NBS BIF #15 Sign Up Thread

It's time! It's time! Papa! Mama! Come see the new NBS BIF sign up thread!

NBS BIF #15 is going live. This is the BIF explicitly in support of New Beer Weekend. It's in the name - well, kinda. Speaking of names, we are now soliciting your submissions for the official title of this round. We have had Estonian Ticks, Rocket Balls, Schitt's Creek-based Latin, NASCAR drivers, Spinal Tap ... you name it!

Important Dates:
-Sign ups run from right now to March 17th.
-Hints and Hauls thread will go live on March 17th.
-Pairings will be set and sent out within a day or two of the close of sign ups.
-April 24th is the official share date.
-Please ensure at least one box of beer, including the Mystery Beer, reaches your target by April 20th.

Member Requirements:
You must either:
-Be a previous round participant.
or:
-Be active on the New Beer Weekend thread.
and:
-Have a current or former member vouch for you as a trader.

You do not need to have a formal trade record on BA (it doesn't hurt). If you're not yet active on NBW but want to join, you have the next few weeks to get involved and show yourself.

If you have never participated in a BIF before, this may not be the BIF for you, but we have had some first timers along the way who have absolutely smoked it. If you don't have someone to vouch for you, though, perhaps consider more of a beginner BIF (like the Newbies BIF).

Participation Requirements:
-96 ounces or more of beer. You may send more - most of us send much more! - but you must be OK with receiving the minimum. There is no pressure to send more than the minimum.
-At least one beer must be a Mystery Beer (spooky!). It must be wrapped in a way to disguise the beer label and name (ideally, the brewery as well). Creative faux labels are welcomed, but tin foil, brown paper, and tape all work well (but make sure your target can at least unwrap the beer after their review). There is no maximum on the number of Mystery Beers you may send.
-At least one local food item. This is up to you. Preferably, this would be something that represents your local area: what they're known for, or what you like from the area, or something your target can't normally get. We've had Taylor Ham and ice cream shipped before; get creative!
-At least one item of brewery swag (e.g. t-shirt or glassware). It doesn't have to match any of the beer you send, but that's up to you.
-You must participate in the Hints and Hauls thread, specifically giving clues to help your target guess his or her sender. You must post at least two clues per week in the thread (until your target correctly identifies you; you don't have to stop dropping clues at that point, but it kind of makes sense). This is a very small minimum.
-You must communicate any black out dates so that we can relay that information to your sender.
-You must drink at least one of the beers (preferably a Mystery Beer) on the official share date, unless otherwise communicated. You can start drinking your new beers as soon as they arrive, but save some for the NBW thread.

Etiquette:
-If you are going to be away from the thread for a while, please let us know. It's OK, but no one enjoys having their sender or target ghosting the thread. The thread is arguably more fun than the beer sharing!
-Please try to play the game and guess your sender. Some of us put a lot of time, effort, and energy into crafting our clues (often much more time than we spend picking up your beer!), and it's very frustrating to have a target who simply doesn't play along. There is no minimum number of guesses you must make every week (unlike the requirement to drop clues as a sender), but throwing up your hands on day one and saying, "I can't figure out these clues at all!" really just means you're not trying - and it makes me wonder why you want to be in this BIF in the first place. (Oh, right: the beer.) I get it that not everyone takes the same level of enjoyment from the clues, and some of our members can be famously cryptic, but please at least try. You can nominally at least figure out who isn't your sender based on how many other people determine theirs, so if you're not even trying to figure out your sender based on who is left, then you're just not trying.
-Lying in your clues is allowed. My own tactic is to use subsequent clues to help my target discern which clue(s) may have been a false trail, because otherwise it just seems kind of rude - but that's just me, not a requirement.
-Deception and misdirection in your clues are both allowed and encouraged (as opposed to outright lies). Getting someone to bite and think they're your target, based on technically accurate but misleading clues, is pretty darn fun.
-If someone makes a formal guess or call out, you should acknowledge that they are correct (or incorrect).
-There are no maximum number of guesses you can make to determine your sender. You don't win anything for being the first person to guess your sender, or for having the most cryptic clues. That said, don't shotgun blast the thread with random guesses out of the blue. Play the game.
-It's a game; have fun! We keep the Hints and Hauls thread open until the next round; we're still going crazy on Page 106 for round #14!
-Tag your sender with the beer you're enjoying/reviewing, especially if you're opening it outside of the NBW thread. If you're drinking the beer while NBW is closed, consider dropping your review in the Hints and Hauls thread (basically a substitute for NBW that runs 7 days a week). Sometimes we are going back years and tagging our senders in a much later round of the BIF (well, some of us; ain't none of my BIF beers lasted that long!). This courtesy should extend to people who ninja you in association with the BIF.
-That said, drinking and reviewing the beers for the NBW thread is certainly preferred - again, the entire reason this BIF exists. My own personal habit is to prioritize drinking IPAs fresh, whatever day of the week it happens to be, but saving the majority of the box(es) for NBW.

All right, that's a lot. I will recap the share dates, rules, and etiquette in the official Hints and Hauls thread once it goes live.

Ladies and gentlemen, reinforce your porches. BEER IS COMING.

 

Spoilers: I'm in.

 

Where everyone at?

@JayORear
@Xul
@Dimidiata
@Victory_Sabre1973
@foundersasap

 

Paging:

@snaotheus
@MacMalt
@ovaltine
@tasterschoice62
@kemoarps

 

A few more:

@woemad
@colts9016
@Mbgreg
@Rub_This_BBQ
@RedhawkPoke

 

There are indeed two a year - not counting the holiday mini-BIF we often, but not always, run.