The Bar Towel

grub wrote:must resist urge to tell you where to stick that comment...

i showed up at about 10:40. would have been closer to 11, but there was no traffic on the dvp. had no trouble buying tickets for session 1 (and there was still plenty left in every session at that point). it's not like we camped out for 3 days waiting for tickets. i hardly think showing up within 20min of doors opening means i (or anyone else in line) needs to get a life.

Well, it was an honest comment seeing something unexpected like that. As I mentioned earlier I was ten minutes after you so we were in the same ballpark time-wise of getting there. 15-20 minutes is in the reasonable territory.

10am and earlier! Holy crap!

grub wrote:

skaghevn wrote:Six per person. Did people who really only wanted a pair purchase the full six? You betcha.

if you looked at the books, hardly anybody was maxing out. those that were were buying them for friends, not looking to auction them off to the highest bidder.

Far be it for me to suggest that everyone was maxing out, but I do know of instances where people who came for two left with six. Hopefully they were all for friends they only remembered at the last second, but I kind of doubt it. I'm pretty sure it was more of a response to the overall demand, be it either with an intent to scalp or (more likely) thinking that they most know others who would want to come out to something so popular.

Jon Walker wrote:As for the dig about buying up seasonals...said seasonals that I've been accused of "buying up" I actually had a hand in ensuring the LCBO brought in to the province in the first place, I've also repeatedly volunteered on this forum to trade or sell ANY of the beers I've bought in volume that others couldn't get at COST and last I've chased down locations where the last of rare stock beer could be found and posted them here so that others could get them...I think I've done my part.

As for the dig about you buying up seasonals, you are the guy who wrote (in another thread):

Jon Walker wrote:I'm warning you all now that I'll be buying the Fuller's and Scotch Irish beers from both releases in VOLUME. Don't get pissed off with me, I'm happy to trade overstock.

Nice of you to offer to trade, I suppose, but most of us have a difficult enough time trying to find these beers at the LCBO, let alone having to find them on the 'secondary market' (your basement). The quote above is possibly enough to make some people (me, probably) quite turned off at the prospect of trading with you - I'd much rather people adopted a take-what-you need approach to these limited-quantity beers.

-Josh

You make me sound like a bootlegger greedily sitting on massive quantities of seasonal beers.

There's probably two or maybe three seasonals A YEAR that I buy in volume and when I say volume I mean generally 3-5 cases of each. Each of these beers usually comes in to the LCBO in volumes of at least 200 cases, in many instances far greater numbers. How exactly do you suggest I buy 5 cases then? Are you suggesting I shouldn't buy that quantity of a beer I like to keep (and in many cases age) in stock? To really apply a take what you need approach nobody should buy more than they can drink in a given week and nobody should attempt to build a cellar to store beers they wish to enjoy beyond the three weeks it often takes for these items to sell out. I'm sorry but there's too few quality beers brought in to the province through the LCBO for me to adopt this approach. If you had any idea the time and effort I put in to acquiring most of my stock you might cut me some slack.

As for not trading with me out of principal...your choice. Those who have are generally happy to not have to make a trip to Premiere to acquire things they couldn't otherwise obtain in Ontario.

I think a line-up around the corner and down the street at 11am shows that Toronto is starving, no... begging for more good beer events.

But seriously - I haven't spent an hour in a line-up since... well, actually I'm not sure if I ever have. Taking names and phone numbers seems administratively burdensome and unnecessary and caused the line to move 3x as slowly as it could have otherwise, I would think.

I like beer. I really like beer, but in hindsight I'm not sure that I'd want to go through all the effort and wait that long again. Or at least I would have brought some better reading material.

Dang...I struck out on this one! I turned up at 11 a little concerned that I might be the first in the bar (such a dirty feeling), so needless to say I was taken aback by the lineup. Unfortunately I couldn't sit it out because the wife waits for no man, so no tickets for me! I hope everyone who is going has a fantastic time, and I'm really glad that this event has such strong popularity. Maybe the Ontario Craft Brewers could band together and put together something similar in the future to promote their products?

Jon Walker wrote:You make me sound like a bootlegger greedily sitting on massive quantities of seasonal beers.

There's probably two or maybe three seasonals A YEAR that I buy in volume and when I say volume I mean generally 3-5 cases of each. Each of these beers usually comes in to the LCBO in volumes of at least 200 cases, in many instances far greater numbers. How exactly do you suggest I buy 5 cases then? Are you suggesting I shouldn't buy that quantity of a beer I like to keep (and in many cases age) in stock?

No, I wasn't suggesting any of those things. Actually, I was assuming that when you went out of your way to tell us you were going to buy "in VOLUME", that you meant way more that 3-5 cases. That doesn't bother me at all.

What bothers me is the implication inherent in the offer to sell your "overstock" that you're - or anyone else, is - buying more than you need (more even that you need for trading purposes). If that's not the case, I apologize for any perceived slight.

To really apply a take what you need approach nobody should buy more than they can drink in a given week and nobody should attempt to build a cellar to store beers they wish to enjoy beyond the three weeks it often takes for these items to sell out. I'm sorry but there's too few quality beers brought in to the province through the LCBO for me to adopt this approach. If you had any idea the time and effort I put in to acquiring most of my stock you might cut me some slack.

As above, I have pretty much zero issue with anybody buying whatever quantities they want for personal consumption (including cellaring). I'm also pretty indifferent to people buying a bit extra for trading purposes. However, this changes slightly when someone buying extra in order to trade (presumably with people out-of-Privince) is thereby depriving other Ontarians of reasonably easy access to the (very) limited number of quality products we have available.

As for not trading with me out of principal...your choice. Those who have are generally happy to not have to make a trip to Premiere to acquire things they couldn't otherwise obtain in Ontario.

I don't trade a ton, so I don't think it would be a big loss for either of us. Regardless, given that I massively overesimated what you meant by "VOLUME", the point is pretty much moot.

-Josh

I think it's safe to say that this has become the most anticipated beer event in TO. I consider myself lucky that my body was able to awaken from a post-Nuit Blanche state to drive wobbily downtown and get myself some tickets.

That being said, I was conscious enough to observe that it seemed like there was a discrepancy between the number of people in line and the amount of tickets being gobbled up. I guess, as was mentioned, people got caught up in the excitement of the event and bought lots. Alas, when I got to the front of the line Saturday evening was already sold out, so you will see me at the breakfast session, which is probably a good thing for me get some food in my stomach before the casks hit.

As for the sstacko's comment about wanting more beer events - I agree, but I think this want is for a certain level of "uniqueness" which makes it challenging for organizers. In other words, if it is just a 'regular' event the attendance is minimal.

For example, last night (after a long nap) I moseyed down to beerbistro for the Michael Jackson toast. For $5 per glass (with proceeds going to the Parkinson's Foundation I believe), one could have three types of Dogfish Head not available in TO. I dropped $20 (tax in, BTW) and had four glasses, pretty good deal. But I only noticed a couple of familiar faces, not nearly as many as I expected.

I do hope people show their support for something like the Industry SOS event, where you have a new organizer (Russ) trying to pull the event together, and an owner of a not-known-for-craft-beer bar (Jeff at Rowers) willing to try something different. Event though many of the beers might be what we've tried before, supporting this event and others like it will go a long way in ensuring there are more in the future.

detritus wrote: Actually, I was assuming that when you went out of your way to tell us you were going to buy "in VOLUME", that you meant way more that 3-5 cases. That doesn't bother me at all.

What bothers me is the implication inherent in the offer to sell your "overstock" that you're - or anyone else, is - buying more than you need (more even that you need for trading purposes). If that's not the case, I apologize for any perceived slight.
-Josh

Okay, so we misunderstood each other. I made the " buying in volume" comment that you quoted fairly tongue in cheek. I got a lot of flack back during the DFH60 offering through the LCBO that I bought eight cases (the most I've ever bought of any beer) and that four of those cases came from one store that had only received six cases in the first place. What people don't know about that situation is that at least four of those cases were consumed by me and guests over the course of about six months. Two full cases were traded (about 2/3rds of which was with people within the province who would likely have never got it any other way) and the other two cases were given away (that's right, gratis) to people I wanted to educate about American IPA's (six here, two there, etc...). So the word OVERSTOCK doesn't generally mean I'm having to clear out stuff I don't need...trust me, with beer like that being as rarely on offer in the city as it is I could have easily consumed all eight cases myself over the course of a year but I'm usually pretty generous with my stock and willing to help people out if they miss out. Could I buy less? Well, I guess we all could. But there's so little I like coming into the LCBO that I do tend to stock up on my favourites when budget allows.

Anyway, back on topic...tickets? Anyone?

Thankfully traffic on the DVP was good, so I got there around 10:40 as well (and was surprised at the lineup).

There were still plenty of tickets for the breakfast session, so I snatched one up. Had I known there'd be different casks for different days, I would've bought a sunday session as well. I probably should have anyway... 5 samples just isn't enough! So many casks... so little time.

Cheers.

Derek wrote:5 samples just isn't enough! So many casks... so little time.

Last year it was 10 5oz samples, IIRC. Is it going to be different this year?

-Josh

detritus wrote:Last year it was 10 5oz samples, IIRC. Is it going to be different this year?

i haven't heard anything about it changing. and if that's not enough you can always buy more!

I did not make it yesterday. And the designate we sent along for our group last night, and then again today, did not succeed either.

So unless someone is willing to sell me four for Saturday night, or three for another session, I'm out. And I'm sorry, but I am not paying anything other than the face value of the ticket. (Interested vendors can PM me here.)

You have a terrific event, Ralph. I really enjoyed myself last year. Good luck and have fun. You deserve every success.

-Uncle Bobby

"5 samples just isn't enough"

I think you can buy extra tickets cheap enough

I arrived with a friend early enough to be 15th in line. Together we bought 9 tickets, we had out-of-town friends to accommodate (you're welcome Andicus--now go and change your armour).

Most of the people in line around me were only buying what they needed. I didn't hear from anyone buying six tickets for the hell of it.

The Fullers London Pride cask on hand was pretty decent, but the Hop Head was better.

I don't think Ralph should change the venue, if anything he should just add more days or make it two weekends in a row. I'm just thinking.