Central Waters Anniversary

My proxy was told you could, but I gave him a xerox anyways. Go for it - you gotta get yours anyways, right? So have him text the image and see if it works. Worst that can happen is they say no.

 

All I can say is the whole proxy thing really slowed the line. I wouldn't be surprised if next year they limit the proxy to one per person. Seeing people walk out with 3 and 4 boxes really made it move slowly.

 

This line is cold.

 

Don't forget some well known BAs who came away with over 200 bottles, slowing the line to the extent that brewery employees went through the line asking if anyone else was doing the same thing so as to be ready for the incoming order.

 

All I know is Dark Lord day completely wrecks this event in so many ways. Especially DLD 13.

 

I wondered why the line was so slow. It took two hours and there weren't that many people in line really. I left at 4:30 with the line still outside the tent, which probably would've finished around the 6:30 mark if the timing stayed about the same.

Enjoyed some Exodus while standing in that line. It's good, but I'm hoping the Peruvian Morning I'm getting ready to crack open as my reward for the driving will taste fantastic.

 

Complete debacle. Never doing again. Was in line for 90 minutes and moved maybe 40 feet decided to leave. Probably a 3 hrs wait for something that should be a simple process. They need to make large changes.

 

Oh boo hoo. I will admit that last year was a bit crazy but I had a great time today. I waited an hour and a half and drank peruvian morning to keep me warm. Of course there is going to be a line for a release such as today's.

 

What a great party! the line wasn't so bad! thanks a lot!

 

Such a frustrating experience. Ill try not to complain too much about this release- just from a business model, I spent 2 hours in line waiting to pick-up the 16. As a result, I didn't spend any $ in the brewery, since we only had a 2-hour window to be there all together. I hope CW learns from Surly where they get 100+ volunteers to come and help with the release. Shit, I would volunteer if they sent out a request- what a fun thing to do! There was 50 ft of tent space (that sat empty) that should have had 20 tables all with people collecting money and checking people off the list (could use a google doc so that multiple people could edit the list at one time).

Also there was a distributors event that took place before (limiting tap beer for non-distributors until 3 PM, despite the line for beer starting at 2 PM), which is frustrating because I would have loved to grab a beer at the time we jumped in line…but I couldn't.

At the end of the day, as a customer I really felt unimportant at CW yesterday. I have supported their growing business for years, and I expected this event would highlight the outstanding product they make and how their business appreciates the support of their fan base- who not only buy their beer but recommend it to others.

I was mistaken.

 

I didn't go (but had a proxy - sorry!) and this would be simple to solve.

You break up personal and proxy. For the personal pick up, you break it into lines for A-D, E-G, etc (or some variation of) and you're giving out X-times the # of bottles at once. Have a separate area for proxy doing the same. Yeah PITA for someone picking up multiple orders but such is life.

And make everything prepaid. No cash changing hands at all. 1 less thing to worry about.

If Tyranena can do this with 1,000 of bike riders every fall, CW can do it with people buying beer.

 

Hmm, I thought the event was run much better this year. Much more space, able to walk up to a table and get a pour of 16 with in 2-3 minutes. The line was long but rather then complain, I just did the taboo thing and skipped purchasing bottles and spent that money on more tap beer!

On a side note Oso has become my main reason for coming up for the CW party. They had an amazing tap list and 3 different bottles for sale. They to me are like the offensive line of a football team, do all the work and get none of the credit while CW is the pretty boy qb who gets all the shine!

 

Good
- ticketed release was awesome. So much less stressful
- Setup was much better than last year
- separate 16 sales from other beers
- tap list and other for sale beer
- Parking was pretty well thought out

Bad
- 16 Line. Having one person checking names was crazy. They needed to have multiple people with different sections of the alphabet . The guy doing wristbands could have been walking through the line checking IDs so that was done before the checkout.
- Line started a little before 2 but you couldn't buy beer until 3

 

It sounds like the bottle purchase line was the entire problem. I didn't buy any 16 bottles and my experience was awesome. I was actually praising CW in a conversation last night in that for an event with that many people, I got to try a dozen different killer beers and was never more than two people deep in line for beer, food, "regular" bottles, merch, or a porta potty. That's amazing.

I've been fortunate to attend a number of good releases/parties. Honestly I've experienced the same type of problems described in this forum just this past year at Hunahpu's Day, Beatification release, Kuhnhenn Winter Solstice, Black Friday, and others. The explosion in online trading has overwhelmed these brewers and they've got to figure out a scalable solution that can grow with them and the demand for these special releases. Credit to Three Floyds for the year over year changes they made recently for Dark Lord Day.

CW posted last night on their Facebook page that they're already working on a fix for the anniversary bottle line situation. I don't doubt they are and hope to make it there again next year.

 

Got in 16 line around 6, got my allotment by 7. Wtf it was no problem! With tickets you don't all need to line up right away! Awesome event, bottle share inside was off the chain. Finally got to try VSB.

 

you were fortunate.....it wasn't a "line up right away" situation that most people are commenting on. The lines were hours long throughout the day.

 

Idk how you managed that without some major cutting. I got in line at 610 and got my bottles at 745. That said, I had a great time at the event. I had a couple friends waiting in line with me and we took turns grabbing beers for each other. Got to enjoy some BBBW, rye bourbon Stout, and 16 while waiting in line, so I didn't mind the wait at all.

 

The Good

• great beers on draft, with never more than a minute or two wait
• lots of good beer being shared
• very quick&easy 16 pick-up, once you got through the line
• both bigger/louder and smaller/quieter spaces to socialize
• very good music in the front bar (provided a nice contrast to the Bluegrass in the back)
• loads of friendly+helpful people, both attendees and CW staff

The Bad

• long line for 16 pick-up, particularly in freezing temperatures

We would go to this event again in a heartbeat, even without the 16 release. Nicely done CW!

 

At least the 16 line didn't snake it's way through the whole brewery like last year. The 16 line and anniversary party areas were pretty well separated which made the party itself more enjoyable. We got in line about 3ish, and had our 16 by 6ish. Spent the remainder of the evening at the bottle share area in the far back corner of the brewery, and being able to walk up and get pours of whatever you'd like, including 16, was awesome.

Despite some problems, I had a much better experience than last year. I don't mind the wait if I know for sure that I will get my beer. Last year, we waited three hours, got within 10 feet of the 15 sales and were told they were sold out. This year, we still had the 3 hour wait, but at least we were guaranteed to get our 16, plus we kept ourselves entertained by drinking/sharing beers, and hanging out with like-minded people. I agree though, there has got to be a better way to sell the special release. Having one point of contact to identify and purchase all the beer created a nasty bottle neck.

 

Maybe it was 545 or so, either way, a very manageable wait. No cutting Seems like waiting until later was the key.