Penrose wild release Oct 14

But... why would you go out and buy beer unless you already had a pre-trade setup... what if you can't trade it!?!?!

 

Can't please everyone at a release. I live in Geneva and have been able to get to their releases early and have still been snubbed.

The allocation thing is dumb and it sounds like they learned from it. My hope is that they start making some of these special release sours regulars (and get rid of their session sours) as I am not found of their regular lineup (minus Navette coffee).

 

If you'd like to pay for my plane tickets to Florida, California, and Washington, I'd me more than happy to stop trading beer.

 

Though I understand the deep, dark recesses of FOMO, you'll survive just fine without access to those beers. It actually makes it a treat when you happen to visit those places.

And again, see point #1 in the previous post.

 

I would say that in a thread about a special release beer on a website where people create user profiles to discuss beer online with people they largely have never met before and don't know, we are past folks looking to "survive." That's a relevant statement to say to a local who goes to a release that is interested in discovering beers beyond typical shelf releases. That argument really holds no water here though.

This is one of the many places on the internet where you can dig deeper into the hobby of craft beer. That's what it is. People pursue limited and well received products in any hobby. Beer is no different. Trying beers from across the country help you understand the taste differences in regions as well as an ability to gauge your local craft breweries against those that either are or perceived to be the best in certain categories. An overwhelming percentage of the people that care enough to participate in this website are here for those reasons.

 

Ehh, this really doesn't have anything to do with the point I was making. jpsy422 posted the snarky thing about paying for his plane fare if he wasn't going to be trading beer. The post was made totally blind to the other alternative: maybe you don't have to find a way to acquire every RARE WHALEZ BRO beer that is released. The sense of entitlement in the super beer geek community is silly. It's like it never occurred to jpsy that one could simply wait until they were in CA or OR or wherever to try beers from those places, and that no great calamity will befall anyone if one skips sampling a rare beer here and there.

For people who want to send some Floyds out west or east to get some Pliny or Heady or whatever, I get it. That's fine. I've got no issue with it, even if I personally wouldn't want to go through the hassle of packing and shipping beer very often.

What I do think sucks is that there were people in that Penrose line buying bottles of beer that they knew they would not drink. They were bought as a commodity to trade (and for some, perhaps sell). Those traded beers are going to parts of the country where Penrose doesn't distribute, and therefore to drinkers that can't become regular customers of Penrose. And because some people bought beers to ship elsewhere rather than drink, some of the (presumably local) people that came out to the brewery because they actually wanted to drink the beer couldn't buy it. To me, that's kind of a bummer. It's bad for the brewer and bad for the local drinker.

So, IMHO, there's a distinction between trading local regular stuff and the rare one-offs in terms of its impact on the rest of the beer customers. Now, it's just beer and it's not the end of the world - I get that. Maybe my opinion on it is unfair, but I find it kind of lame that all of this seems to occur because people just can't seem to fathom not acquiring this or that particular beer. FOMO is really annoying in the beer world.

 

and the people in line at Cigar City and Freemont are buying beers they'll never drink. But I'll drink them.

I have the luxury of being able to spend some discretionary income on shipping beer to strangers. Those trades have led to being able to be a part of a great local weekly Bottleshare group that has led to some people I would consider great friends.

If we all showed up every week with local beers and none of us traded, we probably wouldn't be attending.

To me, and to most on here, it's no different than being a fan of a band and traveling to see them 10 times in a tour. Should I only see them once at my local venue? Or being an enthusiast of sneakers or records, or posters and camping out for limited releases. None of what you love would exist if it wasn't for those people.

 

There is something fun and exciting about trying new beers from breweries you don't have access to, and the limited release beers won't necessarily be there when you go visit, so I see the value in trading for the beers you want. and yes, it's unrealistic to get every beer that's released, but that doesn't mean we can't WANT to try all these beers.

As far as Penrose beers being a commodity, I don't think penrose has any trade value beyond, $4$ limited release locals.. I was able to walk away with full allocations of each, 2 of which are being sent to regular traders because I think they would like it, and not to help lock down any "RARE WHALEZ BRO." I don't think the bottle limit was ridiculous, i think the patrons' line etiquette was ridiculous. people get shut out of beer releases all the time, but it sucks that people exploited the line to get bottles. that's what's wrong with craft beer, people disrespecting the brewery and other craft beer enthusiasts for their own gain.