FIB War Room

[lb304854]

Couldnt they just randomly put out bottles without much fanfare and receive similar results?
I've seen places do that quite often. Seems like a better way to spread the love. Hooking up the community instead of the wealthiest percentage of their clients.... Lets not even mention that the worst of the shitlord secondary flippers wouldnt even try to sell it for 125$, let alone 100 or 90....

Putting it at that price makes it unavailable to 90% of people, including me.

For instance Consume in Lake Zurich just had OVRW, I happened to show up and got a pour for a reasonable price. Sure they could have marked it up, but why not reward your local customers with something special?

Is this how it works for wine and bourbon at restaurants other than a handful of examples? Feels like because it's beer, it should be for Joe Everyman which is an argument I hate.

Again, I don't mind expensive on premise bottles even if I'm not always in position to buy them. It's okay. There is beer on the list I can afford every night that is just as good. The expensive bottles are for special occasions.

Of course not, and know you do a great job too and price your stuff appropriately. I'm speaking to the market at large though and the way the landscape has changed overall. Consumers will, by and large, pay a higher price, so the prices have inched higher. This is great for me and you, and our distributors, but not necessarily the brewers. It's interesting to look at old invoices and menus and such to see what stuff cost 5-10 years ago vs. now on a price-per-ounce basis, and who benefits. 99% of breweries don't have Taprooms outside of their home markets, and if they do, they still gotta go through that second tier. That's alls i'm sayins.

Yeah I feel you. Couldn't breweries work with distributors so certain accounts get less? As an admitted outsider to the industry, it certainly seems that most breweries don't give a **** and a few even encourage these practices with their "ZOMFG look at what our beer can sell for guize!!!" press releases. Never heard a brewery complain about a retail account cellaring and marking up their stuff. Anecdotes you can share?

 

[ChicagoGuy]

Also, people scour our bottle list every single day looks for rare loot. Anything added gets noticed immediately. Friends would be texted and it would be gone that day. It’s just my opinion.

Edit: ****, we have DELIVERY drivers combing our place for Easter eggs etc.

Edit edit: true story - one time when we popped Framboos (unannounced) on the shelf, word got out and a guy came in and tried to buy the last two bottles, and got upset when we said limit 1. He then left and moments later his Uber driver came in and bought the last bottle with his CC. This is what we deal with.

What is it about our scene that makes it so we can't have nice things here while gems sit on shelves in other cities? Is my "Shitlord Patient Zero" theory sadly plausible?

 

[vav1]

Couldnt they just randomly put out bottles without much fanfare and receive similar results?

I did that at Binny's. People loved my Random Sour Tuesdays or "Hey come in and tell me the name of a WaxTrax! artist and get a bottle of X" or pulling out cases of BCBS a few weeks after Black Friday with a sign that said "Don't Tweet This" and so on. Honestly, i still do it now. It's mostly regulars and/or random folks that get fun stuff because of it. It's neat, i actually have my cell phone # on my business cards and get random texts from people thanking me for stuff on the menus, like horribly overpriced and terrible old BCBS Coffee...

Lansman

Hey, if you want to support a brewery with a cellar bottle, I think Superstition Meadery in Prescott, AZ still has their $1700 bottle of B1 Blue Berry White. Go for it.

What in the ever living **** would make a bottle of mead worth $1700?

Is this how it works for wine and bourbon at restaurants other than a handful of examples? Feels like because it's beer, it should be for Joe Everyman which is an argument I hate.

Again, I don't mind expensive on premise bottles even if I'm not always in position to buy them. It's okay. There is beer on the list I can afford every night that is just as good. The expensive bottles are for special occasions.

Sadly, you're in the minority. Most people just bitch rather than accept and move on. #fomo

Yeah I feel you. Couldn't breweries work with distributors so certain accounts get less? As an admitted outsider to the industry, it certainly seems that most breweries don't give a **** and a few even encourage these practices with their "ZOMFG look at what our beer can sell for guize!!!" press releases. Never heard a brewery complain about a retail account cellaring and marking up their stuff. Anecdotes you can share?

I don't see a ton of breweries praising the secondary market it....most are against it. There have been a few recent instances of the marketing of product, but i couldn't even name them if you asked me to i've seen so little.

Beer is a relationship based business, so one could absolutely **** up a relationship and receive less of an allocation. I believe there was a few FFF accounts that were completely cutoff after they were reported to the brewery as selling DLD Variants.

No one ever got mad at me for cellaring at all, so no juicy anecdotes there. Most breweries went out of the way to allocate me additional cases for the cellar 'cuz they thought the program was neat and, this is key: i didn't charge an unreasonable amount after doing so.

 

[trickytunadicky]

I did that at Binny's. People loved my Random Sour Tuesdays or "Hey come in and tell me the name of a WaxTrax! artist and get a bottle of X" or pulling out cases of BCBS a few weeks after Black Friday with a sign that said "Don't Tweet This" and so on. Honestly, i still do it now. It's mostly regulars and/or random folks that get fun stuff because of it. It's neat, i actually have my cell phone # on my business cards and get random texts from people thanking me for stuff on the menus, like horribly overpriced and terrible old BCBS Coffee...

Lansman



What in the ever living **** would make a bottle of mead worth $1700?



Sadly, you're in the minority. Most people just bitch rather than accept and move on. #fomo



I don't see a ton of breweries praising the secondary market it....most are against it. There have been a few recent instances of the marketing of product, but i couldn't even name them if you asked me to i've seen so little.

Beer is a relationship based business, so one could absolutely **** up a relationship and receive less of an allocation. I believe there was a few FFF accounts that were completely cutoff after they were reported to the brewery as selling DLD Variants.

No one ever got mad at me for cellaring at all, so no juicy anecdotes there. Most breweries went out of the way to allocate me additional cases for the cellar 'cuz they thought the program was neat and, this is key: i didn't charge an unreasonable amount after doing so.

1) for the $1700 bottle of mead.. got me. I think they went with the Zillow "make me sell" model and priced it over secondary.
2) For naming a brewery that promotes secondary, look no further than Flossmoor, IL. Flossmoor Station promoted the secondary value of Wooden Hell to push the sell of Wooden Hell Private Reserve. Not saying this is the norm. Everyone thought it was weird as hell they were doing it, but if you need an example, there you are.

 

[vav1]

1) for the $1700 bottle of mead.. got me. I think they went with the Zillow "make me sell" model and priced it over secondary.
2) For naming a brewery that promotes secondary, look no further than Flossmoor, IL. Flossmoor Station promoted the secondary value of Wooden Hell to push the sell of Wooden Hell Private Reserve. Not saying this is the norm. Everyone thought it was weird as hell they were doing it, but if you need an example, there you are.

Yah Flossmoor was the one I was thinking of I couldn’t remember. Then again I haven’t really ever thought about them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Mugatu]

Without a doubt my best “beer experience” was paying $125 for a bottle of Art directly from Hill Farmstead. Was it unreasonably priced? Yes. Would I have had even the slightest shot at trying it if were on the menu at the retail price? No. But because they had priced it significantly higher than retail, it stayed on the menu until someone had a reason to order it.

The reason I went for it was that it was my bachelor party and I knew it would (sadly) probably be my first and last trip to Greensboro. I also wanted to make a gesture of thanks to the group for following me out to the middle of nowhere when half of them had never even heard of Hill Farmstead. They may have been just as happy, or happier, if I bought them each a $5 IPA but after the staff started to explain the beer and pour us each a glass it became pretty clear to even the not-so-beer-nerds in the group that this was a once in a lifetime beer. Probably wouldn’t order it ever again but damn was it worth it! I say gouge away!!

 

[Scalzo]

Edit edit: true story - one time when we popped Framboos (unannounced) on the shelf, word got out and a guy came in and tried to buy the last two bottles, and got upset when we said limit 1. He then left and moments later his Uber driver came in and bought the last bottle with his CC. This is what we deal with.

I was there when Boos came in. <3


Was hoping to get one but you wouldn't sell me a bottle for some reason.
...at least that driver got to drink one

Is this how it works for wine and bourbon at restaurants other than a handful of examples? Feels like because it's beer, it should be for Joe Everyman which is an argument I hate.

I wont frequent a place that gouges. It has nothing to do with the "Joe Everyman argument"
LP Binnys didnt do that with their whiskey list. - I was able to get lot b there for about the same price.

I did that at Binny's. People loved my Random Sour Tuesdays or "Hey come in and tell me the name of a WaxTrax! artist and get a bottle of X" or pulling out cases of BCBS a few weeks after Black Friday with a sign that said "Don't Tweet This" and so on. Honestly, i still do it now. It's mostly regulars and/or random folks that get fun stuff because of it. It's neat, i actually have my cell phone # on my business cards and get random texts from people thanking me for stuff on the menus, like horribly overpriced and terrible old BCBS Coffee..

^^^^^ This is one of the many things I liked about driving into the city for beer. Getting to try things I might not normally have access too, without having to pay an arm and a leg.

 

[SAISON FUCK]

The thing about beverages today is that the rare things get more rare, but the amount of absolutely great things that are still available and tasty as hell... They are everywhere. Sure, I went into semi-retirement after Holy Grail tasting, but perspective is a hell of a great drug.

 

[Scalzo]

The thing about beverages today is that the rare things get more rare, but the amount of absolutely great things that are still available and tasty as hell... They are everywhere. Sure, I went into semi-retirement after Holy Grail tasting, but perspective is a hell of a great drug.

IDGAF about rarity.
I drink more Tooth and Claw than anything. Right there with you on that.
Its an amazing time to be a beer drinker.

#StraightJacketCansIn2018

 

[vav1]

The thing about beverages today is that the rare things get more rare, but the amount of absolutely great things that are still available and tasty as hell... They are everywhere. Sure, I went into semi-retirement after Holy Grail tasting, but perspective is a hell of a great drug.

This is the part that is mind boggling to many of us, industry and otherwise: There's so much amazing beer out there, who ******* cares if you miss one?

 

[vav1]

Also quinnsi what the **** is your avatar

 

[middlebrow]

Also quinnsi what the **** is your avatar

Young & sexy JVCD?

 

[Scalzo]

I thought that was a young quinnsi

 

[SAISON FUCK]

This is the part that is mind boggling to many of us, industry and otherwise: There's so much amazing beer out there, who ******* cares if you miss one?

Pokemon, etc. Gotta catch em all. Or something.

 

[middlebrow]

And quinnsi since this is turning into beeraficionado 2.0....one small request, since Illinois is now ****** buying wines online, can you get a case of the Eric Wareheims natural wines?

 

[beeraficionado]

$6 for a beer in their taproom that costs them .07

 

[vav1]

And quinnsi since this is turning into beeraficionado 2.0....one small request, since Illinois is now ****** buying wines online, can you get a case of the Eric Wareheims natural wines?

Probably a good pairing for Shrimp.

 

[middlebrow]

Probably a good pairing for Shrimp.

 

[Lansman]

I did that at Binny's. People loved my Random Sour Tuesdays or "Hey come in and tell me the name of a WaxTrax! artist and get a bottle of X" or pulling out cases of BCBS a few weeks after Black Friday with a sign that said "Don't Tweet This" and so on. Honestly, i still do it now. It's mostly regulars and/or random folks that get fun stuff because of it. It's neat, i actually have my cell phone # on my business cards and get random texts from people thanking me for stuff on the menus, like horribly overpriced and terrible old BCBS Coffee...

Lansman

Again, why are you 'cellaring' beer meant to be drank fresh. The experience of a year+ old coffee beer is an experience that is not what the brewery intended and its a poor representation of what the beer is/was 'supposed' to be. (and no, I don't care what it says on the generic label saying to drink within 5 years)

 

[vav1]

you ok sugarplum?

 

[Oldladyfingers]

Wassssssup, y'all? Happy Holidays and congrats on Da Bearz win. As a Jets fan, I know your pain. I'm currently at my in-laws' (South Loop) and was hoping to fine some Frederiksdal cherry wine (so damn good). I went to Printer's Row today looking for it; the cashier looked at me like I had three heads when I asked him if they had any...Any leads would be very helpful. Thanks!

 

[ChicagoGuy]

Wassssssup, y'all? Happy Holidays and congrats on Da Bearz win. As a Jets fan, I know your pain. I'm currently at my in-laws' (South Loop) and was hoping to fine some Frederiksdal cherry wine (so damn good). I went to Printer's Row today looking for it; the cashier looked at me like I had three heads when I asked him if they had any...Any leads would be very helpful. Thanks!

The Beer Temple often has one or two varieties. It's a bit of a trek from your in-laws', but well worth it, especially now that they have a bar with awesome stuff on all 12 taps.

 

[furley]

Young & sexy JVCD?

https://78.media.tumblr.com/ff856a8c448651d43d961f1b95de315f/tumblr_mzb174lbTl1qjyhpzo1_400.gif

 

[DiscountMegaMall4ever]

Also quinnsi what the **** is your avatar

What the **** isn't?

 

[thewimperoo]

 

[zieglemt]

"Hey come in and tell me the name of a WaxTrax! artist and get a bottle of X"

I (and Revolting Cocks) thank you for that bottle of OG Vanilla BCS for like $18.

 

[Gonzoillini1]

Checked out Evil Horse Brewing Company in Crete, IL on Saturday after making a stop at Flossmoor Station for lunch and to grab some Wooden Hell Private Reserve. Have always wanted to check the place out as I've known Steve Kamp for a few years through the IL homebrewing community (Marty Nachel and Steve are the founders of the Brewers of South Suburbia, B.O.S.S.). Didn't realize that Crete was only 15 minutes or so south of Flossmoor Station so it was a natural choice.

It's located inside a converted bowling alley in a neighborhood that is very much working class. Very fair prices on beer, and a large variety of styles from Hefeweizen, Doppelbock, IPA, barrel aged Belgian Strong Dark Ale, IPA, Porter, etc... that were all pretty tasty. Lots of folks coming in to grab growlers for their holiday parties which is always nice to see, and lots of folks picking up assorted merchandise I assume as last minute Christmas presents.

Not sure when I'll make it back out as its a bit of a haul from the Western Burbs, but certainly a nice spot to grab a couple of beers if you are ever in the area.

 

[SecretSquirrel]

Checked out Evil Horse Brewing Company in Crete, IL on Saturday after making a stop at Flossmoor Station for lunch and to grab some Wooden Hell Private Reserve. Have always wanted to check the place out as I've known Steve Kamp for a few years through the IL homebrewing community (Marty Nachel and Steve are the founders of the Brewers of South Suburbia, B.O.S.S.). Didn't realize that Crete was only 15 minutes or so south of Flossmoor Station so it was a natural choice.

It's located inside a converted bowling alley in a neighborhood that is very much working class. Very fair prices on beer, and a large variety of styles from Hefeweizen, Doppelbock, IPA, barrel aged Belgian Strong Dark Ale, IPA, Porter, etc... that were all pretty tasty. Lots of folks coming in to grab growlers for their holiday parties which is always nice to see, and lots of folks picking up assorted merchandise I assume as last minute Christmas presents.

Not sure when I'll make it back out as its a bit of a haul from the Western Burbs, but certainly a nice spot to grab a couple of beers if you are ever in the area.

Steve was also part I believe of Chicago Beer Society back in it's early days as well I believe.

 

[middlebrow]

Checked out Evil Horse Brewing Company in Crete, IL on Saturday after making a stop at Flossmoor Station for lunch and to grab some Wooden Hell Private Reserve. Have always wanted to check the place out as I've known Steve Kamp for a few years through the IL homebrewing community (Marty Nachel and Steve are the founders of the Brewers of South Suburbia, B.O.S.S.). Didn't realize that Crete was only 15 minutes or so south of Flossmoor Station so it was a natural choice.

It's located inside a converted bowling alley in a neighborhood that is very much working class. Very fair prices on beer, and a large variety of styles from Hefeweizen, Doppelbock, IPA, barrel aged Belgian Strong Dark Ale, IPA, Porter, etc... that were all pretty tasty. Lots of folks coming in to grab growlers for their holiday parties which is always nice to see, and lots of folks picking up assorted merchandise I assume as last minute Christmas presents.

Not sure when I'll make it back out as its a bit of a haul from the Western Burbs, but certainly a nice spot to grab a couple of beers if you are ever in the area.

How’s private reserve?

 

[Gonzoillini1]

How’s private reserve?

It was good, boozier than the previous release without the same hop bitterness that it was previously showing. Like a liquefied Werther's Original with some barrel character.

I'm not sure why they didn't just keep the entire batch barrel aged for the additional few months, but trying to figure out why Flossmoor does certain things will simply make your head explode so I refrain from doing it anymore.