How Does Your Local Beer Store Sell Rare Beers???

I'd just throw 'em on the shelf and let nature take its course. Releasing rare beers without fanfare will wind up rewarding your regular customers.

 

How do my locals handle it? Ha! They don't. As in they don't got any, ever.

Realizing you have a hundred people (or more) and only 10 bottles any distribution system is going to leave some folks unhappy. I wouldn't blame you for saving them all for your best customers.

 

The bottle shop I go to will release those limited bottles two ways. One way is to not announce it on social media. When people approach the checkout to pay for whatever they came in for they will be told about something limited that came in and be offered a bottle to buy at their discretion. The second way is to just put the beer out in the open when it comes in and let people buy it. Additionally there are numerous times where the owner has told me he doesn't save a bottle for himself.

It's pretty cool when you walk into the store and walk past something rare, do a double-take, and excitedly pick it up.

 

Both through a Beer Club and spontaneously putting it on the shelves.

Basically if we get two cases, with Case #1 we put it on the shelf with a limit of 1 (the register notified them if they tried to buy multiples, or we would only put one bottle on the shelf at a time and just keep replacing it so everyone thought they got the last one).

75% of Case #2 would be for our Beer Club members (regular customers), we would send out an email blast to all members. Based on how much money they spent in the store, they would be given 1-X entries into a random drawing for a chance to purchase one. The remaining 25% would remain in the cellar to be aged, and would randomly be announced up to a year later through email to our Beer Club members in the same give away fashion.

 

It doesn't matter what you do, you usually can't win in trying to make everyone happy.

If I was you I would figure out a way to reward your most loyal customers, that's the best advice I can give you.

 

this is probably not helping your cause...

 

One thing that would make a lot of people happy; don't release rare beers (or at least half of them) until after 5-5:30pm when people with 8-5 jobs actually have the opportunity to get them.

 

One of my shops does an email list and sends out notices when they get something in. Then it is first come first serve. Another shop just puts it In the front cooler and let's it go. Regular customers know to check the cooler. I don't have a problem with either of these methods.

 

My store typically does one of three options (listed below). It seems people always complain regardless of which path the store goes, so there probably isn't a great answer. It's probably best just to always mix it up and keep it random, depending on how many cases you get of the rare beer.

1) Keep the rare beer hidden, sell a small limit per person to whoever asks about it specifically or about what rare beer you have.

2) Sets it out in a specific section near the counter where people can come to look at what rare beer has recently come out. Limited basis.

3) Sets it on the shelf in a random area, so the people who actually shop for more than just rare beer can get a pleasant surprise.

They also do an option 4, which obviously gets a ton of criticism where they only get 1 case of something very limited in distro and sell the bottles to only the VERY regular customers, which leads them to answering "no we didn't get that in this year" to all of the not as regular customers.

 

Why do they need to appreciate the rarity though? As long as they're buying! haha

 

Unfortunately, in many locations the truck chasers buy it all before the regular customers even stop by.

 

Most of my local mom & pops post on social media and take holds. The local total wines seem to hold things arbitrarily behind the counter and you just sort of need to know when things come in, and ask about them. Not sure which is best really.

No judgment pro/con but I do know several locals that make it a point to not allocate really limited bottles for their employees. But I can see the debate on both sides for that...

 

Announce when you get it on social media and just put it out. Saves people from calling the store 24/7 around the expected release date, and it's the most fair way for everyone to have a shot at it.

 

Generally the places around here announce the beers on social media, usually Facebook. They set limits. Usually the rare beers are released on a certain day of the week, usually Thursday.

 

From what I've seen they just toss it on the shelves or in the cooler and sell them at bottle limits, with higher prices. Modulates the demand for it to some degree.

 

Usually just behind the counter, 1 bottle limit, first come first serve.