Should Bottle Shops Allow Holds?

Didn't have the time or energy to produce an all options response ! But of course there is a middle ground like you detailed.

As long as demand exceeds supply and the current state of craft beer hysteria and all that goes with it, there is no one right answer.

 

Hahahaha ... it could just be me. The vibe and old beer thing is weird enough that I don't shop there often. The Texan Ian McShane does *not* run the place though.

My favorite beer store in my town, btw, feels exactly the opposite. Super friendly, super helpful people that seem up front about everything. For all I know they're keeping stuff in the back, too, but it doesn't sound like they do. And even if they are, what they're putting out on the shelves/in the coolers is plenty for me.

 

Roughly 3 weeks ago, I was in St. Albans Vermont and went to a local beer store and found 14th Star's Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout. I grabbed it thinking, well, that's one I don't normally see in my part of Vermont. Looked new and all of that, asking price was $17.99 for the same size as Founders CBS. Funny thing is that their "beer guy" saw me with this 14th Star beer and actually said to me "if ya want, I can go into the back and get ya a bottle of the CBS." I said "thanks, but I'm okay" thinking that CBS is all over Vermont, pretty easy to find and ~ $7 more than this.

What "got me" was that just because I had one barrel aged impy stout that he assumed I might want another, and one that had the "hype" behind it-was the one "behind the counter" and not this gem by 14th Star. Is it odd that I was in the town that the beer was brewed and yet no hype surrounding the local beer that was cheaper but practically just as good as CBS in quality and that this wasn't "behind the counter?"

Choo choo goes the hype train, will it ever end?

edit: in other news, as one can see I am "voting with my dollar" this year, as I know many BA's are doing.

 

Yep, or you offer a distro time and hand out wrist bands. Bands are gone you go check out. Easy, a band you get no band you don't. Easy no fuss and fair, and I'm a retailer I couldn't deal with hiding the stuff and the 9000 phone calls.

 

As someone newish to the craft scene(a couple years), I have already become jaded by the whale hunting scene locally at least. I already have a good reputation with my local store as both my fiancée and I drink beer and stop frequently. The problem is, everything "rare" is marked up too much and the price doesn't match the hype.

CBS in my area is steadily 30 bucks a bomber. One local store saved rare beers to release before Christmas with a limit. They have a dozen 120 minute ipas sitting out at 13 dollars a bottle. No one's gonna pay that 4 dollar markup very quickly. Tweak is already expensive, I've seen it at 16 a bottle.

The stores are putting too much stock in the "hyped beers" and it's pushing me away from even wanting them. If you're gonna save beer to "reward" your loyal customers, don't gouge them in turn.

The worst gouger saves nothing for anyone, just holds the beer "for christmas", hypes the beer on facebook and gouges. Maybe I'm wrong, it's their business and I don't have to spend money at these places... it just seems like a spreading plague amongs the stores I visit. I guess I'll just have to do more research and spend more wisely.

 

To me, it at least partially depends on the type of store.

If it's a smaller craft shop that doesn't get as much traffic, I don't mind as much if they take care of a few of their better customers. I think at least half the supply should be available to anyone though, and it should either be on the shelf or they should let people know if it's available. Just don't BS me and I'm okay.

For something like a Binny's, keep it in the back. Some douche would inevitably try to buy all of them and the cashier probably doesn't know better.

I'm less amenable to a bigger store holding stuff because

1) there's more employees, which means more people that can set stuff aside for whomever they see fit, more people that need to recognize you, more people whose ass you need to kiss. Plus god forbid "the wine guy" is the only employee you can find, you might as well bang your head against the wall.

2) "Good customers" can mean a lot of different things to all those different employees. It could be big spenders, frequent visitors, memorable truck chasers, people that "bribe" them with other rare beer, their friends, people that talk to them the most, whatever.

3) The "good customers" at a chain store don't have as big of an impact. I could spend a thousand dollars a month (I'm thankfully nowhere near that) and it's little more than a rounding error on Binny's bottom line.

All that said, I'm sure I have benefited because I got some very nice bottles at my local location.

 

It's ridiculous for retailers to gouge on special releases, they don't get enough volume to amount to shit from a real revenue standpoint. There better served keeping it fair, both in price and opportunity. They'll earn more money from real customers that buy every week vs chasing beers.

 

It’s 2018 and 120 is still a thing?

 

If you're going to be "reluctant," then don't keep it hidden! I have no sympathy for those keeping it in the back. They are only giving it more reasons for the paying customer to ask where it is. And then he/she "reluctantly" shows?? What nerve.

 

Any Avery bottle.

 

I think some stores might also do a "mixed" approach as well, depending on the beer/allotment. They might get 5 cases, put 3 on the shelf with a limit, and hold 2 cases for their special customers. I know I've been offered (and accepted and declined) limited releases by my main store as well as being told the store had none for me.

I say that last statement not in that it is what I was told, but that it doesn't matter to me if they actually have no more stock or if whatever stock is "spoken for." I'm with others in that I learned and understood and accepted that's how it works. Luckily for most, as others have stated, there's usually a good beer sitting on the shelf to take solace in.

 

I’ve certainly benefitted from stores that do hold things for regular customers but not since having moved to Texas.

What I have found is that making it a point to have a conversation goes a long way. I think in general shops would prefer to reward their regular customers who aren’t just coming in and buying special releases. If they have a product they know is sought after and is going to sell regardless, it makes a lot more sense to reward those who regularly patronize the business.

 

I too was not a big fan of black note stout. idk never really stood out to me

 

I tried the triple barrel baptist and that didn't do it for me either. Of course, at nearly twice the price of regular baptist, it's hard to really enjoy a rum coconut variant.

 

I support the policy where stores keep the elite shit off the shelf, and don't post it on social media, and instead hold it aside to offer to their regular customers. I shop about 2-3 stores with regularity at any given time, and I like to think my patronage means something. I don't wanna hear that my go-to store's owner/manager put out the case of (*elite, limited, one-time release beer*) and 12 random fucking people got it just because they happened to be around before me. Show me some loyalty.

 

Some know me, most do not.

Sometimes we only get allocated a case of 12 or even just 6 bottles of some items.

Sometimes we have a case or two of Heady Topper stashed in the cooler after we put up the sold out sign.

Sometimes we receive something we haven't tried yet.

But the best times are when a customer comes in and doesn't ask for for anything, brings some cool bottles back to the counter, and we surprise them with the aforementioned items.

Those are the best times by far!

Cheers!

 

It doesn't bother me because usually this stops people from being able to buy more than one or all the stock leaving enough for everyone else to get at least one. If they didn't do this then you know people would buy a bunch and have it on ebay double the price. Happens with bourbons all the time.