Assassin/KBBS day 2017...

You would if you could turn 200 into a grand or two simply by entering a lottery and showing up.

A bunch of us were at the Pulpit Rock share and somebody was claiming a guy paid 3k for a 2014 (no way of knowing for sure if this went down or not...just saying what went around that tent/room). ALL of us turned to each other and commented that you almost have to sell this year's KBBS at that point. And the group was a lot of nerdy nerd beer people that were their to pick up great beer with the full intention of drinking it.

My girlfriend would castrate me if I paid that much for a beer. So I value two things more than a KBBS at least for myself. But everyone values things differently. On the other hand, I won't be telling her how much I could get for it either!

 

I don't think that's quite a fair comparison but I get your point, but my main point was that two parties are involved in the increasing influence of the secondary market, those who buy and those who choose to sell. There's no denying that, justify it all anyone wants, they're still participating.

I also think trading is negative as well, but I know most here will disagree with me on that.

 

Can you elaborate on this? I'm curious.

 

I would not have sold my KBBS if I'd won because I've never had it. There's a pretty good chance I never will have it given its rarity. On the other hand, I have a friend who has a bottle from before. He had multiple bottles and drank some, so I told him he should sell or trade that last one. There's an opportunity cost to drinking a KBBS that has to be understood. Having never had one, I'd absorb that and drink it (I'd never pay that outright). But, once I've had it, it would be hard to drink 12 oz of beer knowing that it's "costing" me well over a grand to do so.

On the other hand, I have no idea how to go about selling a beer and I'm pretty sure it's not legal, so that complicates matters a bit.

 

Trading has the same effect as selling when it's not $4$. People will trade a nice chunk of a well stocked cellar for a KBBS.

 

Going with that, some people buy simply to trade, akin to people buying simply to sell. The concept of buying for "trade bait."

 

I'm trying to be honest about what I would do if a bottle of KBBS landed in my lap this afternoon. Sell it? No. It's a hobby for me, not a business. Would I drink it? Likely not, because I don't like the style enough to appreciate it and I feel like to some extent, it'd be wasted on me.

So what are my options? Trade it or give it away. I'd probably trade it for the most appealing items on my wishlist, if such a deal were possible. And I know that wouldn't be hundreds, or thousands of dollars worth of beer. It'd just be what holds the most value to me, which is the beer I want most that I have the least opportunity to get.

Not really sure if that would be viewed as a "negative". Although I can see how some trading, simply referring to the beer as an asset you are hoping to maximize, would be frowned upon.

 

Edit - NVM. Was going to get involved in this conversation, then releaized I don't want to.

 

Trading like you describe isn't necessarily the issue. It's the people who buy up as much as they can of any limited release so that they can sell it or trade it at inflated value.

Also, the concept of a KBBS "falling into your lap" isn't very likely. I wouldn't expect someone who doesn't really like that style to pay $200 for 3 bottles of beer in a style they don't like unless it's for the express purpose of flipping it for "profit". It's really immaterial whether that profit is in the form of cash or a disproportionate amount of beer.

 

A big reason selling KBBS is so attractive imo is that you only have a 12oz bottle of it. I open that, which I highly doubt would be alone, means I might get 3-4 oz of it at most. I think you'd be crazy not to take the first $1,500 that came your way, take a trip to Europe, move out of your parent's basement, whatever.

 

I completely understand the distaste for the reality that where there is a limited quantity of something some people will be willing to part with a lot of money to overcome that limitation...but I don't see how this is "ruining" craft beer.

There is an obscene variety of craft beer, much of it very good, some of it great available at any given time. No one needs KBBS or Tree House or Cantillon to enjoy craft beer, even if it's disappointing if you liked them before and aren't willing to jump through hoops to try them again.

If anything the demand for these represents opportunity despite an increasingly crowded marketplace. Brewers can still distinguish themselves at the top of the market, and consumers have no shortage of options.

Craft beer is being "ruined" by speculators only if your personal enjoyment of craft beer is derived from personal participation in the inner sanctum of beer geekdom.

 

I guess that's where we differ. Having the opportunity to participate in an event like this would be something I would jump at and quite frankly, I'd pay $200 just for the experience of the shares, the taps, the opportunity for other bottles. Not everyone is from an area where they have the opportunity to get their hands on a great deal of enjoyable beer.

Events like this are some of the only opportunities people where I'm from have to try some great beers, because we aren't viable trading partners as our beer scene is incredibly lackluster and we don't have a great deal of distribution.

I frequently travel 3+ hours in each direction just for the opportunity to get my hands on some quality beer because that's my only option. Where I'm from? Two craft breweries that can good product. Only one with any regularity, and they're basically brand new. So yeah, if I was going to come to Assassin/KBBS Day anyways just for the experience and I had the opportunity to purchase an Assassin with an extra KBBS/Assassin to spare, I don't think I'd pass it up.

 

did anyone else's order get screwed up on the day of the release? I ended up with 2 KBBS glasses in my boxed set instead of 1 KBBS and 1 Assassin, didn't check until I got home, hours away from Iowa.

 

Do we know if KBBS will be produced in larger quantities, come the new brewery? Just producing a larger quantity should help alleviate the secondary market/price, at least a little.

 

So it's not "falling into your lap"...you'd be buying it with the express purpose of flipping it for cash or other beer.

 

So, in your opinion ... if ever given the opportunity, should I pay my $200, take the glassware for my collection, enjoy my 1 bottle of Assassin and then turn the rest of the product down and suggest somebody else purchase it?

 

Shoot them an email! I would be surprised if they can't help you out. If not, I'm sure someone would trade you.

 

Wait, didn't you say earlier that you wouldn't drink it because you don't like the style? If you don't like the style, why would you buy it?

So what you're saying is that you'd enter a lottery for a beer. travel hundreds of miles to get it, pay a hefty price for it, even though you don't like the style, but you're not buying it for the purpose of flipping it? Are you one of those collectors who stashes beer in the cellar so you can say you have it?

I guess I just don't understand what you're saying. Generally people buy beer either to drink, to sell/trade, or to collect. You seem to be sending mixed messages here. I guess I don't really care. You quoted me commenting that trading has the same effect as selling if people are buying specifically to trade at inflated values. It feeds the scarcity and forces people to "pay" (via trade or cash) a highly inflated cost to drink the beer.

The people who are willing to pay huge sums for those beers are an equal part of the equation. It's no different than concert and sporting event tickets. The mega-fanatics who'll trade their first born child for whatever rare thing make it virtually unobtainable for those who aren't willing to make that sacrifice.

Fortunately for me, I've adopted a c'est la vie attitude regarding the unobtainium beers. I make a modest effort to procure them through normal channels and drink the more readily available beers (that are frequently as good) when I fail.

I had a couple pours of Assassin and the KBBS goes on the back burner. I honestly enjoyed $ticker $hock and the vanilla noir I had last night as much as the Assassin I had Friday. We opened a '16 MD at a share in December and it was the third best beer at the share. Hype makes me want to try some of these beers, but they almost always fall short of making the cost/effort worthwhile.

 

They just emailed me back saying that if I want the assassin glass that I have to mail back the extra kbbs glass. This is fine I guess but I was really expecting them to just send the glass for free since it was their mistake. They offered to reimburse shipping costs fwiw.