Jester King Strawberry Fermentation.

please no lottery, doesn't help out your most loyal customers. You tell me to sign up for the strawberry at 10am Saturday, and you'll be damn sure ill be at my computer waiting at 9:59.

Just like concert tickets, just like reservations to restaurants that require 2 month lead times..

A reserve society would be great, I'd buy into that immediately.

 

I am hoping strongly for a reserve society next year. I have set up a group of 3 people myself included who will take turns driving down for releases so we don't have to each drive each time, but with little bitty limits its still hardly worth it. If we coudl each sign up for a reserve society and go pick up beer 3-4 times a year I am 100% in.

 

Reserve Society would be kick ass.

 

EXACTLY. Anybody can sign up for a lottery. Very little dedication is required.

 

lotteries can hurt the regulars, however it is a very fair system to implement.

 

FIFY

Without being sold on any method, Internet sign-ups are a pretty good way to ensure that people know they're getting something if they're coming from out of town.
But being on a computer at a certain time doesn't guarantee that whoever gets bottles are the most loyal. Someone who's only had a few Jester King beers can sign up too. Same for a reserve society (whether or not you limit it to TX people). There are ways to vet people, but then more factors come into play then who signed up first.
Plus, some JK fans might not do the technology thing well. Give them a week to sign up for AR, it'll happen. Give them 2 minutes, not gonna happen.

I agree with rewarding loyalty, but if only loyal people get the special beer (or only people in TX), then the potential customer base of JK doesn't expand. I don't mean JK should expand anytime soon (to St. Arnold sized or just ABW sized), but just getting the name out more. And while it'd be nice for beers to be set aside for those who live farther away, I doubt JK has the room to hold multiple few hundred bottle batches for a year (maybe half a year like AR batch 1).

 

Its beer. No one "deserves" it any more than anyone else, regardless of how "loyal" they are (who and how do we decide loyalty, anyway?)

Any system is going to be imperfect, but I think the idea that JK should somehow allow people to store the beer there until its convenient for them to come and get it is ridiculous outside of a Reserve Society, and is solely for the benefit of the buyer, at an inconvenience to the brewer.

A brewery should be able to say: here's the beer we're releasing, here's the day(s), here's the method to sign up/buy a ticket/whatever. If all that works for you, you sign up. If not, you drink other beer.

 

I love the fact that they allowed pick up over the course of two weeks. Great job to JK for that.

As far as the lottery goes, it's probably the most anti-mule method there is out there, and I'm a fan of it even if I don't get a bottle. I understand that people want more than one bottle, but for fuck sake, let other people have a shot at drinking something. And a reserve society wouldn't work well anyway because I'm sure there would be more than 100 members, and someone would get left out in the cold.

...too much entitlement in the SW forum.

 

FTFY

 

I'm for whatever method allows them to grow and eventually increase volume of these beers. I was able to drive down for Atrial, but it's doubtful that I will be able to do the same multiple times in a year. I'm worried about the availability of Funk Metal now. Straight profit for them to do brewery releases, and this weekend demonstrated how many people will show up.

 

Well, except that I can sign up everyone I know for the lottery to better my chances of getting a bottle.

 

i'll sign up 400, lol.

I've come accustomed to hard reservation systems where you had to be quickest to checkout after selecting certain options (Next in Chicago) or calling upwards of 300-400 times to get a reservation (Alinea, French Laundry, Per Se).

Going above and beyond to get what you want and are willing to do to get an outcome are just things normal people probably wont do.

Loyalty is just that, I will buy at one of everything Jester King makes. I was out at the brewery when they first introduced the pay per pour system, I was there for the AR release and I almost always go to the brewery when I'm in Austin. Does that make me better or make a case for why I should get the bottles? Nope, but we've already established it's hard to quantify "loyalty", but what I will do is go above and beyond what a lottery system can and will offer me.

 

Lets be real here. Nobody likes their chances when they're thrown into a lottery. As a dedicated fan, I would rather have the opportunity to earn a bottle, whether that means being one of the first people to sign up for one online, or being one of the first people in line at the brewery.

 

Sorry, didn't think I was claiming I was entitled by saying a Reserve Society would be better for me. I know I am not entitled to the damn beer, as evidenced by the fact I drove 16 hours this weekend so I could get it. I am just saying what would be more convenient for me.

Most convenient for me would be any system that allows someone one else to pick up my beer and send it too me or for JK to hold it for me. Ya know, the "screw all those other guys within 2 hours, lets help out the poor sap in El Paso," release system. I am down for that program if someone develops it.

Look, I am familiar with brewery only releases. The horrors stories you all heard about KBS and CBS days? Yeah, I was in line for those. I have done DLD, I have waiting outside of Jolly Pumpkin to get all their reserve releases. I have no problem jumping through all the hoops. I just like it when the hoops are made easier, hence why I like a reserve society in my case.

 

They should have a loyalty contest, like for instance I can take a picture right now of me holding bottles of Whiskey Rodeo, Beer Geek, OG Black Metal, Thrash Metal, Weasel Rodeo, Atrial Rubicite and Viking Metal.

Of course i may need more hands but still.

 

Or who took a picture with Jeff while drinking AR!

I win!