BO & Luke 2015 variants?

The Variant's and wax color associated:
1. Ancho, pasilla, mulato pepper blend (Burgundy Wax)
2. Elderflower and Lavender (Violet Wax)
3. Fenugreek, Cumin and black pepper (Cornflower Yellow Wax)
and the Sunday Special release:
4. Sassafras (Royal Blue Wax)

 

I've heard the release tomorrow is Sassafras as well.

Very glad I'm sitting this one out. AtG is straight up trolling beer nerds now. Last years weren't great (wtf Rosemary and Mint) and now this. With no Vanilla, Cognac, or any of the good variants.

 

I understand wanting to be different, but these flavors are not something I want to taste in my beer. I miss the days of Coffee, Peanut Butter or Vanilla.

 

Totally agree man. The only one that would kinda interest me is the pepper one. Although the peppers used don't pack a nice punch in the heat department.

 

Yup. The only one I would want is the 3 pepper beer. The Habenaro and Serano one they made a few years ago was amazing.

But now this. smh

 

Even the Lapsong tea version they did was really good. Added a nice smokey tea flavor. Peppers are cool with me too.

 

That tea one was interesting. I couldn't finish the bottle though and none of my friends wanted in on it.

The first year they did a four pack (Habanero/Serrano, PB, Lapsang Souchong) was good. Then last year was like wtf rosemary/mint and strawberry? Whatever, I'll try it. And now this with line up with no other variants to round it out. I'm floored and feel sorry for anyone who feels obligated to buy these since they are there and/or got a preorder ticket.

 

I guess just don't buy them then?

The release process was a clusterfuck, that's just a fact. I got in the ticket line at 3:30 and out at about ten til 5, with a huge line stretching behind me. One register is just a real lack of foresight, and I'd guess that the brewery probably won't be terribly responsive to criticism of that, which is disappointing. But I don't get the outrage over the variants. Yeah, they could release a cognac, vanilla, coffee, Pappy variant and make everybody around here happy, but that's never been the way that AtG operates. If nothing else, they're trying to do something different, and I'm definitely not going to shit all over the results without even tasting them.

 

Not telling people until the day of what the variants are, having a presale for tickets with the expectation of getting something good in return, and then having them be something 90% of people wouldn't consider buying if it weren't "rare" is a shitty thing to do. Regardless of AtG's expected agenda.

Atleast last year, they redeemed themselves with releasing the desirable ones in small quantities and selling them 1 per person until they were gone and having solid variants on tap. This year they don't even have any variants on tap.

 

I was told that the first people showed up about 3:00AM. I got up there about 11:00AM and i was tenth. Around 12:30, Sam Cruz brought out two bottles of last year's Cognac Bo and Luke for people to drink, and it was very good. However, they should've had more than one register, should've had a cash only line (or been cash only period), and they should've sold the presale 4-pks at a different time (either last night, early today, or later tonight) so that those sales don't interfere with a very long line of people competing for less than 100 boxes. There were people standing in the presale line with their friends, and after 5pm, they were able to buy 'first come first serve 4pks' since the lines were merging at that point.

Definitely could've been better, but the flavor choices fit what ATG does. Weird > Great. Also, tomorrow's release isn't just sassafras (I wish it was); per the sign, its 'sassafras and radish', which is suspicious as fuck. But at least so far, the release tomorrow is cash only, so the line should move very quicker.

 

Has anyone opened their variants yet to subject an opinion? Literally asking out of legitimate curiosity.

 

The sale itself was so bad, a colossal mess. I think they should have started accepting payment for the presale +regular line around noon, and issued vouchers so that later, those people could walk up to a different line, show their voucher, and be handed their order.

One POS for two lines was a disaster.

And then it rained.

 

They handed out 12 vouchers which were supposed to be your spot in the first come first serve line. I got the #10 one. They just didn't actually use any of them at all

 

I had #4, which ended up working out pretty well, once the public sale started. I also had a pre-sale, and I was able to purchase both of my variant packs at the same time and then get the hell out of there.

 

I guess I'm the only person that felt like things really weren't all that bad? Arrived about 2:30pm, got a table inside with the wife, left her to jump in the ticketed line about 3:15pm, shared some good beers with some good folks while waiting in line, was through the line and back at our table by 4:45pm, ordered each of the three drafts when they tapped at 5:00pm and was out by 6:15pm...

Everything seemed pretty low key to me, especially compared to some of the bigger releases and fests I've been to in the past, which was nice... Granted I wasn't outside for the general sales line, or the heavy rain. The one POS machine slowed things down a bit but it really didn't seem excessive to me.

I also wouldn't mind that the variants be announced at least somewhat in advance, but even that wouldn't have stopped me from buying them today. I'm not gonna blindly criticize without trying them. They are definitely different than the standard fare, but that's AtG's M.O.

 

Announcing the variants early would have been nice. It probably would have weeded out a bunch of people too, what with the weirder variants.

The whole thing could have been smoother, but I did end up getting what I went for and got out before 6. And even got to try 70k, which made all of the standing and waiting worth it.

 

Only the people in about the top 30-40 of the presale line had little problem. Once they tried to merge the lines at 5 since they only had the one POS, it was all over.

I think the variants sound weird, but that doesn't mean they suck. They might actually turn out to be good. The pepper one sounds like it should be good, and the lavender one should at least have a great nose like last year's strawberry. The cumin one, to me, is the biggest wild card.

 

I disagree on that. There were only 260 variant packs available, and no single variant bottles. Those were gonna sell out no matter what, and the people who showed up just to get regular bottles would have shown up anyway as well.

 

That's probably true. It wouldn't have stopped me from getting a 4 pack, but the few people I talked to about it seemed pissed about the variants and not knowing what they were. I split my 4 pack with a buddy and only kept the regular and the Fenugreek, Cumin and Black Pepper variant (without knowing what it was, I just picked the yellow wax on a whim).

I'm hoping it turns out to be good. From what I gather fenugreek is used in imitation maple syrup so maybe that works well with the base beer.

 

Ah where do I start? This was my 3rd year attending Bo and Luke day and will almost certainly be my last. I'm pretty much in complete disbelief at how terrible this release went and it really left a bad taste in my mouth regarding ATG. I mean the fact that they refused to release the info regarding variants til right before 5pm should have been my first warning sign that things weren't going to go well.....

So me and a buddy arrive at 3pm. We get a beer and begin waiting. We notice there's 2 lines. One for presales and one for regular sales. We don't have presale tickets so we get in our line and begin waiting. We count the people in front of us and estimate to be around 40th in line. Give or take of course. We think cool we have a shot at getting a 4pack.

Mistake #1: lol does anyone know the reasoning behind having your presale line and your regular line occurring at the same time? Why weren't the presale people given their bottles fri night? Early sat morning? Anything would have been better than having both lines of people waiting simultaneously. Which leads me to my next question of why were people who's 4 packs were literally reserved for them waiting in line an hour before release anyway? YOUR BOTTLES WERE RESERVED FOR YOU! I just don't see the point...

Mistake #2: and this one is huge and absolutely ridiculous. One register! Really? Ok so having 1 register might not have been so bad if there was 1 line but you have 2 lines and only 1 register!! As soon as I saw that I couldn't control my laughter. Lol does anyone not see the problem with having a line for presales and your other line converging onto ONE REGISTER?!? I mean I seriously feel like a 5th grader could have predicted that things would not have gone well at that point...

(Keep in mind I'm currently waiting in line to purchase a 4pack and I'm not even sure what's in it. It's a secret! Shhhhhhhhhh...)

Mistake #3: At around 5pm I sense atg knows they've fucked up a little bit. A guy comes out with the megaphone. He calls for both separate lines to come together and form one line. Lol what? Come again? After 2 hours of this two line crap you want us all to form one line? Really? You mean you couldn't have done that oh idk 2 hours ago? Do you see the problem that's about to occur now? So now all the presale people (and people hanging out with them. Keep in mind we don't know who has presale tickets and who doesn't) come barging into our line. That 40th or so place in line we had before now becomes about 80th in line. At this point I wouldn't really call what I'm standing in a line. More like just a complete clusterfuck of people drinking under a tent. I think well we still have a shot at a 4pack because most of the people in front of me have presale tickets. Why I'm waiting in line behind people who's bottles are already reserved is completely beyond me but I'm too tired and worn out to care at this point.

Mistake #4: 6pm comes around. I'm pretty much at the same place in line I was at 3pm. Here comes big sam with a megaphone again. Clearly drunk and becoming irritated he yells for people to get in a line. Oh yeah. Did I fail to mention? We're back to two lines again. Yup the good ol two line/one register idea. Anyway it's too little too late. He also says, "that if we can't learn to wait in line properly he's going to call things off" or something to that affect. Sure Sam, go ahead and send all these people and the potential $$$ home. Id love to see how that would have went. The whole "u should be thankful I'm giving u the opportunity to purchase my beer" attitude really rubbed me the wrong way. (All I saw from the owners btw and what seemed to be their main intention was just on getting drunk and hanging out. Which is cool if you have someone in charge of keeping order, overseeing the line, the bottles being passed out, etc. They didn't. )

By now the 4 packs are gone. That's right. Getting in line at 3pm and being roughly 40th in line translated to finally being able to get a few original bottles at 7-7:30pm. Yippee!

Yes it's a bottle release. Yes it took place in the rain. Things aren't going to always go according to plan. But I have a hard time believing that there even was a plan to begin with. Add to that the very very late release of info regarding variants makes me feel completely, for lack of a better term, FUCKED. I honestly and truly believe that Atg did not give a single fuck about the people outside waiting in line for their beer. And that saddens me. Not because I expect them to care about me. I don't need that from a brewery. But it would be to feel just a little appreciated for my business and support. I've spent a lot of time defending atg online and in person. But no more. This was my last Bo and Luke day and will prob be awhile before I step back in there and give them my business.