room for improvement but silly to think we should all have our beer less than two weeks old from 2000 miles away.

 

What do you think all these people standing in line used to do before this? Buy beers like stone ipa, two hearted, or dirt wolf from the shelf. Not so much anymore.

 

I guess I was a little hard on distributors they are not the only cause of this effect. Brewers are also to blame. Increased capacity has caused freshness issues for larger players as well as increased competition which leads to a lot more old beer on the shelves.

 

Maybe my area is different from the rest, but I can get them under a month old any time I want. Sure, there are a bunch of older ones there too, but if you use freshness as a deciding factor instead of brand, you'll always find something. Heck, just recently I was getting week old White Oak Jai Alai.

 

Michael, your area is different from my area. There was a period of time (9-12 months) where I did not buy any Firestone Walker beers (Union Jack, Pivo Pils,...) because all of my local stores had old product. My 'drought' was relieved when they started canning. One of my local beer retailers 'saved' me a 6-pack of Union Jack in cans; and charged me 15 bucks for that 6-pack. The 'price' of freshness!?!

Non-cheers to old beers on shelves (and floors).

 

While assigning blame, don't leave out the one-and-done crowd of beer drinkers/customers who seem mostly interested in trying something new and then moving on to the next new thing.

 

Yes, but notice he also suggests to use freshness as the deciding factor. For me that means having a list and buying something else from the list if there the one I'm looking for isn't fresh enough. Lots of places do indeed have old beer that I might have bought sitting around but those I visit regularly also have fresh versions of other beers I'm willing to buy. So for me freshness trumps the search for a particular brand.

 

Wouldn't it be great if we knew of a "secret" brewery that you didn't have to wait on long lines to get great canned IPA and IIPA, and other styles too, at reasonable prices?

 

Tom, I do that as well but IMO it was just crazy that over a one year span I was unable to locate relatively fresh Firestone Walker.

I really don't have too much to complain about since I have lots of very fresh beer in my basement; homebrewed beer.

Cheers!

 

I found that absolutely hilarious! I had no idea. I live near Tired Hands but I don't think their beers are that good, and I'd certainly never wait in line for them! It seems to me that this was artificially created, that TH promoted it, and a whole bunch of suckers fell for the hype. Now where's my crying tears of laughter emoji?