New Glarus (2022)

I haven’t met someone with a discover card since, like, the 90s or early 00’s.

 

Guessing you mean Discover Card's HQ. Yeah, I know a few old co-workers on their payroll.

To coin a phrase, "Not dead yet."

 

How are the two new R&D's tasting that are released today? Anyone cracked one yet?

 

Is black currant around yet? Anyone try it?

 

It's there today, but not on tap.

 

Didn't see it at my local shop today, dunno about Woodman's etc.

 

Sorry, to clarify, it was at NG's depot today; dunno about distro.

 

Just opened a bottle of Black Currant; it's very good. It's more of a fruit beer than a sour, which I guess is one of the main distinguishers of the Thumbprints, but it's fairly tart, not nearly as sweet as some of the recent fruit beers, and has a really nice purple color. I'd say it's closer to the rotating fruit beers than the stuff we've been seeing from the Thumbprint lineup.

 

Has anyone been to the beer depot this week to know if they have the new R&Ds on the floor?

 

Anyone got a quick rundown of what available at the depot? Afaik there's no menu posted up anywhere. Are the 22 pilsner 4 packs still there?

 

Haha solid! I hope that company goes to hell. Years ago I had one of their cards that I forgot about. There was a $2 recurring charge from someplace and they didn't bother inform me that my payment was overdue by 60 days until day 61, at which point they filed a report to the credit reporting agency. You couldn't have let me know like 2 days before and not ruin my credit score over $2? Screw you, Discover.

 

Can't speak for this week, but I (very regrettably) didn't see 22 Pils at all Thurs/Fri. But I wasn't there first thing in the morning, so maybe it sold out.

Black Currant showed up (I think) on Friday, otherwise the non R&D stuff was pretty typical year-round, and I think...one or two of the fruit Thumbprints, and maybe the Mocha Berry Bock?

In terms of R&D, all I saw Thurs/Fri were the 2 new releases and Fruit Melange. The latter was running low (at least based on what was out) when I left on Fri.

Sorry I can't speak to this week, although hopefully they'll be a little slower given that it's the week after both a release AND Great Taste.

Side note--I totally get why they did it, but it was pretty disappointing to see what a great taplist they had for the Taste, and compare that to what they had on tap on-site, which was essentially nothing you can't find in a gas station.

 

I didn't really fully believe this Discover situation. I don't think I've ever had a card that was carried by Discover, so surely a widely accepted credit card would still work, and I tried my credit card on my way back home this weekend anyway. Never in my life have I seen a Mastercard rejected like that. Whether traveling internationally, or in all kinds of shitholes stateside, as long as the place wasn't cash only I was fine. That's just super weird, and I'm honestly surprised that's legal at a grocery store.

 

Every location decides what cards to accept. It has only been in the last 3ish years that Sam’s Club has accepted Visa. Before that, Mastercard (and maybe American Express??? Don’t think so) and discover only. It all has to do with negotiated fees. Visa wanted more money, and Sam’s said FU. Well, eventually, after decades, they gave in. For a period of time, it was a real problem that Sam’s wouldn’t accept visa, because that was all we had (and who has discover????).

 

Perfect! Thanks for the breakdown.

 

Lol. We warned you from our hard earned experience! I learned my lesson the hard way when I had a load of beer at the register only to be told they don't take credit cards. I had to run back to the car to ask my wife for cash...

 

Three places I have never shopped: Sam's, Costco, and Woodman's.

I tend to stay local and small, even when traveling, so I guess I never run into this issue. Honestly, it never occurred to me that there were places that limited the types of cards you could use. I thought credit cards were credit cards, at least in the year of our Lert 2022, which I guess is supremely naive for a damn near 40 year old. But this is coming from someone who has absolutely no idea why anyone in their right mind would want an AmEx card, so take that as you may.

Luckily I had alternative means to pay, but it added a good two minutes to the awkward self-checkout line experience, particularly as I tried to balance an unweidly amount of booze on the LEAVE YOUR ITEMS HERE scale. Hilariously enough, though, the guy in the self-checkout immediately behind me was going through the exact same dilemma at the literal exact same time, except he completely left the store without any of his beer. I wonder how often this happens...it seems a bit ridiculous. Would they really be losing more money than they'd make if they paid the MC or Visa fees? I doubt it. Maybe they should offer incentives for preferred card carriers instead of penalties for non-preferred.

 

I haven’t looked into this for 3-4 years, but the last time I researched CC and perks, one of the basic Amex cards (even taking into account the annual fee) paid a higher return than near every other card (if not every other card) out there. For normal people that don’t travel for work. If you travel, then you get into all sorts of gray areas, because hotel cards or airline cards tend to pay you back hand-over fist if you use the in-kind rewards and don’t ask for cash. IF you travel enough.

*Also, I am discounting any type of interest associated with cards. I pay mine off each month. If you aren’t, you probably aren’t “shopping” for the card with the best value of “perks”.