NBS BIF #12 Sign Up Thread

You know the drill: LET'S GET IT STARTED! Read this post in its entirety (apologies, I know it's lengthy) before signing up.

First, the front matter up front:

*The main purpose is to support the New Beer Weekend thread. (No, we are not changing the name of the BIF.) The beers you send to your target should mostly be new-to-them beers. It's OK to throw in a Want or a known favorite, but focus on new beers. This should also be an opportunity to share the local love with your target. Not everything needs to be whalez; show him or her what your local area can do!

*Minimum: 66-72oz (6-12oz, 3-22oz, or some combination thereof) of new beer for your target. And yes, we are serious about the minimums: many of us will send much, much more (there is no maximum limit), but there is zero requirement to keep up with the crazies.
*This also means that no matter how much you send your target, you need to be prepared to receive as little as 66 oz from your sender. If you choose to be generous, crushing your target's porch with multiple boxes, you should do so because you want to, not because you expect your sender is going to drain his or her bank account.

*One of those beers must be a Mystery Beer, which must be drank and reviewed blind. The mystery beer should be wrapped and obscured in some way. It doesn't need to be fancy. Please ensure the mystery beer arrives by the target share date.

*Include at least 1 piece of brewery swag (glassware, T-shirt, etc.).

*Finally, include a local food item of some sort from your area. Dry rub BBQ, pickled okra, Taylor Ham (hint hint). It's up to you! I like to send a few items representative of rural GA (peaches, pecans, BBQ, hot sauce, and the like). Be creative.

*PARTICIPATION!!!!! You must be willing to be active in the Hints and Hauls thread. "Active" is hereby defined as posting at least two hints each week until your target correctly guesses your identity. (If you anticipate being unavailable for work or something similar, please just let us know so that we aren't surprised). Additional posting and guessing is encouraged, as well. The most fun of this entire BIF is typically the back-and-forth in the H&H thread, and senders who aren't dropping hints and engaging in the fun diminishes the enjoyment for everyone else - but especially for their target.

*You must ship so that your target receives their box on the Thursday before the share date. This allows any bottle conditioned beers time to settle, as well as putting a margin of error in for shipping. It's better to ship early than late. You can ship as early as you like.

*The entire purpose of the BIF is to improve participation in the NBW thread. Thus, as a target, you must be willing to post reviews, or at least thoughtful comments, on at least one of your beers on the "Official" share date. Go all out if you want! Feel free to drink some of your beers before the date, as well - especially if you're concerned about freshness.

Now, some expected participant etiquette:

*Tag your sender. If you're drinking a beer someone sent you, it's polite to give them credit for providing you with some tasty deliciousness.

*Post reviews in the H&H thread. This is mostly if you're drinking one of your new beers outside of New Beer Weekend - which, again, is totally kosher! However, in that case, it's polite to go ahead and drop your review or at least a quick impression in the H&H thread. Consider the H&H thread an extension of NBW, if you will.

*Lies and reveals. Lying in your hints is 100% authorized. My personal take is that you should at some point in your hint dropping, reveal if one or more of your clues was misleading (or downright wrong). It's up to you. Straight forward, arcane, winding, artistic, deceptive; the only clue requirement is that you keep dropping clues! On the flip side, if someone officially calls you out, I consider it proper etiquette to give them an honest "Yes" or "No." This can be with GIFs if you're so inclined, but I consider it poor taste to lie outright if someone correctly (or incorrectly) identifies you as their sender.

*Guesses. There is no maximum number of guesses to identify your sender, but remember: there's no prize for being right, or even being first. (OR IS THERE??? Secret LIF is in play already!) Don't abuse it. If you guess wrong, all you're going to get is some light teasing, but it's poor form to just shotgun guesses in all directions.


Next: the final touches and important dates.

*Sign ups are live as of right now, and will continue until the close of Labor Day weekend (Monday, 9/7). Derek and I will then fix the pairings and start the H&H thread.

*The official share date is Sunday, 10/11 (technically, NBW starts on 10/10, and that's fine, too, but I suspect many of us old-timers will be focusing on Sunday ). Plan your shipping so that your target receives at least one box of new beers by Thursday, 10/8. (Also, as a recipient, if you're planning to consume early, save at least one new beer for the 10/10-10/11 weekend.)

*The name will not be finalized until the H&H thread is posted, so there's still time to provide your input. Spoilers: it's likely to involve my private parts, based on public demand. Yep: you guys really want my junk, apparently (or at least to relive the damage over and over).


Next: @2beerdogs and I are running this one, with @beertunes keeping us from getting too far off the rails. If we do not have your info (or if you're simply not sure), please drop us a BM with the following:

Name, shipping address, alternative contact info (email, phone, whatever), any food allergies, T-shirt size, and swag restrictions (e.g. "Please no more glassware; my wife will kill me!"). If there are any black-out dates where you won't be around to receive your box(es), or periods where you won't be available to participate in the H&H thread, please include that information.

*Participation prerequisites. Any previous NBS BIF participants in good standing are automatically qualified. Anyone else must:
-Have a clean track record in trades/BIFs. It's not required that you are a prolific trader, but it is a must that we can trust you, so a bad reputation or excessive drama is probably a non-starter.
-Have a history of participation in NBS/NBW. It's the entire point of this BIF. If you're thinking of joining, but haven't yet participated in NBW, get started now, and show us that this is a thing you really want to do. We're not looking for masters of poetry and prose; we're just looking for people who will be active and in line with the spirit.
-Be vouched for by a previous or current member. Let's be honest: we're a small and insular community. If one of our old guard vouches for you (based on personal knowledge, trades, or other BIFs), and you intend to meet the NBW participation requirement, then welcome aboard!


Now, just one final order of business before this thread goes live: setting the pairings.

We're 12 deep in this BIF now. We've had members come and go, but several of us have been here since the very beginning. This will be the first time anyone other than Terry has set the beer pairings. So, here's what we will absolutely accomplish:

-No same-state or adjacent-state sender-target pairs. You will not be shipping to someone in the same state or an adjacent state, unless something cannot be helped.

-....actually, that's about it. I'd love to say we will not pair you up with a previous pairing (i.e. not give you a target we've given you before), but I can't guarantee it. I can't guarantee that you won't be paired with someone in the same general region (Pacific, Southeast, Midwest, Northeast), or with a similar distribution.


OK. Hell. This is long as crap, but I think it's important to get the rules and regulations out front. BM me or @2beerdogs with any questions (and once we prove incompetent, we'll bug Terry for the answer ). With that, let the chaos begin!

 

Oooh, and first post: I'm in!

And also: the first (secret) LIF of NBS BIF #12 is officially active, so someone who is not my official target (most likely) is going to get some freakin' beer.

 

Pork Roll vs Taylor Ham is a South vs North Jersey thing, right? I don't pretend to know or understand New Jersey; I just know that Taylor Ham makes my mouth water.

 

I wouldn't know.

 

I've been to Jersey, but I've much more often been through Jersey (as I suspect is the case with many East Coasters).

It's surely different for someone who grew up there, but I can't say I've ever wanted to go back for a repeat visit. Then again, I'm undoubtedly influenced by Jersey Shore, which somehow feels like jackhole Floridians grew terrible accents.