A recommendation for all bottle releases...

I just threw the same idea out to a trade partner the other night.

 

I think most would agree, Founders did it perfect! Tickets so you don't worry at all but a big party with the release on draft so everyone can still line up and do the traditional line sharing. It's the best of both worlds.

 

While I agree, some of my fondest memories are waiting outside Founders for KBS. I know that won't work anymore or maybe after this whole beer craze dies down but a part of me misses freezing outside in the beautiful state of Michigan just so that my family will have some beer on the table

 

The great thing about ticketed releases is that they reward people in the know.

The bad thing about ticketed releases is that they reward people in the know.

Don't get me wrong; Off Color killed it with ticketed releases. But, unless you're on their mailing list/Twitter, you don't know when tickets go on sale. And even if you are, you still need to be online at a specific, potentially inconvenient time. So, casual beer fans get cut shut out on sales.

Which isn't necessarily a bad thing from our perspective. But, it always irks me when I read lists of "Awesome Things in Chicago This Weekend" and half the events sold out months ago. Ticketed releases do this for beer.

 

Agree 100%, but if you're serious about what you want, be in the know. The way the limited releases go, those folks are in the know. Even the line-cutting and muling assholes who tend to ruin it for everyone else. That's the horse-race you're up against every time at a line-up. Tickets make it way easier and smoother. I was super bummed to miss out on Dark Lord tix this year, but had I got tickets, I know ahead of time that I'm going to have a better time there than dealing with assholes at the line-ups. Tickets take a lot of stress out of it for me. I went to Witch's Hat later in the day yesterday to get my yearly DragonTrax on tap, and I heard the line-up was a shit show.

 

I don't know where I stand on this, but I think I lean towards ticketing. I like the idea that people who really want it will get it.

Case in point: I happened to be in Brooklyn on a day that Other Half Brewing was doing a bottle release. I parked my car and walked up to go in but there was a line - I thought they just hadn't opened yet. I was in the right place at the right time and ended up getting 2 bottles that someone else might have really wanted. While waiting in line I'd talked to 2 guys who'd driven quite a ways to get those beers, and another group that had no idea what it really was, but had heard that it was something special and came down to get some. If each of us bought our 2 allotted bottles, that would have been 12 bottles, but only 4 of those rightfully went to those who deserved it... just 30%. Is it fair that 70% of those bottles went to people who literally had no idea what it was?

 

Yeah, muling makes everything a shit show, which is why Side Project does that whole same-day announcement thing. Less time to gather the troops and whatnot.

Flip side of that with tickets is that you open things up to people from anywhere. So, you get stuff going to out-of-market people, or you have out-of-market people buying tix for their local partners, or whatever. It kills line cutting, but still allows mules.

It's really pick your poison. Every release method has benefits and downsides. Like I said, tickets are nice, especially after two very rainy days in lines last year. I'm a big fan of DLD moving to a prepaid model, for lots of reasons. I'd never want it to go back to the giant clusterfuck line they had before ticketing.

There's also the "bottle club" model like The Bruery, Transient, etc., use. Which also has its benefits... and drawbacks...

 

I've been in California, for work, for about a month & have picked up FW Feral One, Churchill's Finest, Hammerhead Speedway & Port Wee Heavy all through ticketed releases. I know shudder when I think of all of the waiting in line that I have to do back home to potentially get shut out completely

 

Wait for all the melts after the Perrin No Rules release.

 

I like how Bells does their releases!

 

From a customers point of view, I agree that ticketing is great. If I strike out on tickets I don't have make the trek to XYZ.
But you also have to think about it from the business's point of view. Ticketing (especially online) could cut into revenue and you also are not rewarding your most loyal local customers. The more I think about it, the more I like what Cycle is doing.

 

Founders set the gold standard in handling limited releases with the yearly KBS release. Any other approach (i.e, non-ticketed) just rewards line behavior stupidity, which seems to be ever increasingly in abundance these days. Price the ticket so the costs associated with ticketing are a wash and then add a bit to go to a charity of some sort.

 

Central Waters did the same, was great!