Toppling Goliath - Chicagoland (2020)

If you haven’t tried, it knock it off the list regardless of how former batches are regarded. How I usually roll.

 

Sosus has a few floaties, but getting past that it’s fantastic. I don’t understand everyone’s obsession with king sue. Sosus is a better beer imo

 

I'm sure everyone saw this but here you go. Proxies are allowed.
https://www.tgbrews.com/assassin-bottle-release/

$255 (Includes tax, ticket, deposit)
- 2x 22oz 2020 Assassin
- 1x 12oz 2019 Vanilla Assassin
- 1x 12oz 2019 Coconut Assasin
- 1x 22oz 2020 Norsemans Wrath
- 1x 22oz Zeelander

 

Even a pandemic won't stop these guys from charging through the nose.

 

I'm going to look to sell the Zeelander for a few hondo if I win.

 

Clark values Zeelander at $50/bottle so you're still looking at a handsome profit on that bottle

 

Damn trade forum is turning into a proxy forum. Shit is ridiculous, and somewhat entertaining at this point.

 

Is all the proxy posting even allowed in the trade forum? I thought it was against the rules or something.

 

I am DEFINITELY NOT going to Decorah and DEFINITELY NOT spending that money but I DEFINITELY DID sign up. Am I going to go to Beer Hell for this?

 

Just wait for Dark Lord Curbside Day...

 

Not that I want to turn this into a debate but whatever, we're in quarantine. Yes it's a lot, but TG obviously saw/sees the secondary market prices for their beers and in a free market they adjusted their prices according to get some of those profits back to themselves. I willing to bet they haven't lost a single customer willing to pay that upmarket price for their stouts (i.e. they've sold out every release). Yes it can just continue the cycle of inflating prices but unless they have a 1:1 way to track who buys and who sells their beer on secondary, I don't think there's a way to stop this. If you think they're charging too much, don't buy their beer. I bet you're probably not complaining about Porsche releasing the new 911 Turbo S with a starting price close to $200k are you? There's plenty of other beer to buy and this has been a topic that's been rehashed so many times. Yes their beer is expensive. Yes it's good. Yes they've created hype around their beers (and probably well deserved). Yes they will continue to charge well above what other breweries do. Until people en masse don't show up to buy their beer, things won't change.

 

That's the rub. We're all already there!

 

I've argued for a long time that TG's behavior has exacerbated the secondary market and that is undeniable. I think Clark is a pretty scummy guy and if we are talking about lost customers, I've certainly stopped buying their beer over their behavior.

Will these beers sell out? Absolutely. Is it all part of the "free market" that people are obsessed with? Sure. Does that make it right in the eyes of this consumer? Absolutely not.

They had a real chance to do something nice for the community here and instead they continue to not do the right think AND they are forcing people to buy things like Zeelander as well. That's the cherry on the top. People rightfully bitch when they go to stores and are asked to buy another GI product in order to purchase BCBS. What they're doing is NO different except they are also up charging the main product they are selling too.

 

I'm not obsessed with free market. I probably shy away from it tbh. Maybe poor choice of wording in my original response to you but they saw that they were missing out on a sizable chunk of money and decided to charge more. Other companies have done the same and don't get the same shit that TG does.
What would you have wanted them to do in this situation that would have made you completely happy? Keep in mind they have employees to pay, in additional to bills all while missing out on in person sales from their brewery for a few weeks to a month (I don't know what Iowa's shelter in place policy was).

 

According to my 97 year old grandpa who lives in The QC, they still don't have one when I spoke to him 3 days ago.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-stay-at-home-order.html

 

TG was really the first mover with the insane pricing offered directly to customers, that's why they get more stick. They also have a bad reputation for things like going after former brewers and a couple of employees have spoken out about how much of a dick Clark is. I really think TG's trial balloon years back (if I recall it was the $100 price for KBBS) has enabled other breweries to take similar actions but really they are far and away the worse offender.

I'd prefer them to recognize what is going on and significantly cut the price of these beers as an offering off good will to the community. You can't tell me Assassins costs 2x to produce as other top end BA stout. Now obviously COVID is a unique situation but there is nothing at all in their message about understanding the nuances of the COVID situation.

I have also always believed for limited releases like these breweries should only allow one bottle of each variant to be sold per person. It spreads out the bottles but also, it discourages people buying the package for a bottle to consume and a bottle to trade/sell to cover the "cost." I'd also appreciate if they did what Half Acre did with Benthic. Have one ticket option to just get 1 bottle of Assassin, another to get Assassin + a variant and then a last ticket option to get everything. Then you're not forcing the customer to get something like Zeelander which I view as just another way for them to gouge their customers. People buy these packages yes because they like the beer but also because they see dollar signs and know they can "cover" their cost by passing their cost on to other beer drinkers. I'd argue TG is encouraging this behavior when they have the ability to discourage it.

If you're telling me they need to upcharge to keep things going, that's one thing, but this is clearly not the first time they've done this and it's a real middle finger to package something like Zeelander with their other beers in a pandemic. There are other ways to sustain their operations.

 

you want a company to be nice to consumers who spend too much on beer anyway?
Come on man. This is the most luxury of items. People can make their own decisions on where to spend their money. I know several people that try to get this bottle that should be spending in on new shoes, or rent. Why is it Toppling Goliaths responsibility to protect people from themselves?

If you want to to move more product or earn some good will with your loyal customer base you do it by discounting your core everyday beer for your everyday customers, not this. Similar to what Pipeworks has done this month.

 

Again, we are getting into the discussion of whether or not a brewery should behave in an ethical manner or if they should pursue their "free market max profitz."

All I'm arguing is TG has behaved in a manner I don't agree with for some time, and I have not bought their beers as a result of it.