Jester King to release Atrial Rubicite

I think most people in line this weekend (myself included) would pay an extra $4 bucks to get done a lot quicker.

 

Cash only tent, $20 a bottle.

Purchasing said bottle gets you the bottle, and a token.

Said token gets you $4 off at the taproom / merch table / other bottle tent / outdoor station...

Tokens could expire or not, JK's call... But if they didn't expire immediately, it would encourage people to come back on a calmer weekend if the lines gave them anxiety on that specific day.

 

That could be a plus.

 

The point is to make it as transactional as possible, no room for server and customer error. I don't need a volunteer or employee to worry about calculating $4 change per bottle. I hand you $20, you hand me beer, repeat and repeat until sold out. My time is worth more than that $4, I'd rather spend more on buying other jk bottles or buying beer on tap or buying pizza at Stanley's versus waiting in line. Even if I save an hour, it's more minutes I'm spending on spending versus taking up space.

 

That's why I stated, correct change only. It will provide a quick in and out. If they were to charge an extra convenience fee, then it should be made up with a complimentary pour or dollars off of swag.

 

Got in line at 12:15, got bottles at about 2:50. I think the special release tent could use at least another two ipads. Keep it the same, just more staff. If the line dies down, they can always become floaters and help out where needed, taproom or outdoor tent. Taking the time to explain certain rules about buying a bottle to the "non-BA" type of person will probably confuse them and deter then from buying more than a glass of beer. Cash only without an Atm on site wouldnt work. And if there was an atm, that would just be another line of people waiting that could be in line to purchase something. Good for us, but not beneficial to jester king. The long lines really limited my enjoyment of the brewery and the interaction with friends who were stuck in other parts of lines. The ipad transactions really don't take long, that system is pretty fast. (As long as you dont have a bullshit card that won't swipe then its your fault for breaking something you use every day, stop being lazy and order a new one)

 

It wouldn't be a surprise as the AR release announcement was posted with plenty of time in advance for people from DFW/Houston to show up. I'm sure anyone could scrounge up $20 with several days notice.

 

I want to thank the staff at jester king. They work in the heat. Dealing with the babies bitching, and were pleasant all day. Always great to see Nic smiling, shooting the shit with everyone. Of course things could be better, but they could also be much worse (0 atrial). Cheers to the staff that put in the hard work.

 

Certainly a logical solution. Anytime you see a line at a business you are looking at someone trying to spend $'s but can't. And certainly by extension people will leave spending less money than they would have otherwise. Of course lines are inevitable but a lot of I/O psychology research has gone into business strategies to either keep people in line happy (at a water park they have sprinklers to keep guests cool while they wait...and yes I'm totally advocating for JK to install Atrial sprinklers) and moving lines faster (airlines have pre checks, something Big Texas Beer Fest implemented for VIP). My examples are not exactly tailored to be solutions rather to suggest that almost all businesses have had to overcome similar issues and often they adopt novel solutions. Obviously Matt, you have some personal experience managing a queued up line.

 

Somehow, other breweries have cash only policies or CASH STRONGLY ENCOURAGED policies. Somehow they do it. I've been to releases at De Garde, Rare Barrel, Side Project, Alesmith, Cugar City, and more. I love Jester King, but they are by far the least efficient at bottle releases at the point of sale. I really wish @jesterkingbeer would talk to other popular breweries around the country about how they handle special releases. Side Project had a release Friday and managed to serve multiple bottles to 400+ people in less than an hour. That's at least twice as fast as Jester King today.

 

It seems most individuals here fail to realize that most of the people serving beer and selling bottles are volunteers. The tips from bottle and beer sales are an incentive to keep volunteering. Using a credit card makes this simple.

 

So does an additional couple of $1's or a 5.

 

I think a lot of the reason for the madness this weekend is the fact that there were "only" 2500 bottles and people panicked. There have been other releases with similar bottle counts (Atrial included) where people didn't come out en mass on Friday. I think people freaked and that is why it was so packed on Friday, which is usually a chill day. Then, word gets out that the majority of bottles sold Friday and that it's low on tap. This led to people lining up early on Saturday. When I was up there, I considered skipping the Atrial line and just getting bottles of Vernal or something.

I am both shocked and appalled at the fact that you left without even getting something else there. There was probably no one in the regular bottle line and you could have gotten a bottle of Jester King beer with Kumquats. KUMQUATS!!! It's the best citrus God ever created. And let's not forget what bottles JK has to offer from other breweries and no to mention Stanley's. And don't judge the lady with the baby, at least she didn't leave it in the car.

 

I think your partly right, people may have panicked but I also think a lot of it (most) has to do with craft beer growing in popularity. More and more people are drinking better beer and when a brewery, such as JK, puts out a beer like Atrial this is going to happen.

The interest, recognition, popularity and demand for breweries like JK is only going to increase. No offense to anyone new here but just glance at the join dates of people in the SW forum. That's why I made mention of how I think bottle shares (ie FT) will be bigger than anything we've ever seen by a large margin. When was the last "big" bottle share at a brewery that was advertised? 2 years ago?

Point being, this "problem" isn't going away and if something doesn't change with the way its handled then it will only get worse or stay the same. It's clear some people don't mind the lines, mules and limits while others do. Everyone has a choice to go or not. It boils down to JK's decision on whether or not they were satisfied with the way it was handled and if they feel the need to change anything. I'll guarantee whether they change something or not, the beer will still sell out in a timely fashion.

Signed,
Captain Obvious

 

I agree with everything you said, but you failed to mention the most important factor - the rise in beer trading. I heard more people talking about trading the beer than I ever have before. I believe this, more than anything, is driving the mania we're currently seeing, and if there's a huge turnout at the next FT release, it will be because people think they can trade those bottles for something else.

And there's nothing breweries can do about that - it's just the state of craft beer right now.

 

Sooo....who is going out to JK today? I am. And I will enjoy beers without the lines.

I am guessing all those people worried about trading won't be out there.

 

I

Great point. I actually thought of that afterwards but it was too late to edit. I know it's impossible to tell but I wonder how many people plan on drinking the bottle themselves or how many were just mules.

I'm not throwing stones at traders, I'm "guilty" but I do think pan handling for mules and soliciting people is over the top.

 

This.

All the complaining about line speed to me is just complaining. No one is making you stand in line. If you choose not to someone else will and all the bottles will be sold. Don't be upset with other people, jester king, or the process. You have the choice to stand in line or not.

 

What's the point of going?

 

I agree with the points about more ipads and a cash only line. Going into this weekend, I did not expect to see a line that stretched as long as it did. Previously, I had "only" seen the line go to around our front steps. In hindsight, I should have anticipated the larger turnout than normal. Next time around for a release like this, we'll have more ipads, tents, and a cash only line.

- Jeff