WARNING: THIS IS A RANT
This past Sunday my wife and I made the trek to Ann Arbor, MI to so I could pick up a few bottles of Jolly Pumpkin’s special release of Perseguidor (review coming soon). My wife stayed in the van with our kids while I joined the line that was already of formidable size by 11:50. Thought I to myself, “This will only take 1/2 an hour.”
Wrong.
Nearly two and a half hours I finally paid for my beer. A hundred or so people in front of me, most of them paying with credit card, and only one cashier made for quite a wait. I really have no complaint with Jolly Pumpkin for to reasons: 1) Perseguidor is worth the wait, and 2) The line moved slower because Captain Ron made it a point to chat with every customer. I have to say, Captain Ron is extremely kind and easy to talk to, as well as knowledgeable in all things beer.
No, my complaint lies in the troop in front of me. Let me air a few frustrations, and let me know if I’m off base, especially regarding my last complaint.
First off, the smoke. I’m not a smoker, but I did used to put down about half a pack a day. Obviously, my lungs are accustomed to carbon monoxide, tar, and nicotine. Thus said, even back in my smoking days,smoke blown in my face drove me up the wall.
Secondly, these guys conversation. Trust me, I tried to tune it out, but the volume of their voice could have pushed past lead earplugs. Each conversation they held centered around either marijuanna, getting in fights at bars, srazy sexual adventures, and their “bitches.” Sorry. I value substance.
Thirdly, their language. I actually heard the term (cover your ears), “Oh f&#king f#*kers.” Nice. I’m no prude. Honestly, stay away from me when I’m working on my car or motorcycle. But after two hours of incessant “f” bombs, I was ready to bust a cap in these homeboys (their Detroit dialect must have worn off on me). In all seriousness, when vulgarity comprises more than 25% of one’s vocabulary, I tend to assume one is overcompensating for a weak self esteem or lack of intelligence.
Finally, here is WHAT REALLY TICKED ME OFF. The group of individuals in front of me (4 males and one female) kept going on and on about how silly craft beer is. One guy kept saying, “somebody bring me a Highlife.” Trust me I wish I as making this up.
You may be asking yourself, “why would somebody whose beer of choice is Miller High Life wait 2 hours in line in sub freezing temperatures to buy a $10 bottle (12 oz) of sour ale that is blended from three different ales, aged for three years in barrels, with an additional six months in the bottle?
Here’s why. One of the five thorns in my side brought his four pals along to breach the four bottle limit. Since he could only purchase four, he used his buddies to add to his stash. No harm done right? I mean, in a perfect world my wife was going to stand with me and buy four bottles herself (but instead had to wait in a minivan with 5 children for two hours…yes, she is amazing!) Upon closer inspection, even the Persguidor hoarder got on my nerves. I heard him exclaim, “yeah, I’m buying 20 bottles. I hate the S@#t though…can’t stand sour beer. I’m just using these to trad on Beer Advocate.”
You have got to be kidding me? There were people in line behind me who didn’t get any Perseguidor because it ran out, and this guy is depriving them of a fantastic beer that they actually wanted to drink so that he could use it as currency on Beer Advocate. If I were Captain Ron, I might be a little downtrodden…his heart and soul went into this beer!
Here’s where I need your unbiased opinion. Should I have been irritated over this, or am I making a mountain out of molehill? Is it ok for someone to buy up a bunch of special release beer that they find disgusting just to trade for beers that better accommodate their palate?
When it comes down to it, maybe I shouldn’t care. While I feel bad for those who missed out on Perseguidor, perhaps they should have come earlier…after all, I nearly didn’t make the cut. Maybe it’s not a big deal, after all the beer Advocate perseguidor purveyor was a member of my craft beer culture. Maybe I’m a jerk…you tell me.
Don’t assume he likes craft beer at all. He may be trading to get more beers to get the money. I think you should be pissed. People who capitalize off this type of thing get me so pissed off that I can’t stand it. I don’t know that it’s the beer that’s the real issue. To do this stuff takes a certain mentality that is really more about the human being as a whole than it is about the beer. That’s what I find truly distressing.
Don’t get me wrong. I think it’s okay to trade that occasional bottle. After all, it does give people a chance that don’t have one at all. Yet, they’ve not the ones waiting in line…that’s a crock for those who are. My personal feelings are that I’m only waiting in line to get beer for me and maybe someone who has specifically asked me to get them a bottle or two. I try never to use the beer to get a bunch of spoils, only a fair trade. By the way, I’ve only traded twice in my beer life.
But doing what that guy was doing simply to get the bottles and trade them off…what a jerk.
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Unfortunately, this mindset is creeping in to everything. Do you know what a Zhu-Zhu pet is? It’s a little robotic hamster that my five year old would like to have. It’s not an expensive toy at $8, but apparently they were all the rage at Christmas, so they sold out everywhere. I have a Wal-mart, Target, and Meijer nearby that we’ve checked about a half a dozen times for these things, but no luck.
As it turns out, there are a ton of them on eBay. So there’s an army of jerks out there who are buying all the stock from the stores so they can try to bleed me out of a few extra bucks online. Unfortunately for them, I’ve promised myself that I will never be their mark, whether it’s this toy, or an Elmo, or Wii, or whatever else they want to try to use to extort me. I will never understand why people will buy something that they don’t want, to use as leverage against someone who does want it. We’ve pretty much all accepted it, as evidenced by the number of people who turn to eBay for hard to find stuff.
Buying the full limit to trade them all away is still OK in my book. I recently had a guy in NY buy the full limit on a rare release, even sent his wife for a second case, but then traded all but six bottles away to his friends. Being a beneficiary of his kindness, I certainly don’t think he’s a jerk. If we were talking about him selling the beer for profit, my opinion would be completely different. I also think it’s a different because in the end, he was doing a favor for friends (including me), and it’s hard to fault a guy for that.
You and your wife standing in line is fair game in my book (I plan to employ the same method at Dark Lord Day this year), but bringing (and I’ve heard allegations of buying) ringers to hoard rare releases isn’t cool.
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Nate, you’re not a jerk, nor are you making a mountain out of a molehill. BUT, the way this distribution process was set up makes a situation like that inevitable. But, it takes two to tango. You can look at it as a higher cost point to get that product that you were willing to pay.
If two hours of your life (and that of the family in the van) is worth those four bottles of beer, then, add on top of that the cold, the other idiot people around you (despite their motivations), and travel time to and from the location – then that’s the choice you make as to what you are willing to pay to get this beer.
Its a really high cost, but you freely chose to pay it.
When you add it up, next time it might be cheaper and less painful to trade with the guy in front of you on BA and just stay home!
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@Mike…kind of how i felt…it’s cool to trade, just enjoy the product and try to hook the recipient up. I’m pretty sure this guy was a beer geek.
@Howard…I see your point. Maybe I’m not giving the guy a fair shake, maybe he had tons of folks hit him up on BA and ask him to go pick up the Perseguidor…Ebay used to be fun when it was joe shmoes selling after they cleaned out their garage. now it’s just retailers. I’ll see you at Dark Lord this year, and I’ll bring a bottle of Perseguidor.
@Scott…excellent point, and very reasonable. i should have mentioned there were two really nice guys behind me. Yes, all told, it was a high price to pay, but it was worth it. I guess at Dark Lord, we had such a good time waiting in line, the bar was set high in my mind.
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The older I get (turning 34 this year, ouch), the less tolerance I have for stupidity and even less for ignorance. Factor in the situation (2.5 hours, wife and kids waiting?!?), I would’ve lost it. By my standards, you were way cool and certainly not making it a bigger deal than it was.
btw, did you really say, “5 kids” ?!?!?
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Unfortunately, the world contains @ssholes. You may very well have encountered some in line waiting for the Perseguidor.
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I really dislike being around stupid people… You did well Nate.
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Why thanks Nate, I would love a Perseguidor! how generous of you
Seriously, I’m a sour beer fanatic and would have loved the opportunity to stand in line. I was fortunate enough to get an Allagash Vagabond, which is my prized beer possession that will never get traded or sold.
Now, I’m with you. I can’t stand jerks, assholes, or just plain inconsiderate people. I’m 35 and have no patience for those people. Now as far as the hoarders, well I guess I’m a hypocrite. If I was in that line I would be pissed at those people especially if I didn’t get any of the beer. But it is some of those same people who may make it possible for me to try that beer through a trade.
BTW, your wife should be nominated for sainthood. I hope she got to enjoy some of that beer
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I love sour beers, but when I asked my brother to go and get me some (he lives just west of Ann Arbor), he gave me a no. Too cold, long line, no promise of getting some. Which was fine with me.
As for the guy in front of you, as crappy that it is that he picked up all that beer, and deprived people behind, that sucks. But if you look at it as he allowed people from all over to get JP beer, that is great. You don’t know where he was going to send them off to. Maybe he helps the company expand their market by sending it all over (I know, he isn’t sending a lot, but still, a little could do a lot).
Let me say again, that I would have rather everyone who waited outside freezing get some beer, but it isn’t the perfect distribution.
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Nate,
Very interesting article. Brings up lots of points
#1 – Simply Beer is right. Your wife is a Saint.
#2 – Brad is also right. Factor in all those conditions and I would have lost it.
#3 – I don’t know if waiting in a two hour line for beer is for me. I have nothing against it and admire the people who are willing to do it, but I hate lines and am not really sure that a single beer is worth it.
Kein
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Sorry you has this experience, Nate. You are not wrong. As I’ve always said, there are two people in this world, those who try and make it a better place and those who don’t. You and the group in front of you are obviously on opposite sides of that equation. I am going to make the (unfair?) assumption that these were younger drinkers (21-25) which might account for their behaviour but certainly does not excuse it. That being said, there are always going to be some boneheads who never grow up. The beauty of the craft beer world is that most of us are like minded people who enjoy the company and conversations of each other. The only advantage to standing in line that long (other than obtaining said beer) is to enjoy those standing in line with you and maybe make a few friends along the way. I’m sorry this was not the case for you. I hope you enjoyed the beer. Here’s to better days! Cheers, DA
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Nate: I gotta concur with all those that say your wife is a saint! Suffice it to say it would not go that way in my household. As to the situation you found yourself in, I’m a bit of a wienie, so I probably wouldn’t have said or done much but roll my eyes and hope they noticed and shut up a little. Depending on how much I wanted more of the beers, I might have tried to work a trade for a few of them in line with the guy and that might have calmed their banter for a few minutes. At least they might have been a little distracted. I can’t really put any value on the hoarding. I guess if the guy actually convinced 4 more people to wait in line for 2.5 hours they should get the beer. Hope you enjoy what you got.
Don
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[...] Well done, Jolly Pumkin! The more I drank the beer, the more I wished I had more than 12 ounces in my glass. It is milder than expected, both in tartness and sweetness, but the complexity of the beer allows for this deviation. My only mild complaint is I wish it were just a tad more carbonated. If you can get your hands on this rare gem, do what it takes! It was worth the wait and company in line! [...]
Wow, lots of comments. Thanks for all the interaction, guys! Yes, my wife is a saint, and I am a buffoon for not realizing that the wait would be so long. After reading through the comments and thinking it over I realize:
1) Much of those guys behavior was intolerable,
2)it’s the price I pay to be one of, at the most, 480 people on surface of this planet to drink this lovely beer (see my review, it was worth it),
3) beer capitalism aside, the hoarder had a right to be there…I just hope to beat him in line next year! Cheers!
Again, thanks for all the interaction!
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First off, I have no problem cursing in public. I do it frequently. I talk about marijuana in public, though less frequently (because of it’s legal status),
I do keep my voice down and keep my topics of discussion to cleaner things, but I’m not too worried about your child or grandmother hearing me say “fuck”. And?
Also, while it is EXTREMELY unfair to the people in line, Captain Ron’s beer is going to get more widely distributed by this douchebag who brought all his friends. It sucks not to be able to get a beer because of it’s limited availability/location.
I think it’s fair for you to be upset but did it warrant this rant? Not at all.
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I’d be pissed. I kind of did this a little while back sorta but it involved me buying a whole case online and not standing in line blabbing about it. I would of told the guy off, especially if I had a few. Anyone going to DL Day? =)
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I’m going to DLD this year.
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Hey Dave,
Mike and I are going to DL. Are you? We should meet up, if so.
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I would just like to point out that every comment on this blog is in approval of your post.
I’d also like to post that my comment was denied… even though it was on topic. It just so happened to completely disagree with you. You have proved what my original thoughts are: you’re a little girl.
Unsubscribed from your blog.
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That’s a nice response. Obviously, we don’t deny our posters having an opinion. If you believe that, then you are haven’t read much on our blog. Furthermore, think about it…why would this be approved if the other one wasn’t? Don’t be so hot-headed an inane. I’ll look up your other post and try to get it up here (provided it isn’t vulgar). What’s more, we have 13,000 spams in Akismet right now. Isn’t it apparent that we can’t filter every single one? Why didn’t you just contact us through the page provided and let us know that this happened instead of assuming that we didn’t want to let disagreement be voiced? There, I found it. Are you happier? Just like I thought, Akismet caught it. and put it in the wrong place.
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Next time just let us know instead of assuming that we filter out what is not agreeable to us. After all, neither we nor the computer are perfect. Here is another point to raise about what Nate said, you have to put yourself into his shoes. I imagine even the most calm people would be frustrated. If you are able to put yourself into anyone’s shoes, you will certainly understand that we didn’t slight you on our site. What you said about Nate’s rant is amazing considering the context of your own!
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My comment was uncalled for. I apologize. I was unaware that an automated spam remover was at work.
Maybe put a disclaimer on your blog stating “if you don’t see your comment, let us know. We have had issues with valid comments being removed as spam in the past”. Just an idea…
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Thanks for coming back and understanding. We’ll see about getting that up.
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That’s actually a good suggestion Juiceman. I’d like to figure where to put that disclaimer on my site, since a few folks have had their comments go right to the Askimet spam can and thought I was holding back their comments.
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We may have to implement it. The worst part is that we have to deal with this spam crap at all. People have to remember that certain words are just spam targeted, too, It stinks but that’s where we’re at.
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