Sixpoint Beer Purchasing App

You forgot "post haul on Instagram with no less than 20 hashtags"

 

If you're drunk and need to do some drunken binge eating, a sloppystop at Hometown BBQ probably makes sense as well

 

Cool, Sixpoint providing a solution to a problem they don't have: people lining up to purchase their beer.

 

Well my take is that since they will soon have an actual taproom you can visit, and that they hired one of the trillium brewers- there may be some "NE style" IPA's coming, in which people may potentially line up for. Just a theory.

 

"What time do we have to show up to guarantee full allotment?"

If you are at the brewery to pick up the small batch release of cans, the whole point of the app is that you don't have to show up early to guarantee a full allotment. If you bought the beer on the app, it will be guaranteed for you when you arrive during our pickup hours. You also don't have to wait in line and risk not getting any at all.

That being said, there are no walk-up sales of these cans - you do need to buy them on the app in order to pick them up at the brewery. Just want to make sure we are crystal clear on that so you don't show up disappointed...

I also want to be clear that this is not our tasting room, this is just a retail front in our courtyard so that people can pick up their cans they purchased on the app. We have an international crew of friends (street artists and graffiti artists) who are helping us transform the space. This is happening right now:



It will be standing room only, as its not a bar or tasting room, but just a place for folks to pick up the can releases. We do not allow BYOB at this time.

There will be some limited merch items and glassware for sale, and we will also be offering samples of other creations.

The IKEA parking lot has hundreds of spaces, and is only one block away from our brewery.

 

Maybe your response was super dry and went over my head (if so well-played). But assuming your post is serious - I think Brian's post was tongue in cheek....

 

Was this okayed by IKEA? I'd hate to get towed for illegally using their lot.

 

@CassinoNorth Hmm, I'd wait on a line to buy a few cases of the Sierra Nevada Kolsch. That's becoming a legendary beer for us Kolsch fans. No mango, pineapple, lactose, half assed malt or weird hops . .

 

Billy & Co. do amazing stuff. I remember when he first told me about his idea to do what he has done in Red Hook - dude has been crushing it (sober or intoxicated, the place rules).

Pretty shortsighted perspective, considering our distribution is spread amongst thousands of individual outlets. However, if you were to condense all of that distribution into a single point of sale and limited it to a single day of purchase (like some breweries have) it would be the longest beer line in the city by far.

We have some of those styles coming down the pipeline as early as a few weeks from now. But we talked at length with Eric and the other brewers, and instead of being a one trick pony, we plan on releasing a wide variety of styles, from Belgians to lagers to IPAs to barrel-aged stouts & porters to sours & beyond. But yeah, it would be great to get your feedback on our upcoming cloudy IPA releases, because we believe we can do it the best, and Eric has already been doing a lot of formulating so we can hit the ground running.

Hah, that's the problem. I'm embarrassed to say my response was not super dry nor well-played. I really did not pick up on Brian's tongue-in-cheek tone, so he got me on that one.

It was not okayed by them - you would be parking at your own risk. That being said, there are many people who do this regularly, and in the 9 years this lot has been open, it always seems to have excess capacity (open parking spaces) - mostly because its massive.

FWIW there is also a free shuttle (water taxi) that takes you to and from Manhattan. Its a really awesome boat ride and it drops you off only 1.5 blocks from the Sixpoint Brewery. It beats the hell out of the subway - not only because its free, but you get amazing views of the NYC harbor. Its free on the weekends too so its an awesome free ride if you are coming out to the Sixpoint can releases from Manhattan. The Sixpoint staff use it all the time!

"Consumers will wait in line for stuff that there is a limited supply of. If/when breweries find better ways to handle these, it will make other breweries do so too which can't happen quick enough."

But this problem has persisted for years now in craft beer, and there has not been a solution put forth yet by breweries to eradicate it. We are placing a huge bet on the premise that customers are tired of lining up like cattle in inefficient lines, and they will gladly opt out for a better solution if one is presented that allows them to get their beer in a fraction of the time.

Glad to see people are finally warming up to this style. For so many years it was overlooked and even had a bad rap (on the west coast, at least). Have you tried this one?

 

from your Instagram: "100% huell melon hops make this smell like honeydew and strawberries."

Between those hops and the name - respectfully, it does not sound like something I'd want to try.
Some styles I do not like experimentation - a Kolsch is one of them.

 

I understand your position. But this is a Kolsch that uses no adjuncts or artificial flavors, it is made from 100% traditional malts, hops, water, and an authentic Kolsch yeast. We ferment it cold in the traditional format as well.

Huell Melon hops are very misunderstood, but mostly because of the way they are marketed. We've used them extensively and they actually have a real mild flavor, nothing intensely fruity or tropical. After doing some experimentation with formulations, we found they integrate exceedingly well into Kolsch beers.

At any rate, we'll probably have some fresh samples on draft if you make it down to the brewery next Saturday for the can release.

@JackHorzempa

 

Climax was reached at post #115: The billboard

Nonetheless, more spiraling with the weight/strength of each argument and opposing view

 

It's OK, an Irish man has been doing this for Irish pubs worldwide since the 1980's and people seem to like it just fine. Hipsters can have their generic taprooms.

More info in this podcast: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2017/04/12/523653040/episode-764-pub-in-a-box

 

I love the idea. Would it work for Tired Hands or Treehouse with smaller capacity? Maybe not. But it's a great idea and I hope it's a trend going forward. Honestly as an owner not dealing with people lined up outside your business for hours has to be way preferred. Maybe that's just the Shaun Hill in me though.

 

@Sixpoint Still waiting for the email to sign up. make it happen

 

it certainly has been invigorating

I think we can all agree though that the cookie-cutter Irish pub phenomenon took off like a rocket and perhaps peaked in the 90s or so, but its definitely clichéd as can be at this point, and most definitely waning in popularity from its peak. Which is probably why people are gravitating to more authentic places in droves.

Yes, it would definitely work for them, but that would take actual investment and effort in the reduction of the line, instead of investment in documenting or advertising how long the line is.

You can sign up at any time: http://sixpoint.com/beta/

If you are referring to when you can download the beta version of the app, we are waiting for clearance from Apple through the iTunes store. We already have clearance for Android, but we want to release both at the same time. Shouldn't be too much longer.

cheers

 

After all of this, I hope these beers are good!!

@Sixpoint How about a pre-sale code for all of us on this thread who have provided valuable information and entertainment?! We have earned "first in line" for all of these releases, even underwater.

 

Yes, they have. As has been mentioned in the thread, online ticket sales have been used by many breweries to eliminate lines for a release.

IMO, people lining up for releases is not a problem but rather a symptom of a problem, with the latter being supply < demand. It is the potential for missing out on a particular release causing the need (real or perceived) to line up in the first place. FOMO. This is the problem for the customer. Further, it is when a customer does not get the beer when they then become upset. Missing out can happen whether they lined up for it or attempted to purchase online (website or app, as these are essentially the same activity, right? ).

And you mention "average person" above and how these limited releases are not targeted to them. Those are the people, imo, who do not like lines (again, lines can be solved via online ticket sales) but then the 'average person' does not suffer from FOMO either. 'Advance beer drinkers' don't seem to mind lines in my observations. Again, as long as they are able to get the beer in question, they don't seem to have a particular issue with lining up for it. It seems to have become a perfectly acceptable part of the craft beer culture. The time in line seems to be used for trading, sharing, talking, etc for a good number of people who go to these types of releases.

I certainly appreciate you coming on here and discussing the topic. And it has certainly been an entertaining read. Again, I just don't think it's addressing a problem (supply <demand) but rather a symptom of the problem. And once again, online ticket sales already solve the line issue. I think there is more benefit to this app at this time for a brewery than there is to a consumer and the line aspect is the best sell to get people to download it. A bit cynical, perhaps, but it's just my opinion at this time. In any event, good luck. Cheers.

 

Yup, as we said several times on this thread, at the end of the day its all about having a good product. We have thoughtfully built tools (app) to help the customer learn about the product, order the product, pay for the product, and retrieve the product as seamlessly as possible. In this sense, we are trying to put the customer in a position to succeed. But of course, we are ultimately setting the stage for the product to take the spotlight.

One thing you have to consider @RobNewton is that you are dealing with two totally different production and distribution paradigms in small-batch beer drank or purchased at the source, vs. large-scale production that is widely distributed. On one end of the extreme, you have very limited quantities, with all or nearly all of the consumption happening directly at the brewery, or picked up from the brewery for take-home consumption. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you have large-scale production, with distribution through hundreds or thousands of individual outlets - including delis, bodegas, grocery stores, bars, restaurant and pubs.

So now you are comparing Bengali, Resin, Hi-Res and Puff vs. "all the beers we wait in line for." But really in order to make that comparison valid, those beers you wait in line for would have to be produced at the scale we produce at, sold through the same supply chain, and have the breadth of distribution we do as well. What might be a better comparison is to look at some of our small-batch production over the next six months or so and do a comparison then, because these will be beers produced at a similar scale, and have similar distribution as to the beers you mentioned "waiting in line for." We are not starting with a NEIPA, but we will be rolling one out in October and doing more from that point forward, along with a wide variety of styles.

On the other hand, if you look at widely distributed hoppy beers in NYC (talking about beers you can get regularly and conveniently at a local deli), we actually already are considered one of the best in that arena. For widely-distributed beers produced at scale, the Bengali, Resin, Hi-Res, Puff, etc. are some of the highest esteemed and rated in their class. Its now up to us to show you what we can do on the opposite end of the spectrum. But I think its important to acknowledge these two paradigms carry with them very unique and distinctive advantages and disadvantages in their route to the customer.

Hah, wouldn't a pre-sale code for ya'll violate the egalitarian method you proposed earlier? We wouldn't want this system to be corrupted by nepotism before it even got started!

And no worries, underwater and the rest of the trolls are welcome down at the brewery, if they want to show their faces in the sunlight. We won't be feeding them though.

"As has been mentioned in the thread, online ticket sales have been used by many breweries to eliminate lines for a release.

Missing out can happen whether they lined up for it or attempted to purchase online (website or app, as these are essentially the same activity, right? "

No, there is a critical difference between online websites or even mobile websites and an app, and that difference has been conflated and downplayed in this thread. @Fahmie25 Yes, breweries have used websites to sell beer online, but no one has developed a native app (until now). WiFi and landline connections power almost all desktop and laptop browsing and this has very limited range. However, cellular data has a very wide range. That alone provides a huge advantage in connectivity.

Last year was a watershed year because the bulk of online activity actually switched to mobile and tablet vs. desktop browsing.



So now you could say, "big deal....you could still buy beer online through a mobile website, you don't even need to be connected to wifi, as you can do this over the cellular network." Yes, you could do that, but the superiority of apps vs. mobile websites is also well documented, and that is why the migration is happening towards apps.

Apps provide a connectivity and user-friendliness that conventional websites or even mobile sites simply do not while you are on-the-go. And many people cannot commit to being in front of a computer at a certain time to make a critical purchase. But since most of us carry our phones with us, it can make these purchases easier. Also, apps are faster than websites, and not all websites load the same on your mobile device. Ever open a website and not have it format properly on your phone? Its pretty frustrating.

There is so much potential too beyond just purchasing beers, and we hope to bring you those tools in the future. But for now, we just want to share with you the limited small-batch beers we are rolling out in the next few months from our original facility at 40 Van **** Street.



"It is the potential for missing out on a particular release causing the need (real or perceived) to line up in the first place. "

I think you just demonstrated why this isn't always problem of supply or demand, its a design flaw in the actual process. Consider this: if the brewery has a set quantity that is available for sale, and that quantity is transparent to the customer, and those sales all occur beforehand, there would be absolutely no need to wait in a line and hope to get product. All of the sales occurred beforehand, and any wasted time waiting in a line can be reallocated for better purposes.

"Again, as long as they are able to get the beer in question, they don't seem to have a particular issue with lining up for it. It seems to have become a perfectly acceptable part of the craft beer culture."

Things are acceptable when there is not an alternative. Yet the sentiment on here and other forums also show that if people could get the beer in question and not have to wait in line, they would overwhelmingly vote in favor of not wasting time waiting in line.

"I certainly appreciate you coming on here and discussing the topic."

We have appreciated your contributions over the years as well. cheers

@JackHorzempa @drtth @Daveshek28 @Ranbot