The Half-Acre thread (2018)

This is my concern. Lol. I'm leaving work in Oakbrook at 10am and heading there to get in line. I have to leave there by 3pm or so, as my daughter has her end-of-the-year cheerleading banquet at 6pm on the south side. Hoping I get through the line by then, as I'd prefer to not leave there empty-handed after being in line for 3-4 hours. Does the line usually move pretty quick?

 

I mean, I was hoping to swing by after work on Friday. Given it's a release during the day, I was hoping things would last at least through the night. I remember getting all of the BH variants the evening it was released last year.

 

I can't see any reason why you wouldn't get through the line by 3. If the line is so long that you're there from 10-3, it means that 1) they're doing something pretty wrong and 2) you're probably getting what you came for (or else they'd tell everyone to disperse, like they did a couple years back).

 

Good to know. I'm not as worried about it as I was. Lol.

The Rev line moved quick, and I was hoping this would be similar. I think when I was at Rev for VSOJ, I was in line by 3:20 or so, and I had my cans in hand by 4:30, gone by 5 after a couple pours.

Ideally I'd like to be in line by 10:45, and leaving by 1 to miss most the traffic coming out of the city to head back home.

 

I think they said they are releasing case counts tonight. That will be interesting. My general rule of thumb, I assume 500 people at open Chicago area releases like this. Maybe knock off a 100+ because of the presale?

 

I'm not sure it'll move as quickly as the Rev lines (HA releases have historically been relatively slow, and they don't have as many registers as Rev), but I would be pretty damn surprised if you were there past 1 after getting in line before 11. 2+ hours is a long time for a non-BCBS release.

 

I did see that. I was hoping they wouldn't. That will just end up drawing more people there earlier.

 

Well, Benthic is a much better beer than Big Hugs.

Considering neither of the prior two Benthic releases have lasted past 2 pm, I would in no way expect it available for someone after getting off work around 5. That could change if they produced a ton of it, though.

 

I get your point, because everything posted on here has said that HA is not good and much worse than Rev. But I really don't consider Rev Deep Wood releases to be a shining example of a fast line. I got there 40 or so minutes after they started, and it took almost an hour and a half. Guess was we were between 400-500th in line IIRC. ~300 people per hour isn't horrible, but it isn't good either. Again, have heard HA is worse, though, so I get your point.

Subjectivity aside, for sure, I wouldn't base anything for the Benthic release on Big Hugs. I do hope people (like me) who got in on the presale don't try to double dip...

 

Oh yeah, I'm not saying they necessarily are, either (I have no real experience outside of these guys and Binny's, though). But @ChiPez66 mentioned the Rev releases, so I was just going with that comparison. HA has definitely been worse in the past, but again, that's due mostly to the physical constraints of the where these releases are.

 

Benthic kicked at 2PM last year? I truly thought I went there after work as well lats year and got a pour. Maybe I am mis-remembering...

 

I think he meant bottles.

 

Ah okay, his original post was this though...

"I definitely wouldn’t expect Benthic and its variants to stay on tap long. I don’t think they’ve lasted longer than a few days in the past, and their “limited” comment makes me think it’ll be similar this year."

 

This is one of my concerns. You have 300 people who got a presale, and I'd guess a lot of them will double dip since they have a couple weeks to pick up those bottles. I wanted the pre-sale for convenience of not having to line up tomorrow, and had I gotten one, I would have just picked it up at Balmoral tomorrow, and gone home early to enjoy the rest of my day off. I would wager a guess that a lot of people wanted them specifically so they could double dip, rather than my reasons, or yours.

If HA was smart about it, they would have made it mandatory to pick up the pre-sale bottles same day at the other location, specifically to prevent the double dipping. Based upon their post on the 18 Benthic release, they're actually encouraging double dipping, though.

"Should you want more than the presale allotment, you may head to the shop on Lincoln to buy additional bottles."

 

There must be more bottles available this year, just going on the allocation limit. 4 regular this year, compared to 3 last year. Surely they would only increase if there was more. Anyone know what the case count was prior to release last year?

 

I think that would partially have defeated the purpose of the presale (to give people that are out of town or whatever a chance, like they mentioned), but yeah, some type of double-dip protection would've been nice.

With that being said, if they've produced enough of the stuff that we can leisurely mosey over tomorrow, it's a moot point. I'm hoping variants will last a couple hours after open, but I assume at least regular will (since it did last year, and I'm hoping they made a fair amount more this year).

 

Yes there were quite a few. At least 5 I think...

 

Yes there was! Thats why I wasn't really in a hurry to buy bottles. Ill just try them at big north next year.

 

I think drinking Benthic variants and throwing hatchets should be a common thing

 

And unfortunately there will assuredly be double dippers just from the people in line on Friday, especially for the variants. It's likely if you are in line at open you should be good. But if you are hoping to get variants later in the afternoon I wouldn't count on it. Regular benthic may last a bit longer.