You may or may not be following the BA Hunahpu release that Cigar City is in the middle of rolling out, but there has been a lot of discussion in the South Atlantic forum on the breweries decision on how they are rolling this out. For those of you who haven't heard, the brewery did a silent release (no facebook post, bartenders don't know, brewer doesn't know, only the man in charge knows). What they are doing is randomly setting out a case or a few cases in the cooler and if you are there you have the option to buy 2 bottles. What is your thought on this process? First and formost, I am in the boat that it's the brewery's call on what they want to do and I think this is a very interesting and unique way of handling a rare release such as BA Huna. From a marketing standpoint, its pure genius. They have had lines over the past week when the doors open, from what I have heard the tasting room as been full of people throughout the day just hoping to land a bottle. Is this the best way to handle a release? What are your thoughts on this idea? Outside of a reserve society, how should these things be handled from the consumers standpoint? I know that FFF post on Facebook quite often that they will be releasing a random bottle a give a day or so notice. Is that the best way (for the consumer)? With all of this being said, how do you guys approach and or think about mules? There's been tons of photos posted on various social media outlets of guys that have managed to get 10+ bottles of the BA Huna. Even though there's a two bottle limit, there's nothing stopping a customer from lucking out and being in the tasting room at the right time more then once therefore getting the 2 bottle limit again.
I always prefer the silent release, it favors locals who actually support the brewery time in and time out and while there will always be a few lucky folks who happened to stumble on the release, or some locals who were busy and couldn't get there, it tends to be the fairest and simplest way to do it. The fact is, with special releases like this, you can't please each and every one of us, but this to me makes the most sense.
But think of all the car accidents and speeding tickets when the word leaks out! Panic would be the new normal.
First off, I've seen people on here that think they are entitled to a release. It's just beer. You can always trade for it. I don't see any problem with how they released it. Its their beer just be glad that they still make it. Reminds me of the people complaining about the 6 bottle limit for galactic double daisy cutter.
I like the silent releases that Captain Lawrence has been doing up here in NY because it prevents people from camping out for hours/days in advance and I think the silent staggered release is an interesting idea. The only thing that I think is silly (assuming the rumors of 2000+ bottles of BA Huna are accurate) is releasing only 4-7 cases at a time on a Friday morning at 11am or a Monday at 1pm and having it sell out in 30 minutes. I can see why people in the area but not in the immediate area are getting frustrated, it appears that you basically have to camp out there or live within 15 minutes of the place and be able to drop everything you are doing to get there and get some. I would suggest doing less releases and upping the number of cases so that it at least lasts for a few hours.
