Witch's Hat new ticket system for bottle release in June

Yep. Takes me out of the running as well and will certainly lessen the amount of times I go up specifically to the brewery. This is great for locals so I'm definitely not pissing about it. I actually made the trek from Columbus for the last release and got shut out. That part sucked, but I enjoyed sticking around and trying the taps with friends I've met from up around that way before. I can't see much worth in investing in a mug club membership (which really only benefits me for the bottle sales portion) to then have to drive there to get a ticket in hopes that they hold out....only to then go back for the bottle release. Good for them for actually looking out for the locals though. Maybe they will get to enjoy the product without fools from every corner flocking to get bottles to just turn around and trade them.

 

Agreed, I live about 30 minutes away but I think best solution would be to sell an allotment of tickets at the brewery to take care of locals and then do an online ticket sale like KBS release

 

Agree on the KBS release, every local I know who really wanted some was able to get a ticket. However, this also allowed others to snag some too.

 

I'm one of the locals who benefits by this. I obviously have a bias on the subject but so does everyone else. After being one of the many who took off of work and still got shut out on the trax release, I'm glad to see WH listens to their customers and cares enough to change/tighten up releases. I'm sure they appreciate your business as well, but they were definitely bummed when the regulars missed out. They will continue to analyze what does and doesn't work, so I'm sure if feasible, the above mentioned method will be considered.

 

Count me as someone who likes the change (surprise surprise). I consider myself local--I'm about 20 mins away in Ypsi/Superior Twp--and even so, this change will require a little more effort because I'm only there about once a month and it was pretty easy to arrive early enough (thus far) to get bottles at releases.

However, I think this is the right thing to do. Theoretically the people with the biggest advantage in getting tickets are also the people who are at the Hat with the most frequency and comprise the foundation of their financial support.

This also helps WH preserve their liquor license, because the way I understand it, the bottle sharing represented a risk, and as long as there's a line to wait in, there will likely be a bottle share.

 

I think the change is okay but they should drop the need to be a mug club member. The reviews the beers have been getting the last few releases put them in the "average at best" range in the specialty beer release category these days. Go ahead and reward locals but don't sting them for another $50.

 

This next release is for Well Water, correct?

Just curious how many of you out of towner's actually made the trip last time for this one. While it's a very good BB Aged Barleywine, it by far doesn't get the hype as their stouts. I don't think anyone is waiting out in the cold wind with their newborn for this one is all I'm saying.

 

Another supporter of this. More plus's than minus', but consider my local bias. My prediction is that ticket sales will last much longer (days perhaps) than bottle sales (hours). Although I do agree with @KBS about mug club. I think it's the only place around that I'm aware of the requires this. One thing I'm not clear on is the allocations determined after close of ticket sales to maximize number of bottles per ticket. It's nice that it caters more to the locals, but maybe shouldn't be exclusive. If allocation for Well Water ends up at a case, I'm not going to want a case of it. I say advertise an allocation and go with it. If there's extra bottles (of Well Water for instance) after ticket sales, offer them in the pub after the release untill they are gone. This would give some out of towners a shot to at least drink your beer. This probably wouldn't be the case for the NF releases, but I still think ticket sales will take a while to completely sell out.

 

I don't know why they would get rid of the mug club requirement with the demand for the Night Fury bottles so high.

 

I think this is a great way for a smaller brewery that wants to take care of their regulars to handle a bottle release. I also think waiting until ticket sales have closed to determine allocations is by far the best way to go. Why artificially limit patrons to a preset allocation when you don't know the demand for the product? The ultimate goal is to sell the beer, and they've chosen the local/brewery regular method to do so. No one has to buy a full allocation. And I would truly hope that any unsold bottles get put up for sale to all mug club members at a later date. They've gone down the mug club requirement path already, and they have to be careful to avoid undercutting the people who bought those memberships with hopes of bottles in the future, whether they're local or out-of-towners.

From what I read at their last bottle release, a lot of people who had mug club memberships before the day of the release got shut out. I would guess that even after taking out the brewery regulars, there were some out-of-towners who purchased mug clubs previously hoping to stretch that $50/year over multiple releases. Based on their social media afterward, from what I recall, it seems like they didn't enjoy the way the last release went. Is this taking it too far the other way? Potentially. However, they're showing they're open to trying things differently. For all we know, this release method could be a one-time thing.

 

Honestly I think the bottle access is a side benefit for anyone who is at WH with any sort of regularity. The membership includes 20 oz pours for the 16 oz price, half price growlers on Tuesdays and credit towards merch for every dollar you spend at the brewpub. It doesn't take long to get that $50 back. Oh, and a t-shirt and glass the first time you sign up.

This plan seems geared to reward the people who would have a mug club membership whether they were getting access to bottles or not. Although we may see the pendulum swing back the other way, with there being bottles leftover after all ticketholders are taken care of, at which point I'm sure they would open up the bottle sales to anyone.

I wouldn't be surprised to see their methodology change again before this is all said and done, but I think this is the right starting point.

 

I definitely support the intent behind this release method. Big props to Witches Hat for at least making the effort to improve things for the consumer.

 

This pretty much completely eliminates the possibility of me, someone in Ohio, being able to buy bottles at one of their releases (and I love their stouts)...and I think it's a great move by them. Nothing wrong at all with rewarding your locals.

 

Picked up ticket #085 yesterday around 5pm. I'm fine with the new system and am local. I enjoyed going to the releases and bottle sharing. The problem became some people enjoyed it too much and said some not-so-nice things to the owners wife, and people left trash and bottles everywhere, or so the rumor goes.

 

You mean over-entitled beer nerds were disrespectful and rude? Nooooooo....well I'm sure those same people know SO much better how to run a bottle release than anybody else.

 

awesome release, glad they ended up putting some tickets available online. walked in around 4pm and had 15 and 16 well water on tap, grabbed some growlers to go, and picked up an allotment of well water.