Opinions on "Muling" Groups

Your buddies are the wrong people to get the beer. OP wants to get the beer.

 

Got it. Well put.

 

Nice attempt at comprehension. Sorry your inference is utterly incorrect.

BTW, way to only quote part of my quote. I guess quoting the entire post would have made your comments look even more ridiculous.

 

Acording to the poll ,the I'm Ok with it and The I could care less's for the win

 

The reason for paragraph 2 is to attempt to deflect your reason for typing paragraph 1.

 

depends. Are we talking about a group who gets to the event early, waits in line, and takes the specified allocation? If so, I have no problem as those people waited in line and got the same as everyone esle by playing by the rules.

If we are talking about one guy waiting in line and then his friends joining him later (whether by sleeping at a hotel, coming from their house, or using blankets/chairs to hold their place), or groups/individuals cutting back inline to get more than one allocation, then yes I think that shit should stop.

 

This here I fully agree with!

 

You gotta work on those inference skills my man.

The whole "if you don't like it you must be butthurt about not getting whales" response is played out. Try something original.

 

Keep on deflecting, it's amusing...

 

This is the greatest 1st world problem thread ever! People arguing over how much beer someone should/shouldn't get....

 

Bitching about meaningless shit that won't change because someone posted something on an Internet forum aside...

This guy knows the value of "Ah, fuck it". The simple things are always the best; I'd rather spend a relatively small amount of money on a beer I know I love and can easily acquire, than a large amount of money on something that can easily flop.

 

If everyone plays by the rules and only buys the allotment then who are you to judge? Supply and Demand.

 

okay lets calm down a little.

Hugonaut, I think we agree with the whole "early bird gets the worm" and I doubt kzoobrew disagrees.

His point is more of the types of groups that tend to do this are typically the newer group of whale chasers who HAVE to try everything. I completely understand where he is coming from.

Take CFH release. In 2012, it was not that bad to get a bottle. Trade value sky rockets and next year there are a shit ton of people who had never been to the place before camping out since midnight. If you weren't there by 5am, you were SOL. Some of the people there brought a bunch of friends who had no idea about this or other beers. Hell a lot of people left once they got their ticket for bottles and didn't even stay for the event. Overall, I have no qualm with these people, though I wish it wasn't like this. They (I assume, I was so far back in line I couldn't be sure) played by the rules as I mentioned in my previous post. Yeah it would have been nice if the 2013 release was like the 2012 release without all the whale hunters, but such is life.

The people I was pissed at and tried calling out were a group of line cutters who used a game of Cards Against Humanity as an excuse to cut. Plus the person who supposedly got back and line and multiple tickets. Those guys are assholes, and the ones I know, I lost all respect for (mean while, I saw some people I know who were up there for the game of CAH and refused tickets as it wasn't their spot in line, I have mad respect for them and no problem opening any beer I own with them).

 

Of course I agree that muling in these terms are everything that's soulless and wrong. I don't feel that all muling groups should be lumped into this category, as I know for a fact that this isn't true, which is what kzoobrew's assertion was.

 

MEH... there are so many beers on the shelves that are outstanding, i don't even give a shit about missing out on all the rarz. You know how much more beer I can get buying shelf beers than $20-$30 limited bombers/750's? It's pretty fucking ******ed to spend $30 on the equivalent of 2 beers IMO. That beer better give me a reach around.

 

Not quite the same question but I think there's a more important factor than the number of the group - the extent to which the group actually wants the beer.

If you have 8 friends that love beer and join you in your whale watching, that's great. What difference does it make if you hang out together or get your allotment separately?

If you have 8 friends that don't actually want your silly $20 beer but will help you get around the bottle count anyway, then you're kind of a douche.

 

I think some clarification is needed here because this description is not what I would consider "muling". In the scenario you just described, it sounds like you and your two buddies are already beer enthusiasts who are getting the beer to send to other beer enthusiasts who then send back in return.

I realize that fits the description offered by the OP, but...

...to me, the concept of "muling" is more of a beer enthusiast bringing any warm body that they can get to go with them to a release--i.e., people who couldn't care less about the beer they are there to get, but came only so that their beer enthusiast friend could get more than what he is allowed to purchase by himself. The reason they are "mules" is because their only connection to the beer being purchased is that someone brought them along to "carry" the extra beers that the enthusiast couldn't "carry" himself.

The first scenario involves people who love beer going to get beer and sharing it with other people who love beer. Sounds reasonable. The second scenario involves ONE person who loves beer using other people who don't care to game the system for his own personal benefit. Sounds less reasonable.

 

I'm opposed to any kind of hoarding. An extra bottle or two for a friend is fine, but skirting a limit system to get a bunch more bottles is shitty.

And for those who say "I'm sending this to my trading partner! I'm spreading the wealth!" I say this: you are hoarding a beer that is sold in my area to ship to another guy out of state. How is that spreading the wealth if people in my area can't get any?

 

Guess you're not getting invited to Bruery Hoarders Society next year...

 

Don't forget the whole reason for mules in the first place. Breweries purposefully create scarcity around certain products in their line ups so that their is a mystique around the beer and the brewery itself. This carries on long past the beer has gone off the shelf for past and future enthusiasts.

Now I won't pretend that some of these "whales" are easy and cheap to produce ( we all no better) But the fact remains breweries aren't exactly rushing to make multiple batches. They would much rather keep that rare mystique around a particular product, it serves them better in the long run what with hype and all.

Frankly I'm a sucker for it and I willingly fork over large sums of money if for nothing else then to say I've tried it. Is it dumb and wasteful? Maybe, but I enjoy the hunt as much as the next person and subsequently sharing the story and the beer it makes the whole process that much more enjoyable.

As for mules and line cutters etc. I've found you need to be equally as devious or dedicated to beat them, and this just adds another level of challenge to the whole process, however frustrating it may be. Though in short, they are scoundrels...

It's a fact of life though. I can at least take comfort in however ridiculous I may be in my obsession with whale hunting knowing that there is always someone more ridiculous than me.