Eater: Why Do People Wait in Long Lines for Craft Beer?

I'm not new to drinking craft beer but I've never waited on line for cans until recently. I've now gone down to Other Half the last 3 weekends with a good chance this upcoming weekend. Lol.

 

No. We haven't.

 

It seems to be coming down to: would you rather wait in line for a 4.7 or get a 4.4 off the shelf any time you want? And those who choose one way don't get why the other group chooses their way .

 

I liked the connection they made to childhood pastimes: collecting/trading baseball (or Pokémon ) cards, shirking real world responsibilities in pursuit of something trivial. It all makes sense to me.

I, though, will never wait in line for a beer. Maybe if the wait is less than 30 minutes, and I really want the beer. Otherwise, I value my time, and specifically my weekend mornings too much to waste them standing around. In that same timeframe, I could brew a 5 gallon batch of something just as good for about the price of a couple of four packs. Maybe that will change once I have kids, like the article suggests!

I do really like canned special releases, but if I can't walk in the afternoon or evening of the release, or even the next day, and pick up a four pack without waiting in a huge line, I'll pass.

 

Although this duplicates the post by @MNAle, I want to reinforce his point.

No, we haven't all done that.

 

Unless you are a truely fantastic homebrewer, I dont think that comment is true. But as far as value and the fun of homebrewing, waiting in line might not be worth it for these beers to some people as it is for others.

 

Wait in line for cans of beer...are we at Wrigley Field waiting to pay $11.00 for a 16oz Bud or at some release party charging $10-$15 for a can?

Yes I've waited in line....at Wrigley

 

Sure, keep living in your little bubble of existence where what you do also applies to everyone else. I refuse to wait in line for almost anything, and beer is near the top of that list. My time is worth more than a $20 bottle that will disappear an hour after I open it.

 

I can't speak specifically as to how my beer compares to Other Half, as I live on the other side of the country and have never had a chance to try their beer. I can say, though, that some can releases are better than others. The best beer I've ever had was probably a special release from some commercial brewery. On the other hand, I've definitely made beers I thought were better than some of the less impressive special releases. I'm not saying I can brew a perfect clone of Julius or Pliny, except better, at home.

Of course, I could be completely deluding myself here, as I'm (almost literally) drinking my own Kool-aid.

 

I have done it only once or maybe thrice. Here's what happened. Our very own @cavedave showed up at my house and said let's go to ithaca for the release of Golden Luminous. What fun. We stood in line , in the snow, in the morning, tasting practically all the beer I have ever ticked and not reviewed. I would not trade that experience for anything. If you had seen the line! The lawn chairs, the coolers and all the open bottles. It's a good time and you should do it too. =) When there is no sharing it's a long cold wait outside.

 

The IPA beer style is not a difficult style to brew. The principle skill needed to produce high quality homebrew is the ability to follow the directions: proper brewing technique. Sanitize anything that touches the wort, ensure that fermentation occurs at a proper temperature,...

One of the advantages of homebrewing is that you can tailor the beer to your specific tastes and desires. For example, I recently brewed an Equinox (now called Ekuanot hops) IPA since I am a fan of the aromas/flavors of that hop. I can't buy a beer like that.

Cheers!

 

I waited 5 minutes once and would wait up to 10 minutes for the right beer, but I'll take what's available to avoid particularly long time sucks.

 

Yeah I'm also definitely of the impression that it is perfectly possible homebrewers can brew IPAs just as good as those people wait in line for. Homebrewing equipment is plenty sophisticated and there are incredibly smart and careful people doing it.

 

Or you could just live the Boston area and have world class beer just waiting on the shelves every week. " Most" can and distro.

 

I would really like to try one of your home brews one of theses day.

 

I think we should be more lenient with those who are willing to wait in line for beer.

Beer's hot right now, and waiting in line for it isn't really any different than wanting to try out the newest restaurant or the trendiest club, or get a hold of the new iPhone or be the first in line for the new blockbuster movie or concert. It's kind of a status symbol for some, yes, especially when it's a rare item, but there's more to it than that as well.

For some people it's because they're a fan. They'll wait in line for AC/DC tickets, or Cabbage Patch dolls, or whatever, because they don't want to miss out; and there are guys who just really like certain breweries and want to get a hold of as many of their beers as possible.

 

And don’t forget about the aspect of beer trading. In the Other Half video this was discussed at the 4:40 mark.

I read about the beer trading aspect of Tired Hands beers in the monthly Tired Hands threads (on the Mid-Atlantic forum).

I even posted a bit about this when I discussed Tired Hands Strawberry Milkshake in this past Sunday’s New Beer Sunday Thread:

“A few BAs have posted that they have overheard other people in the long lines to buy Tired Hands beer discuss Tired Hands Milkshake beers. One person reportedly stated: “I love these Tired Hands Milkshake beers because I can get whatever beer I want via a trade”.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-sunday-week-635.506301/#post-5406129

Cheers!

 

I turn around and walk out of the liquor store if there's more than 3 people in line at the register...
("What the...oh, yeah, it's Friday before a 3 day weekend...Oh well...")
...or when there's no seats at the bar.

 

I wait in line occasionally for beer - once/twice a month -- mostly at the holy grail NE spots - TH/Bissell/HF etc. I time my visit to limit the wait -- the most I've waited recently was 45 minutes for the last Swish release. I usually combine the visit with stops at favorite hang outs -- usually beer bars or great foodie spots or both. 1/3 of the time it's w/ bros....another third w/my amazing wife and the last third solo. It's just a fun diversion...and an excuse to go on an adventure. The beer is outrageously expensive and wait can't really be justified ....but when combined w/hanging w/ friends and other extras curiculer activities...it's an absolute blast. Last xmas break we packed 8 guys in my Tahoe and we drove 350 miles round trip to HF to wait for growlers --the ride up/down to VT was entertaining enough to keep me laughing for weeks. I wish I had recorded just some of the dialogue. There are certainly worse and more destructive hobbies I can think of.