New non-LCBO/TBS beer releases

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Fri Dec 19, 2014 7:59 pm

I got six to hoard. Sorry.

TheSevenDuffs · Post by **TheSevenDuffs** » Fri Dec 19, 2014 8:06 pm

ckoop wrote:
rfrf wrote:Grandma's Boy goes on sale at Bellwoods today, 11am, $13 a bottle. Much less fanfare (at least on here) for this, so i'm sure they'll last a bit longer than BOYD or SK.

Details: http://bellwoodsbrewery.com/grannys-pride-and-joy/
I can't believe this sold out before the weekend. I know these guys are still learning, but come on! The last two releases should have been a wake up call. I really hope they start lowering the limits severely because it sucks that they basically encourage hoarding with 6-8 bottle limits on their limited run beers. Push it down to 3-4 to allow more people a shot at trying these beers! I think 3-4 is a decent amount as it allows you to try one now and age/share/trade a couple. Oh well, that's one less stop to make tomorrow.

I know this is frustrating to those who miss out, but this is not a issue that is isolated to Bellwoods. You see this at Hill Farmstead, Kuhnhenn, Ithaca and basically all over the US. I think it comes down to money: the breweries want to liquidate the stock as fast as they can. When a beer has been sitting in barrels for a year, you can't blame them for wanting to convert it to cash as quickly as possible.

For the record, I agree with you and don't understand the practice; my point is simply that it is unfair to single out Bellwoods when everyone is doing this.

ckoop · Post by **ckoop** » Fri Dec 19, 2014 8:58 pm

TheSevenDuffs wrote:
ckoop wrote:
rfrf wrote:Grandma's Boy goes on sale at Bellwoods today, 11am, $13 a bottle. Much less fanfare (at least on here) for this, so i'm sure they'll last a bit longer than BOYD or SK.

Details: http://bellwoodsbrewery.com/grannys-pride-and-joy/
I can't believe this sold out before the weekend. I know these guys are still learning, but come on! The last two releases should have been a wake up call. I really hope they start lowering the limits severely because it sucks that they basically encourage hoarding with 6-8 bottle limits on their limited run beers. Push it down to 3-4 to allow more people a shot at trying these beers! I think 3-4 is a decent amount as it allows you to try one now and age/share/trade a couple. Oh well, that's one less stop to make tomorrow.
I know this is frustrating to those who miss out, but this is not a issue that is isolated to Bellwoods. You see this at Hill Farmstead, Kuhnhenn, Ithaca and basically all over the US. I think it comes down to money: the breweries want to liquidate the stock as fast as they can. When a beer has been sitting in barrels for a year, you can't blame them for wanting to convert it to cash as quickly as possible.

For the record, I agree with you and don't understand the practice; my point is simply that it is unfair to single out Bellwoods when everyone is doing this.

Oh definitely isn't limited to Bellwoods, Great Lakes annoys me with their two case limit on their IPAs as well. I think most of the breweries in the states have a decent handle on the limits as it's not too often you see breweries with 6-8 bottle limits on small batch beers like this. Yeah hill farmstead will sell cases of their bigger saisons, but look at art or flora, 2-3 bottle limits. I'm really happy and proud that Bellwoods is doing well and I get that it's in their best interest to move stuff fast, but it's a better benefit to them to have more people try their stuff.

I like their beer, but I'm not going to look for a toronto trade partner when I live an hour away and can usually get there in 2-3 days notice if I really want. I don't have a ton of stuff to trade in the first place, so if I have to trade for local stuff, then oh well I just won't bother with their beer.

Hopefully, when they get more space they won't be as motivated to clear out space as quickly and will get a better handle on the demand for their product. But this is really cool for them as they were able to sell out 1800 bottles in 3 weekdays! They must be stoked.

lister · Post by **lister** » Fri Dec 19, 2014 9:14 pm

Got an extra bottle of Grandma's Boy if anyone's interested.

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Fri Dec 19, 2014 9:51 pm

One thing to keep in mind with these beers is normally the kegs in the tap room last longer than the bottles in the bottle shop, so even if you miss out on bottles you can console yourself by stopping in and trying it on tap. Heck, at 13-15 bucks for a 500ml bottle I don't think you even pay a premium to get it on tap like you would most beers.

Gavin · Post by **Gavin** » Sun Dec 21, 2014 2:10 pm

ckoop wrote: Hopefully, when they get more space they won't be as motivated to clear out space as quickly and will get a better handle on the demand for their product.

I really doubt it's a space issue so much as a cash flow one. If you've sunk money into ingredients, infrastructure, labour, and time...you want to convert it to cash as quickly as possible to recover your costs and see a return.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Sun Dec 21, 2014 6:14 pm

Darn. I went by late on Friday and Grandma's Boy was off the board! Good for them selling out his excellent vintage in less than 48 hours, I'll happily wait for next years if it comes & I highly recommend the 2014 at the pub.

To repeat previous advice, this brew is packaged in ideal drinkable condition and will lose its golden plum flavor if it's aged.

Ooh but should I crack my one bottle of Barrel Aged Brett Lambicus Quad? 2013 Lambda... never tried it yet!

atomeyes · Post by **atomeyes** » Mon Dec 22, 2014 7:14 am

ckoop wrote:
Hopefully, when they get more space they won't be as motivated to clear out space as quickly and will get a better handle on the demand for their product. But this is really cool for them as they were able to sell out 1800 bottles in 3 weekdays! They must be stoked.

guaranteeing sales of a product in 3 days, versus unguaranteed sales with bottle limits lowered?
if I were Bellwoods, I'd keep on doing what I'm doing versus having to (literally) have a bottle shop full of skids of bottles that you hope will sell.

ride the wave of popularity all the way to the bank, 'cuz you never know when the next big wave comes.

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Mon Dec 22, 2014 11:28 am

Immodest is back in the NB retail store.

mgmoney · Post by **mgmoney** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 6:24 pm

Bellwoods hellwoods is out today and next week monogamy series and boogie monster...I'm a happy boy

JerCraigs · Post by **JerCraigs** » Sun Jan 04, 2015 10:07 am

If places start limited how much people can buy then people would be on here complaining about that.

It's irritating when you miss out but from the breweries perspective there is not much advantage to waiting. About the best option I have heard of for limited releases is the brewery in the states that gives out a lottery ticket every time someone buys a case of their regular line up.

ChrisK · Post by **ChrisK** » Sun Jan 04, 2015 3:41 pm

JerCraigs wrote:If places start limited how much people can buy then people would be on here complaining about that.

It's irritating when you miss out but from the breweries perspective there is not much advantage to waiting. About the best option I have heard of for limited releases is the brewery in the states that gives out a lottery ticket every time someone buys a case of their regular line up.

That sounds like it an awful system. I would expect that to alienate a large portion of the customer base and set the brewery up to have product sitting around taking up space. From a customer's point of view that's one hell of an entry fee for a possible chance to buy a number of bottles.

I really have no problem with the way they do bottle releases at bellwoods. Have i missed out on some releases? Yes. Should i blame the brewery for that? No. Everyone has an equal opportunity to buy bottles. If your schedule doesn't sync up then it doesn't sync up. The brewery isn't obligated to make sure everyone gets some. It would be impossible to do that.

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 11:55 am

No idea what this is, but there's a picture of the bottles in the fridge, so I guess it's out now:

Great Lakes Brewery ‏@GreatLakesBeer 7m7 minutes ago
New #GLB bottle alert!
#BadBlakesBelgianBarrel
$9.95
Limited availability.
#ProjectX is back...??

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 2:17 pm

Great Lakes Brewery ‏@GreatLakesBeer 2h2 hours ago
In #GLBretail today... @EatingNiagara collab bottles of "Kieffer Your Hands Off My Pears...Saison"! $9.95 Limited.

Great Lakes Brewery ‏@GreatLakesBeer 2h2 hours ago
@davidsunlee @EatingNiagara Saison base, 14lbs of Kieffer pears, Orval yeast strain...delicious.

rfrf · Post by **rfrf** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 12:50 pm

Karma Citra cans available @ GLB, 10am this saturday..