Holy Mountain Midnight Still

Not always. Sometimes they show up at other locations/events, on draft. Pretty neat when that happens.

(As an example, I'm out in the burbs west of Portland proper, and Coffee Cinnamon BBomb showed up at a good place not too far from me last week. No, that isn't the same as getting bottles, but hey, I was stoked to try the beer.)

 

Personally I don't understand the angst over the line and the jackasses who chose to stand in them. But I am from Chicago so maybe I'm immune. I also don't have a neckbeard so maybe I'm only half a jackass.

I made the choice to drive up from Tacoma and make a day of it. I have a wife and young daughter so my beer events are few and far between and I have to choose them wisely to get clearance from the tower. I also would prefer that they still had the releases on Friday but they chose not to consult me (what the hell?!?).

The folks at HM did a fantastic job with the release. I was there at 10, but as was stated earlier, you could have gotten there close to open and still grabbed some bottles. That being said, I had a great time in line (Cookies!! Seriously, that was a nice touch), met a lot of new friends, enjoyed several great beers on tap and then hung out a bit after with said new friends at another location. The line moved really quick and the HM staff were friendly and engaging even though you know they had been working their assess off. A number of them had been in Tacoma at E9 the night before, hanging out and kissing babies for E9s release of the Five of Swords and they couldn't have been nicer.

As for the beer. I was prepared to be underwhelmed, not because the HM offerings I have had not been good but rather the opposite. They have for the most part been excellent so the bar was set pretty high. The beer really is excellent. I haven't cracked a bottle yet but the draft was very smooth and drinkable for the ABV. I found it to be a little creamy even. The barrel blends really worked well. I had also heard that the beer was very lightly carbed but the draft I had had excellent carb.

Additionally, I thought the Fellowcraft was insanely good. Where's a line that I can stand in for that one? I'm ready.

 

The first batch was actually bottled, but only available through The Masonry.

 

That's awesome! Would love too see it come around again.

 

It's the the only HM bottle I didn't manage to get, only knew about it from Don't Drink Beer.

 

this weekend does not work, but i won't hesitate to hit you up in the future when i'm north of seattle!

 

From one curmudgeon to another: You have not been doing this wrong.

 

I happened to be in town this weekend from Portland visiting an old college buddy and hitting up hard liver. I decided to go directly to HM on Friday afternoon and go through the draft lineup then as not to deal with too much of a zoo on Saturday. I got a seat right at the bar - the staff was super friendly and their offerings were really solid.

I also don't really enjoy beer lines anymore these days, so we decided to arrive right at noon, go into the taproom to get a draft pour, and after 30 minutes of letting it warm up and enjoying it, got in line as it got reasonably short. We waited 30-40 mins and the bottles apparently ran out within about a dozen or so people after us, so we timed it well. I'm generally with m4ttj0nes about the beer, though. One thing is confirmed now, though - there is rare beer in Washington!

 

If I had known my views would be so woefully misinterpreted, I would have taken even more care in their expression.

But I am only-too-happy to let this go now, if it means avoiding further polemic, which no one really wants to see (and I do not wish to participate in). I stand by what I wrote, but I also see very little trace of it in what you did. If you truly require answers to all your questions, shoot me a message. We can hash out behind the scenes, where the posturing and gamesmanship matters less.

For now I'll simply address your last query, which seems important to answer publicly, and gets to the heart of it all. A "cooler" way to have done this release, in my mind, would have been any other than the one chosen, which absolutely required people to wait in line for a few hours on a particular day at a particular time in a particular location just to have any chance at all of getting a bottle of this beer. This was foreseeable...and also avoidable. Indeed, it could have been avoided in an infinite number of ways, none of which, I might add, would have ensured anyone who literally could not, or willingly would not, go on Saturday the chance to try the beer; but at least it would have given them some other potential options if they were diligent or really determined. And it might, furthermore, have reduced the extent to which those able and willing to go on Saturday (an "elite" group, by one definition of the term, mind you) capitalized on their investment of time and energy by picking up the maximum possible allotment, whether to drink or (if I'm being cynical) largely trade. This beer was rare enough without having to sell it in such a way it would inevitably be all gone in less than two hours.

 

'On-Site consumption only' bottles might solve a few problems for those who don't like crowds. Seriously though let the brewery do what they want, it's their brewery. Nothing wrong with lineups for a popular product many people happen to like.

Now more importantly, who wants to share a bottle with me?

 

I would argue that this is just the point, and that those critical of "event"-style releases, which are effectively advertised as one's only shot of getting a particular beer, and thereby invite (nay, encourage) some of the worst human tendencies, hasten the arrival of the end of our Golden Era. It may be inevitable regardless of any efforts designed to halt it, but can you blame us for trying? "Rage, rage, against the dying of the light," and all that...Because Beer Matters, right?

No one, least of all myself, is blaming HM for making great beer. If we are blaming them, it's because they are somewhat naively enabling the regrettable craft beer scene trends we see prevailing elsewhere to also gain a greater foothold here. I have seen you say before that one of Fremont's missions is to "offer great beer that is not so hard to find for the regular person." Forgive me for encouraging one of our other great local breweries to try and follow such an estimable path a little more...

 

People voicing their opinions is somehow stopping them from doing what they want?

 

Again, defining people that choose not to go or are unable to go as an "elite group" is weak sauce. By that logic virtually any group is elite. People that chose NOT to go are elite. People that choose to chew bubblegum are elite. Elite implies an inherent superiority in terms of ability or quality. This doesn't do that in any meaningful way. If you want to say your ability to wait in line on a Saturday is inherently inferior to theirs or the quality of your line waiting is worse ... well, ha ha.

"any other than the one chosen."

Let's run with that.

- A club which required a membership and a hefty up front fee would have been cooler. (But members of the club now DO have an inherent advantage ... and we've seen elsewhere how people hate speculative clubs ... i.e. Wolves & People)
- A 1 PP limit where they split the allocation over 2 or 3 days (selling 1/2 each day - and then if you were there when they ran out on day 1, come back tomorrow) would have been cooler? (But 1 PP is lame people will say - then I can't drink one and age one or give one to my aged grandfather that loves BA stouts? And what if I work both days of the weekend - I'm not part of the elite that has weekends off!)
- Pricing it at $35 a bottle so that it stuck around longer because of pricing to "supply / demand" would have been cooler. (Pricing so only the rich elite can afford this beverage that was once the tipple of the working man?!)
- A surprise release on a Wednesday would have been cooler. (Ugh, I work evenings ... and I wasn't elite enough to happen to be there on a Wednesday or to be able to find a baby sitter on short notice.)
- An online ticket sale that allows proxies would have been cooler. (But I work in a hospital and don't have access to computers during the allotted time and I don't follow facebook or instagram so I didn't know and the site crashe and, hell, look at all these mules from California?!?)

I'm not trying to be a jerk or single you out but "any other" seems a woefully inadequate answer. It's non-specific and puts the burden back on them. Next time if they do it differently and you're still displeased you can say "geez, there were literally an infinitude of other options and they still picked a bad one!" Pitfalls abound left and right. Your imaginary diligent and determined person had about a good a shot in this scenario as any and far better than in many.

 

The brewers at HM are living most every homebrewer's dream: Make any beer you want, in any style with little or no concern about repeatablility, and have people pay you for doing it.

Gotta love it!

 

DO people hate speculative clubs? Or is that your point? My impression is that there's nothing craft beer fans love more than an advantage over other craft beer fans when it comes to limited bottles. I don't recall Wolves & People having any difficulty selling a bunch of $300 memberships long before they were in any position to brew a drop of beer.

 

There were mixed feelings in that thread. All I'm saying is there still would have been ground for someone to feel put upon.

 

You'll never have a solution that everyone likes. Clubs are tough for me because that's a large amount of money up front and my wife and I talk over big purchases before pulling the trigger. I also don't like proxies, I'll never understand why breweries allow it. [shrug]

And stop comparing what Fremont does now to what HM does. Fremont makes probably 1,000 times more beer than Holy Mountain is capable of. Fremont announces beer releases on social media, they announce the time and the price and the bottle limits. Exact same thing as what HM does. The reason it's not a shit show is because they make a ton more.

Like I said earlier, there wasn't nearly as much vitriol toward or accusations thrown at Reubens and their BA Imperial Stout releases the last few years. Why?

I need to stop responding.

 

4 bottle limit??????

 

Context? Probably had a friend or spouse or someone stand in line with them.

 

FTFY.