Why Brewery Only Beer Releases?

In a conversation with my brother leaving that release years ago we said we both said "wish there was a beer worth lining up for that came out of New Jersey, that is all."

 

First - thanks.

Well, I think the nugget of the "problem" lies in your first statement - you can go to Night Shift and it isn't mayhem...now. But could it become so in the future? Maybe not because of the styles? I can't imagine that all of the release events were instant perfect storm scenarios. I'd bet that most of them were pretty peaceful, congenial events. Times change and the crowds have obviously grown maybe beyond what anybody could possibly imagine.

Cheers!

 

I have a hard time declaring that these releases are about a cash grab on the part of the breweries. Like anything that generates that sort of interest, I'm sure there are some brewers see it as a way to get a bucket of cash (I can charge for tickets AND the beer!?!? Sign me up!!!), but I get the feeling that any brewer who.views it that way is 1) in the minority, 2) not really thinking about the logistics/costs of running an event (well) and just how different it is from brewing, and 3) are asking to have things go poorly. Now, I don't get the impression that's what happened with CCB Hunahpu Day. Based on the stories, it sounds like the event started as a fun way to generate interest and it simply got bigger than they were prepared to handle. While CCB must bear some responsibility for the debacle, it's important to remember that it was the PEOPLE who caused the problem. CCB simply wasn't equipped to handle people being such ginormous dicks.

I also don't think that brewers do these things to generate hype. Hype can't be created out of thin air--there has to be something that causes significant interest in the first place to grow into said hype. Low supply isn't enough on its own--there has to be high demand. Maybe I'm being naive, but I think most brewers do these things out of a desire to host something fun for fans. Yes, I'm sure they recognize the marketing potential as well, but any smart brewer is going to recognized the double-edged sword nature of that potential. A successful event is a great marketing opportunity for a brewer, but a 2014 Hunahpu Day is a disaster that will end up costing a brewer far more in the long run.

Hopefully, the Hunahpu Day example will force brewers to look long and hard at how they do these going forward--whether it's in everyone's best interest to have them at all, and if they do have them, taking the necessary precautions to deal with the inevitable presence of assholes who have the potential to ruin it for everyone.

 

Totally this. Was coming on to post something similar, just less eloquently.

I think people are being too cynical here (and I'm cynical by nature). Sure there are exceptions, but I truly believe that for the most part, breweries are doing this to benefit the fans. The established ones could easily fully distro these beers and still have them sell out almost immediately.

 

I can only really speak for Midwest releases...

For something with the production ofDarkness, or KBS? Yeah, I'm not sure a single big release day makes sense. The stuff makes it into distro anyway, so why have a big single day event for it except hype and sidestep the distributor.

For truly small-batch releases... 300-900 bottles, total, normally from one or two barrels... Normally in generic label bottles that haven't gone the TTB label approval process, like the FFF barrel-aged stuff. Those make sense as brewery-only releases because a) they can't see distro b) even if they did get label approval and distro it, how does the distro divvy up 600 total bottles between accounts... and then how do the accounts allocate those out to customers?

Then you have breweries don't have distribution contracts in place, so on-site releases are the only option. I'm thinking something like Side Project, which is literally just Cory King working out of Perennial's space. How would they even sell stuff if not for brewery only?

 

It's a nice way for the small, self distributed breweries to interact with their customers as well as to hype their brands.

If you look closely , there are breweries that spread things out and tweak the process to improve the customer experience. Some breweries do not have the capacity for retail, so these event give those breweries a shot at making better margins, remember that we all are supposed to hate the three tier system.

 

Come and visit the Kane and Carton breweries.

 

$20 at the brewery is $20 for the brewery.

$20 on the store shelf is, $2 for the store, $1 for the guy who sold it to the store, $5 to the distributor for pick it up, warehouse, and then deliver.... a lot less for the brewery.