2015 Hopslam

I can see that, but it's possible there could be multiple batches, too. Cali might get, say, the 1/9 batch, while the 1/18 comes to Illinois. Just thought it came off as entitled. I'm in Chicago, why am I not getting the beer first!!!!

 

I know for certain in West Michigan last year we saw 2 different bottle dates roughly 2-3 weeks apart.

 

I dont think it is entitlement. It is a legitimate question about/to IL distributors. Knowing they use Old Style distributors might answer our question already tho My 2 Cents.

 

It does hold up exceptionally well, that I won't argue.
However super-fresh Two Hearted is absolutely mind blowing. When I had it at Bell's it reaffirmed my love for it.

Since i can buy 4 day old Anti Hero which is next to Two Hearted on the shelf I don't see my old friend as often.
Taste being subjective and so on.

 

I haven't seen this within the thread here, but how was this bottled last year? All 12oz'ers?

 

always been 12oz 6 packs. They had minikegs in '11

 

Boombas of Hopslam or I'm out....if you can't tell its a slow week in retail

 

this metaphor would work if there were 50 other cheesemakers making limburger up to par if not better these days

 

Would be cool if they did they did the 4 pack of 16oz cans.

 

Thanks. I had read they aren't doing minikegs this year.

 

Perhaps we all need to stop by before the weekend. (though from this thread I'll apparently be there next week)

 

Yeah, I suppose with only one cheesemaker in America making it, the rarity alone would definitely put it in the 4.75 to 5.0 score range in most BA's eyes, lol.

 

California has the 5th largest economy in the world. I know it may not seem fair, but perhaps that has something to do with it.

Also, as far as some states getting beer that's fresher than others-- Sometimes (especially with larger distributors), it takes them a while to sell the beer in stock, so the fresher stuff rotates into stores at a later date.

 

I'm in central IL and we heard last year that our distributor had Hopslam in the warehouse but wouldn't be releasing it for 2 weeks. A friend asked Bell's about it via Facebook and they requested he email them the distributor.

So he did, and a day or two later the outlets telling us it'd be 2 weeks started posting it was available!

Was glad Bell's acted on it!

 

There are different bottling dates. The Hopslam that went on the bottling line yesterday is for Michigan and SouthEast. They will get theirs first, logistics ya know? The Hopslam that will hit Chicago at the end of the month will be a different batch, and rest assured will be fresh!

 

Anybody courageous enough to have that ridiculous Hipster-stache must be in the know.
Here's to hoping you're right!

 

This time around Bells is getting it all out at the same time in Chicago instead of 2 waves hence the delay. Stores will be getting less than they did last year due to more accounts opening up >< act quick

 

Sure but...i dunno...i mean what if Bell's doesnt send it 'til the end of the month? It'll get here. It's not gunna not get here. Relax, have a beer

omg i love your name

 

Well I'd like to relax & have a Hopslam beer tho. But fair enough, I understand your thoughts. The point I was trying to make, albeit poorly, is that Hopslam is a relatively highly anticipated seasonal release and that I think I can speak for a few folks in the Chicago area and say that it would be nice to have Hopslam as soon as it was made available from Bell's as possible. I find it a bit ironic that other states like Missouri (due west of us) and California (a bit further due west), not to mention several other states, are getting it shipped a week or two earlier than us. We are after all pretty close in proximity to Michigan so the delay cannot be attributed to geographic reasons. And as I mentioned previously we have received it much earlier within the release cycle in the past. And if as Bell's says on their blog

"Q: When/where will Hopslam be available?

A: As with all of our beers, that too will also depend on when our distributors from each area are able to pick it up at our brewery, then deliver it to its final destination."

then it seems that any hold-up is solely on the distributor's side. According to the blog, it's not when Bell's sends it to us, it's when the distributor picks it up. Unless I'm completely misreading their take on how availability is working. So just would like to find out from our friendly distributors why they are only able to pick it up the week of the 26th (or even later possibly) vs the 12th or the 19th. There might be legitimate reasons that are just not known (to me anyway). Or maybe in the overall scheme of things they could care less about Bell's much less Hosplam. It's quite possible.

Is a two week or so delay on getting Hopslam going to cause the city of Chicago to shut down, not likely. However, I'd certainly like to hear their perspective. One nice trend (to me anyway) is that it seems consumers seem to be forging good relationships/communication with retailers and breweries as far as social media and even here on BA. Not as much with distributors, however. And frankly I'll likely never see a reply to my emails because distributors probably don't want to be bothered with explaining their business to someone one level down from their actual customers. Anyway, I've clearly beaten this topic into the ground at this point. Apologies to anyone for having to read through these never ending posts on the (un)availability of Hopslam in the Chicago market. Looking forward to relaxing and having a Hopslam in x number of weeks. Cheers.

 

The distributor pickup delay is more than likely an issue of overall inventory at the distro. They are most likely not going to Bell's for pickup of just Hopslam as that would be inefficient. The warehouse inventory has to be at a point where they are picking up several different beers and a large supply of each to justify the trucking/man hours per their overhead. Years ago I was asking why SN Bigfoot was released in Cali and it took so long for us to get it. At the time our distributor wasn't selling enough to justify weekly deliveries, so it took another month to get it. If the distro has recently picked up from Bell's that could also cause a delay because either the beer wasn't ready or it was too early for Bells to send it which would further delay shipment, and they would have to wait for the next scheduled pickup to get it.