Other Half Brewing July 2017

I love OH because to me, they're not your every day every other "juice bomb" (god I can't stand that term). And they're the closest brewery to me (30-35 minutes by bus). I'm in Bay Ridge, there's no way I'm heading to Williamsburg or any other north Brooklyn neighborhood for beer, just sucks that the place closest to me caters to resellers.

 

Just out of curiosity, would people be as upset if there was lots of reselling but without the insane markup? The reason I ask is because w/o it, many people, myself included what not have the opportunity to try much OH beer (just to be clear, I don't love the culture and have never sold -or traded for that matter- any beer).

 

exactly it's "the other half" of craft beer enthusiasts that are making this scene look extremely ugly and it sucks my local brewery is catering to it. like i said, they do keg beers which means at least i don't have to look far for it on draft but then im paying a premium.

 

And Treehouse and other breweries dont go after these ppl reselling their product online?

 

Draft OH is not really an option near me. There's one place I know of that gets decent supply of OH kegs but it's like $10 for an 8 ounce of their Amarillo IPA. Not complaining on the beer itself but I'd rather have cans at that price.

 

I think the 2 main problems with selling, at least in my opinion are 1) It means people are going to buy the full 3 cases (Maybe more if they bring a mule) because they're going to turn a profit on it, which means less beer for those that will be drinking or trading that beer. And 2) Someone is less likely to trade if they can flip it for a profit, leaving them with just a 4pk or so for themselves which they now won't trade.

If you can't tell I get most of my beer through trade. I'll buy some stuff, drink most of it, then trade for things I can't get. I've traded for TH, monkish, tired hands, and by far the hardest thing to trade for has been Other Half. That's just my experience but I'm sure someone else may feel differently

 

Another thing I have noticed a lot more at OH in the past few months are dudes walking & filming the length of the line on their phones while people in line shout "LINE LIFE!" and give the camera the finger.

WTF is "Line Life" and how do I end it?

 

Other Half customers definitely seem to play up the fact that they are waiting in line more than people that wait in line at other breweries. I have also def seen Other Half themselves use the term "Line Life"

 

Ask Lorenzo the Beer Cat

 

I think about it like this - Remember before streaming TV, people would all be in front of the tv as soon as an episode aired on live cable? And now we just watch it whenever it's convenient for US? Other Half must realize there are a lot of people who would love to pick up 3, 4, maybe even a case of beer on a sunday at 5pm, or a Wednesday after work, without waiting in lines. Not having this be a usual option might be hurting their business. But as has been said here, they either a) don't have much refrigerated space to store beer for days or b) prefer things sellout quickly to keep a "hyped" image rolling, or a combination of the 2.

I think the hype plays most heavily into it as people post their "hauls" on instagram with their cool labeled beers, with the beer poured with absolutely no head on it. It's just beer people!

 

They probably can't do much once the beer is sold. However, Tree House sets low limits in order to spread things out. They do a better job than anyone at moving the line quickly. Line bullshit (getting drunk, trading, cutting, etc.) is generally not tolerated.

It's a completely different world than your typical other half release.

 

little out of the loop on this, does lorenzo have a bad rep?

 

Lorenzo's owner was on here the other day defending Lorenzo and his haulz habits

 

Eh, I wouldn't say bad rep but he's just another Instagram OH line tool.

 

It's just the fact that in the beginning, their whole thing was that Brooklyn hasn't had a brewery open in x amount of years and how Brooklyn/Manhattan needs a brewery. So they cater to out of towners who resell their product.

Doesn't really sound like a local business to me.

 

Yea, that stuff is super sad. I suppose most of those who use the "Line Life" term derive a portion of their sense of self-worth from their acquisition and consumption of rare beer. For those who have appropriated the "Life Life," I imagine that their weekly spot in line has also become part of what they relish about beer in general. For those hours leading up to 10am on Saturday morning, they can take pride in knowing that their dedication and commitment to beer fandom is on display for all to see. Like a fancy sports car or a swanky suit, for those few hours, their spot in line is their shiny status symbol. Boasting about it on social media is just another way to share that symbol with the broader community, and the likes/comments that follow confirm the line-livers' (no pun intended...) sense that this status is something of which they should be proud.

Of course, the above is actually a very depressing vision of the craft beer community. To think that a majority of those who wait in line at Other Half are compensating for emptiness elsewhere in their lives is quite sad. I began to realize this a few months after "getting into" the hobby and going to a few can releases. For many (though not all), getting the beer was more about "winning" in the game of craft beer vs. experiencing something well-crafted, flavorful, and highly drinkable. I do believe that some of those who fall into the former category are blissfully unaware of how their "dedication" appears to those outside of the protective insulation of the community. Heck, I've even heard some (in this very thread, IIRC) express their willingness to line up and wait for upward of 4 hours in a self-righteous manner, as though waiting for hazy IPA to "support my local brewery" and "make sure to hook up my trading partners" is somehow a morally praiseworthy action. But whether taken to that degree or not, I've been very off-put by the degree of competitiveness and pride that some people bring to drinking beer, something I've always thought of as a fun, largely ego-less social activity.

As someone who almost never buys more than one 4-pack of an OH beer (biking back to Bushwick with a case of beer is not fun) and enjoys sleeping in on Saturday mornings, I have felt quite a bit of disgruntlement at those who insist on lining up early and purchasing cases at a time. But I've learned to look beyond that instinct and recognize that some of these people probably have rather significant issues in their personal lives. Whether it be alcohol addiction/dependence (something rarely talked about on these forums...), an uninspiring social existence, or a deflated sense of self-worth, the value that beer acquisition and consumption (and the resultant status imparted on them by the larger digital (see: Instagram, Untappd) community) holds in their lives is reflected by the extremes to which they will go. I thoroughly enjoy OH's beer, but I do sometimes wonder if the obsessive, possibly dependent tendencies proliferated by the social-media-based beer community have become a prohibitive force for the more "casual" fan who is primarily just seeking a pleasurable drinking experience.

Also, here is a tangentially relevant article from Vice that touches on the impact of Instagram usage on mental health: https://i-d.vice.com/en_au/article/instagram-is-the-worst-app-for-your-mental-health. I think it's important to remember that the majority of the beer community (social interaction AND news) is rooted in Instagram. Spend a few minutes (or don't...) browsing some of the hashtags used by "haul pic" accounts and you might see how a feed like that could drive some to go to extreme measures to "keep up with the Lorenzos" and relish in the "line life" that follows.

 

Also, I hope the above doesn't come off as me saying, "Everyone who posts pictures of OH hauls on Instagram is deeply unfulfilled and compensating for failures elsewhere in their lives." Certainly some, but not all.

 

Ahhhhh - Mondays

Lighten up guys! I hate lines and line culture. And I wish they'd lower limits too. But it is just beer. Getting too serious about the people that take beer too seriously is doing my head in. I'm with @dhaakon about the more practical issues like drunk driving, littering, etc. But do we really need to delve into the psyche of the liner upper? All sorts of people do all sorts of shit to boost their sense of self worth. I guess that's life.

 

man hit the nail on the head. Other Half used to represent the budging NYC craft scene and was a huge influencer (still is) but now it represents all the wrong aspects of that culture. they were in demand and making money before they started the #linelife weekly can releases.

 

Or it's the same reason people hang out at car meets. A lot of these "line life" people are probably friends with a bunch of other people in line and spend those hours bullshitting. So instead of standing around old cars, they're standing around waiting for beer. Beer (and tekus) that they'll most likely sell for profits, all whole racking up some likes on Instagram.

I mean, I am not about that life. However I wouldn't necessarily attribute mental state, poor social lives, nor alcoholism to it.


....except for the people who line up at 2am. That's dumb.