Tired Hands (September 2017)

That probably would be a good experiment for someone but I am pretty much the laziest trader out there. I will meet you at an approved time at a location at my convenience lol. Also I don't wait in line, I only go if they make it behind the bar, but yes I see your point if you were to fully play the Tired Hands chair life game.

 

Yes there is a grey market for these beers. Yesterday there was guys all around me talking about how much people are 'offering for four packs', one guy was saying he has heard $20 a shake. Insane really. Again there was an element lurking around the Ferm that I hadn't yet seen at any of the releases. Tough to really describe. I have seen a ton of Phish shows and it kind of reminded me of that shady element that hangs in the background in the parking lot.. People that you know aren't there for the music, but more the scene. I had a conversation with older guy (prob late 50's) who was rapidly smoking cigs (I lost count at 8 within an hour) who was telling me that he hasn't worked in while (a while being over a year when I asked) and that gives him a lot of time to hit all of the releases. Now how in the world would someone without an income stream afford the prices at Tired Hands?

 

That's the way these people play the game. If they can't straight up sell the Tired Hands beer they can trade for a beer that they can sell for profit. I remember reading something a month or two ago about how some folks could make $1,000 a week just going to The Veil buying full allotments and flipping them.

Edit the correct term for this type of person is a "prospector". Its about the same as all the unemployed people who line up for iphones, sneakers or video game systems with no intention of using them but purely to gain profit.

 

People are getting called out more and more often in groups all across Facebook for that very reason. You can damn near make a living off "mule fees" or "razzling".

 

I'm seeing the usual hype reviews for the shake but anyone here have that Fog Beer?

 

Can I respectfully ask why people making a personal profit off of another's product by investing their own time and energy into it is so objectionable?* Isn't that an essential basis of our economy?

I see more MORAL OUTRAGE at this issue than I see reasoned discussion about why it is bad for those who enjoy this hobby as a whole, and I'm curious about the former because -at its most simple- it's completely in line with what many posting on here engage in on a daily basis at their work.

If anyone thinks this discussion is too peripheral to Tired Hands or the thread I'm perfectly willing to just drop it -- but I was hoping somebody could explain it to me, and the BA community is one of the best examples of this outrage that I can think of.

*Yes, I realize that it is technically illegal. I've seen most people take a moral high ground on this issue beyond this, though.

 

Fog sounds delicious. I'm more excited to try that one than the Shake, honestly. Will report back this evening with thoughts if no one else has by then.

 

1. It's illegal, ok I see you wrote that.
2. The secondary market causes outrage because people who actually go to the brewery on a decent basis can't buy their beer without jumping through hoops.
3. I'm not sure what your comment about daily basis at work is aiming at?

If anyone wants to discuss this further I'll share a couple pints with you at the cafe tonight.

 

You see stories about people getting popped for selling black market bottles of Pappy Van Winkle all the time. Wonder when the first big "beer bust" is gonna be...

 

It is very unsettling to line up for beer around these types of people. The lines used to be chill you could hang out and talk about beer and whoever was in front or behind you would engage in some nice conversation.

Now you have unemployed less than savory people frantically getting in line normally as others mentioned smoking a shit ton of cigarettes and the only beer related thing they can say is this can is worth whatever stupid amount they have in mind. They pack their family and friends in line and they are basically pure trash.

I don't think it is an essential basis of our economy. I refuse to even line up or go anymore because it sickens me.

 

Thanks for the reply.

2. Isn't there necessarily a ton of overlap between "people who go to the brewery on a regular basis" and "people who use the secondary market?" Once again, it sounds to me like this boils down to: "Yeah, but I meant people who go to the brewery and don't sell the beer," which just once again leads us back to me question about the moral outrage towards the secondary market.

3. I was referring to people who engage with our economy (which has the (essentially) same basis as "people buying and selling beer on the secondary market") at their day-job.

 

There were two recently, one in PA and one in MA, couple hundred bucks for "cellar sales" for both. In the grand scheme of things that's not a lot of money compared to the bourbon black market but I'm sure they pick a couple to scare the kids.

 

Look no further than this story from last week: http://fox43.com/2017/09/07/massachusetts-man-charged-with-selling-brewed-beverages-without-license/.

 

I've been getting weirder vibes from the line crowd last few times I've gone as well. The Phish-lot comparison is pretty apt. There's also this weird guilty vibe you get from a lot of people...."my wife can't know about this/my wife is gonna kill me" or "I told myself I was gonna stop and here I am again..." "Yeah I caved and went, hype was too strong..."

We think about fun and hobbies in addiction terms all the time ("Have you played this new game? It's so addictive!") but when there's huge amounts of time and money getting lost on it it crosses over to darker territories. Not to mention this is alcohol we're talking about, at the end of the day it's not good for you...

The real question is...is there a better way to do all of this? TH makes an incredible product, and quality will create hype. And breweries would like to be seen as communities but they are in truth businesses that need/want to make money.

I don't have any answers...but I enjoy all the extended discussion with everyone. That's the community aspect I was just talking about!

 

I just think that there is a direct correlation between a milkshake release with secondary market value and the insanity of the line (the past year and a half has proven that) which is why I don't go.

I have no problem with capitalism lol, just mainly that what these people are doing is illegal, and my aforementioned point of not being able to easily buy cans of beer which in the grand scheme of things this whole thing is ridiculous.

 

You hit the nail on the head. Yesterday in line I overheard the one guy saying " I actually hate IPA's!"... this was in a can release line at Tired Hands for gods sake.

 

yeah not putting strain on my marriage over spending so much money on beer lol.

 

Speaking of tonight I'm hitting up either the cafe or the ferm with a few friends and I can't seem to decide on which list I like better haha.

 

Breweries benefit greatly from the secondary and trading markets. They are able to sell significantly more beer than they otherwise would. It helps consumers, too - would there be a Tree House cranking out (and instantly selling out) 1000+ case canning runs 3 or 4 times a week if it wasn't for the fact that people are overbuying the beer to trade or sell? I doubt it.

I also dislike that this makes it impossible to get cans like this without exerting a monumental effort to do so, or spending $20 or more for a can. Though when you calculate it out to the time and effort saved in paying that markup, it doesn't work out that badly. You're basically just paying someone to stand in line for you, a practice as old as lines themselves.

 

The cafe it is, Tone Poem looks awesomely weird, and they still have the shake listed which makes my local cans point null and void as I can just go drink it now lol.