Maine Brewing Company - Dinner

Ugh, I always go up to Maine for Thanksgiving. So now I'm away from my local packy for the BCBS variants release and a weekend early for the Dinner release. Bottle share at Target on Black Friday anyone?

 

Via email today from MBC...

December Dinner Release!
Here at Maine Beer Company, we are gearing up for the holiday season (and our 4th release of our double IPA, Dinner)! A lot of you have witnessed the madness here in Freeport during the previous releases. Some things worked while some things did not. First, we cannot thank you all enough for your feedback and comments surrounding the releases. You are the ones taking off from work, organizing plans for carpooling, renting hotel rooms, sleeping in your cars and bartering with friends to help you get your hands on some Dinner. Second, we know that waiting around in a line, especially during December, is no fun (although inevitable in this case) but we have been searching for a way to make this as exciting as possible. So after a lot of back and forth, we have come up with (what we hope to be) a better way to accommodate you folks and show our appreciation for your support of what we do here.

Release Details:
Saturday, December 6th
1 case limit per person
$8/bottle (12 bottles in a case)
We accept Mastercard, Visa & Discover - and of course, cash - but no checks
This beer is a brewery only release and will not be distributed anywhere.
Doors will open at 8:00am!

Logistics:
The line for Dinner will be formed in the back of the brewery, at the bottom of the ramp. You will not be entering through the Tasting Room, however you will be exiting through that door. We will make sure that there is adequate signage to make sure that you know where you're headed! At 7:15, we will open the doors to the brewery and start to funnel the line inside to get as many people out of the cold as we can. We will have complimentary coffee from Coffee By Design (and will do our best to have enough for everyone), as well as some breakfast goods.
Please make sure to have your ID with you! We will check your ID while you are waiting in line and will stamp your hand so we can send you on your way through the Tasting Room to purchase your beer. Once you're up in the Tasting Room, you will not be able to sample any of the beers on draft - we are only opening up for bottle sales. You are, however, more than welcome to buy any other beer that you would like (we will have plenty of Lunch in stock, too)! If you are looking to have Dinner on draft, we will open the Tasting Room for sampling as soon as we finish selling the cases of Dinner. At the earliest, this will be noon.
As soon as we start funneling people into the brewhouse, we will let everyone know how many cases of Dinner we have for sale. We will update everyone as the cases dwindle. For those at the back of the line, we will let you know whether or not you'll be able to get a case. It will be one case per person, no exceptions!
Alright - there you have it - Dinner Release #4! As the date get closers, we will keep you folks posted. Thank you again for the continued support and looking forward to having you all on December 6th!

Cheers!

The MBC Crew

 

It cool they realized that they shouldn't be doing samples and flights during a big bottle release with that small space.

 

How fast did this sell out last time with the 2 case limit? Not really looking to stand in the cold at 8am.

 

Have to remember the last sale was on the Beer Camp weekend the Friday before actually. This may not be quite such a zoo this time.

 

I think the release being on a Saturday will probably get the number of people up. Maybe not higher than the Beer Camp weekend but I'm not going in expecting a non zoo-like atmosphere.

 

So how early will people start lining up? I have done the Lawson's & Alchemist releases and 2 hr early was good. Any suggestions for a time to arrive?

 

Well I was figuring about 2 hours early would be a safe time myself. I think a lot will depend on the weather. Still praying for snow!

 

Lining up at 5:15am seems like ridiculous over kill. I'd imagine the batch size to be in line with the last few releases. Do you need to show up 2 hours early to be one of the first 300 people in line? I'm highly doubting that. Also 2 hours early for the Alchemist releases is also totally unnecessary.

 

Agree, with a strict 1 case limit at the ass crack of dawn in a Maine December... all you are going to get at 5:15 are the crazies. Based on MBC's email, sounds like they except Dinner to last until noon at the earliest.

 

That may be even stupider than the "Enter Your Birth Date" section for logging on to beer websites.

 

Why very few people realized that was a humorous, folksy way to just say it was a three case limit is beyond me. There were no stipulations on buying 3 cases.

 

If you think about it realistically...Doesn't lining up 2 hours early at 5AM on a Saturday sound almost sickening...as in to an outsider if you told them this they would think you have an alcohol problem haha? (By no means do I mean anything negative about this, I've waited in plenty of release lines) But honestly, the freaky lengths we all go to get beer.

In any event I would say 1 hour at a minimum if you want to be somewhat at the beginning. 2 hours would probably guarantee you a good spot. I hear people when they say it's a Saturday and will be a zoo. But you would be surprised how many people can be easily dissuaded to stay in bed on a Saturday when the temps drop into the 20's with wind. Lets be honest here, you're not kicking back in a lawn chair sucking back iced coffees in shorts and flip flops this time of year. I bet the main crowd isn't too big until roughly a half hour before the release. Also even more interesting will be the first person who arrives will most likely sit in their car and wait until the next person shows up. Then jump out of their car and run to be the first in line. But at that point who really deserves the first spot? I think it should be a Ro Sham Bo....

 

LOL, I agree. There is no way in hell that I would ever stand in line for that length of time for any beer. There is so much great stuff available these days that you can just walk into a package store and pull off the shelf. And afterall, "it's just beer."

More for the rest, I guess.

 

Dinner is good, and I do hope people score that really want it.

 

I enjoyed the first release when it was a 4 bottle limit....lasted 3 days....and stayed on tap for over a week. Lower bottle limits would dissuade the lines but I get the feeling they enjoy the hype around this beer.

 

Bingo. The shelf beers are starting to collect dust, even lunch in quite a few places. They need the push and they know it. They could have gotten a similar push by moving to 4 packs, but that's not their style. They make good beers but are one of the shittiest breweries at marketing themselves to try to hit that coveted luxury craft price point. Actually can't believe the price they have set dinner at. They are looking for some heat, and to move volume.

 

While I personally have never seen Lunch collecting dust, I typically pass on it as I don't find it worth the price. Every now than I pick one up to see if I have changed my mind but not very often. Dinner, now that is a beer I find worth the price and the effort. To my tastes, it is one of the best beers that my money can buy.

 

Blows my mind that people will wait hours for certain beers yet I can walk into Trillium on a Saturday afternoon and in 15 minutes be out of there with beer that's better than 99% of what's out there .....

 

In all fairness, you can walk in & out of Maine Beer Co. in minutes also. Just not with Dinner, apparently.