In South Jersey, Troeg's Mad Elf is strangely coveted. Most stores in this area either hold it for regulars or do a Black Friday release like it's something really special. However, whenever I visit Pennsylvania or New York the stuff just sits out in the open with plenty available. When I tell anyone how hard it is to get in Jersey they look at me with two heads. Do you have a beer that's hyped exclusively in your region?
In the Cleveland area it used to be Great Lakes Christmas Ale. I remember years past, it was off the shelves before Christmas. Now you can find it into February. Plus the recipe has changed and the quality has gone down. I had my first Tröeg's Mad Elf last night and enjoyed it, but not enough to hoard it.
I would say that for the past 2 years it was Hardywood Park's Gingerbread Stout. Last year it was a bit obscure and I saw people just ransacking shelves of it. Now it's absolutely everywhere right now... kind of makes me laugh, not enough to go around.... so brew more of it then... ok we did... well now I am not interested anymore...
This is probably true for any sort of seasonal/special release in South NJ. Xocoveza for example was limited to one bottle per person in a lot of places. Not sure how common this is in other densely populated areas, but I know it's not that hard to get what I'm looking for either in North Jersey or the bordering states.
...that's their own fault for brewing a ton of an extremely polarizing beer style that people only really enjoy for a couple months out of the year
My hype is so exclusive, you have to wait in a bottle shareless line in the cold just to be put on a list to know about it, but the line is held at a different place each moment and you can only find out where it is right now from other people in line. It's been working out pretty good, so far.
It's the buyers faults for overbuying. They brew to meet demand and make money. If buyers are buying it, brewers are happy.
I don't have a great example to share, but my jaw dropped a little when I read about your local Mad Elf hype. I should drive over with a 100 cases next Black Friday and do IP trades out of my trunk
For this reason, I'd argue that it's no longer exclusively hyped here...but until this year, I'd say it was definitely a mad dash to get pumking....so strange.
Jeez, just about every "limited" beer is on the hype-train here in Chicago. Biggest one is Bourbon County. I'm not saying it's not hyped everywhere, but you can actually find it outside this area. On Black Friday if you're not in a line the night before/morning of you won't be able purchase it. Period. Sells out in minutes.
