Limited and Hard-to-Get Beers

Every year we have a handful of beers that come to the store that we can't possibly get enough of.  The first few things that come to mind are the Brooklyn Black Ops, Imperial Stout Trooper, Stone Double Bastard as well as a handful from other small craft brewers.  Now that we've become one of the best (if not THE best) beer stores in the area, we've been struggling to come up with a fair way to sell these very limited-quantity beers.

In the past that one-case of Ghandi Bot each year would get tucked away in the back of the store out of sight. Regular customers that knew us and how we did things would periodically ask about the beer.  If we had any to sell I'd duck into the back briefly and grab some for our regular beer customers.  This method made sure that the frequent visitors to the store were usually well cared for, but also made be feel like an evil gatekeeper.  Having to decide who was and was not worthy was a daily task I wasn't crazy about.

Other stores (and virtually the completely opposite theory) just put these beers out on the shelf and operate under the "first-come, first-served" mentality.  In theory this method might level the playing field but often results in just a few customers scooping up the entire allocation before other customers even get a chance.

I've not a fan of either of those methods so we've come up with something a little different to try for a while.  Currently we've got Dogfish Head's Faithfull Ale (dedicated to Pearl Jam), Dogfish Head 120 Minute, Brooklyn Brewing's Black Ops, as well as the New England Brewing Imperial Stout Trooper. They're sitting up on our top shelf above the Specialty Beer Section, all of which have stickers that read "Not for Sale, ask for details." We've been telling as many of our regulars as possible about our new philosophy, so let's see if I can explain it clearly here...

Every time you shop at Sonoma Wines & Spirits, as you proceed to the register, tell whoever is working the computer that you'd like your name to get thrown in for the Limited Beers.  We'll make sure you're in our customer database, and every time you make a purchase your name will print out on the top of your receipt.  The receipt gets tossed into the raffle bucket for the next time we draw.  Every week or so we'll pick a few things off the shelf to be sold and we'll draw a few names out of the bucket. Unfortunately we cannot give away these limited beers (it's against CT law) so if your name is drawn, you'll have your choice to purchase from the brews we're giving away that week.

This is the most fair and unbiased method I've been able to come up with for these highly-allocated beers.  The Brooklyn Black Ops, for example, was less than 1,000 cases total production this year and we only received a total of 3 bottles! When we put these items on our website in the past, we've have potential customers offer us more than twice the normal retail price for such bottles.  But with the new 'raffle' of these limited beers, I've actually reduced prices for most of them!  Rather than charge an arm and a leg (like some stores do), the winners of the raffle will be given the chance to buy these beers at "normal" retail prices.

Did I explain it at least somewhat clearly? Any questions?  You can either email me if you have questions about it, or better yet, stop by the store.  While you're here asking questions, I'll make sure you're in our database so that your name can be in the raffle too!