18th St Barrel Massacre

We've never had money, but we opened up a second location. ????????????????????????????

 

Does the shirt that comes with the ticket say "I spent $70 for this shirt, but at least I didn't get a DUI" ?

 

Let me say from the outset that I am expressing an opinion/thoughts that are clearly not the majority opinion in this thread, and I expect to take some heat, personal attacks, accusations, etc. Thats fine, be my guest. Regardless, and just as a customer, not affiliated with the brewery. I will be happily attending, and am thankful for the GREAT BEER and all the HARD WORK done by Drew and staff. It seems people in the beer community LOVE TO FIND SOMETHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT even if it will never affect them!

Im pretty sure that there is actually VERY STRONG/SOUND reasoning behind charging the same price ACROSS THE BOARD for entry into the event, REGARDLESS of whether you plan to participate in drinking/buying bottles or not. feel free to put your pitchforks away (or don't, your call) First and foremost, the brewery does not want anyone to drink and drive drunk, get a DUI, etc. that goes without saying for any brewery/brewpub/bar.

Now, Im speculating, but could reasonably speculate that concerns such as amount of staff, capacity/space issues, ensuring that only those who paid to drink are drinking, and buying bottles, in a community where people like to take advantage, and then having the brewery risk a situation where they get complaints from people who PAID LESS and received the benefits of those who PAYED MORE. Finally, 18th street has ZERO OBLIGATION to provide DD tickets, or to make it easier for those who can arrange to have their DD pick them up/drop them off, go gamble or find something else to do in the meanwhile. They are running a beer selling business, and the financial decisions they make are in line with that. Before you say they are endorsing a system that doesn't support Designated Drivers, no, thats not the case. Nor do they support drinking and driving. IMHO, the way people are responding is disproportionate to what is going on, and a lot of the people complaining probably never planned on buying a DD ticket to begin with (cue 1000 people who had plans to buy one but for the INSANE PRICE!) Drink responsibly, have fun, drive sober, and relax. cheers.

 

I still don't see mentioned a strong/sound reasoning for a $70 Designated Driver ticket...?

And why would more people speak up to buy a DD ticket when the actual EVENT/Beer-Sale tickets aren't even sold out yet? Call me a liar and others who've stated the same thing, but if I even thought about buying a $70 bottle sale ticket for this in the first place, yes, I would've also needed and bought a DD ticket. No chance in hell, though.

 

I agree that 18th Street isn't encouraging drunk driving. Also agree that there is no obligation to offer DD tickets. However, they discourage DDs from attending when the price is equal to a general admission ticket. There is precedent for many beer festivals offering DDs in for significantly less, if not free. I don't have a dog in this fight, but it was disappointing to see.

 

Then don't sell them. They're not selling them for DLD. Sure, DD can drop off and go run some errands and come back....but they defended it with "its cheaper than a DUI." If you don't have the room or the support staff to keep an eye on the sober drivers wearing different colored wrist bands to the point where you're pricing them out of range, just don't sell the tickets? Don't justify your attempt at price gouging by comparing it court costs.

You've never commented on something as an outsider with perspective? Your joined on date is the same year as mine, and I imagine you were part of the scene before you found this website...so this is A) unheard of pricing for a DD ticket anywhere B) indefensible.

I love 18th's product as much as the next guy, and Drew isn't without Pedigree (i.e. he's not a bunch of uncles who home brewed for years and opened a place up and started selling overpriced junk) so the pricing of his bottles, though relatively high, hasn't bothered me as much as it bothers others because the quality is there. I've even come to terms that I essentially paid for 7 mystery pours at $10 a pour, and being that im not a Belgian or sour guy, there's going to be 3-5 of the pours that I don't like. I'm also going to pay $60 for 2 bottles, provided cognac is available. He's got my money, the beer money he wants, since that's what he's producing. The $70 pricing on a DD ticket is still absurd, and laughable, and deserving of all the derision it's received.

 

Totally understand your reasoning. However, forcing people to buy a t-shirt and glass as well as 7 drinks in less than 2 hours is pretty ridiculous. Yes, all of that equates to $70, but it's just a sleazy way to ensure sales. On top of the $70 ticket, people are going to drop extra $$$ on bottles, one of which is $45 with no reviews... Not to mention being on Friday requires people to use up time off. No need to mention the crazy DD tickets.

 

I'm ok with the grouped pricing when its known commodities. I didn't blink about spending $400 on two dark lord tickets because I paid that to get my allotment and on guest taps every year anyway. 3 of the pours at massacre are a surprise (guessing all 4 bottles available will be poured). The event could be great, or it could be a giant flop...

 

There's a big difference though.. Your $200/ticket DLD entry gets you an all day event. To me, that's fine/fair. I don't like the increased price there, but as you said -- I was gonna spend that anyway so whatever.

Here, it's $70.. And yeah, maybe I could have spent that anyway but.. it's 2 hours. 2 hours of "slam these 35oz of barrel aged beer, go get your bottles, hustle hustle hustle GET THE F OUT SESSIONS OVER"

That's been my beef all along. For $70, I expect more than 2 hours.

 

<Slow clap> Very well said.

 

Bitches Bank was released at the brewery yesterday. Would have been a nice bonus if they released it for those at the massacre to purchase first. I guess they may have held some back, but doubt it!

 

Well, I gotta say that this thread has become more entertaining than the DLD thread. Thank you to @beerrock for your absurd justifications and for adding fuel to the fire in this thread

 

Its a combination of the anonymity of the internet mixed with entitlement. Want to really get your point across about how tickets are too expensive or not worth it? Don't go to the event!

 

It sat for weeks after the last release...you may be ok.

 

The irony is that it is not the barrels being massacred in this thread, it's the brewery. Which is too bad, because I love their beer. However, they really took a hit in terms of customer relations because of this event.

 

I am an Ohioan traveling to Dark Lord Day and was very much looking forward to trying 18th St. Brewery for the first time. I was anxiously watching the Barrel Massacre thread just waiting to purchase tickets. After seeing the beers for sale, lack of draft list and terrible pricing structure, I decided to make a HARD pass on attending.

I have NEVER once tried one of their beers, so I CANNOT speak to the quality, but after seeing this event structure/pricing and seeing how they respond to correct negativity, I can honestly say I will never actively support them as a brewery.

 

Not sure where the entitlement part of your comment is coming from. Plenty of folks have commented that they are voting with their wallets on this one. To speak of entitlement when it comes to absurdly overpriced DD tickets is ridiculous. There's no entitlement to be had - people (myself included) are hitting back with regard to a clear money grab that no one (thankfully) has gone for with these $75 DD tickets.

 

The DD price is laughaable, sure.. .But the $70 standard entry is just as big a joke here. There is no justification for the price- the price of this fest all-in matches up closely to Dark Lord Day this year, and what you get is nowhere near what 3 Floyds includes. Add the fact that 18th St Barrel Massacre is a new event and DLD has established itself for years and you get an angry pitchfork mob.

The pricing is ridiculous, the beers are mediocre and the festival is a 1.5 hour chug-fest.

 

I think this is the most insulting line of the entire thing.

It's ok to want money and to be successful. It takes a lot of time and money to get things up and running, and to put on a good event. If you can make money (and a lot if it hopefully), doing what you love to do, that's the dream.

But to paint yourselves as some poor, starving artesian, doing it for the love of the craft, yet operate 2 buildings, employ dozens of people, and fly around THE WORLD to drink and market beer, I find laughable.

There are a lot of brewery events that are cash grabs, and most every one knows it, especially the consumers. However, to pretend an event, that if sold out, would raise $14,000 before a single bottle of beer is sold, isn't about the money is kind of insulting.

And again, that's without the whole DD thing, which is so mind numbingly stupid, that I almost think it's a joke.

 

Yeah I'm going to be on my way home from Chicago and just wanted to grab bottles on my way back. Now I won't. I have no interest in drinking before a three hour drive.