Beer Releases: The Fun To Be Had While Mastering The Art Of The F5

So this past week was the release of 2 new offerings from one of my favorite up and coming breweries in San Diego, Burgeon Beer Company. Very cool and laid back people with a great pedigree for making stellar beers. If you haven’t made the trip down to this little gem in the heart of the Carlsbad Business Park, you’re doing yourself an injustice and that needs to change ASAP, I can gush on and on about these guys but lets get back on topic: the beer release. Burgeon Beer Company was releasing 2 different canned offerings; Universal Secret – A Northeast Style IPA brewed in collaboration with Stone Brewing & Mixed Greens – A West-Coast Style Double IPA. For me personally, it was nice to see what a little over a month of exposure can do for a brewery. These guys released their first 2 canned offerings around the midpoint of May, which took a few days to sell out completely. This past weekends release was a totally different story as they were flying out the brewery and sold out with last call for the day still on the horizon.

Now as for the beers released:

Universal Secret – For me personally, the NE style IPA is tasty as hell but they keep popping up everywhere with breweries following the trends. This one was pretty unique from others I have tried in that the brew process finished with 0 IBUs. Yeah, entirely too smooth for a 7% IPA. Super fluffy mouthfeel with insane crushability for the warm Summer months ahead. Now I”ll have to admit, especially with this Haze Craze, its still a bit “Green” (or not fully finished for my beer slang deficient) but I usually let these Juice Bombs sit in the can for a week before I start taking them to the dome at breakneck speed.

Mixed Greens – So first reaction is this bad boys came out swinging and are ready to drink out of the can Day One. Typical tropical fruit flavors you find with this Hop Bill with a bit more restrain on the bitterness levels. Its brewed as a Double IPA but drinks like a Single IPA. If I was forced at gunpoint to choose which one I preferred, this one wins by a landslide.

So with this release, it really brought up some of my favorite aspects to special beer releases; its easily accessible since these guys are practically in my backyard and it was an ode to the good old “Lets get a group of beer nerds to wait in line for an hour or so” type of release. While these types of releases are fun and a great way to network with other craft beer aficionados, they’re slowly becoming extinct with most breweries preferring to switch to an online sale format for most of their special releases. From the online standpoint, it does tend to make releases more attainable for those not in the general area. and does reduce the likelihood of patrons drinking illegally while waiting in line. If i had a preference between the two options, I’m always the one to show initiative and get off my ass and head to the brewery. But times are changing and one must adapt, especially with one of my favorite breweries having their most coveted release online this upcoming weekend.

If you live in California and don’t bury your head in the sand or find yourself licking windows, you’ve probably head of Bottle Logic. Yes, these fine folks have amassed a following of cult proportions with their Barrel-Aged offerings while recently dabbling in some canned IPAs & Tart Wheat Ales. Yes, I also hoard these just in case World War III starts next week (at least I’ll be drinking well). The one beer that really put these cool cats on the map is, without a doubt, Fundamental Observation – A Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Vanilla Stout. With the first batch run debuting at the Bruery Anniversary Party back in 2015, it has evolved into one of the premier Barrel-Aged stouts on the market. The best part of this upcoming release, and a brilliant move from their marketing crew, is they decided to throw a total curveball at everyone this past weekend by announcing a new variant that will be dosed with an obscene amount of cocoa nibs to take this marshmallow & fudge libation and transform it into full blown candy bar euphoria. I anticipate this to be a full blown internet meltdown with a tidal wave of butthurt to follow from all those who end up missing out. Thankfully for myself, along with a decent amount of Southern California Beer Nerds, I managed to drive up an hour each way to visit these guys during their anniversary week AKA The Week of Logic. Those of us that were bold enough to deal with Orange County traffic and collect a unique stamp each day became Level up Members; granting access to a bottle of every special release beer for the entire year. Now even though I’m guaranteed 1 bottle of each beer being released, that won’t stop me from trying to obtain as much of this liquid delight as possible.

Now since I try to be a true ambassador to the craft, I try to help others gain access to beers they wouldn’t normally be able to obtain. Here are a couple of my finer points that you should keep in mind when it comes to any special online release.

1. Make Sure You Understand The Rules/Guidelines Of The Release: Know the dates and times like the back of your hand. You should know when the sale starts, know how much beer can be purchased and the pickup window for the release. if its not clear to you its always best to reach out and contact the brewery to clear up any confusion. Don’t be the guy who ends up getting thru the online sale and can’t make the arrangements to pickup the beer you purchased. you lose the money and you’ll inadvertently piss off those that left empty handed.
2. Make Sure Your Payment Info Is Ready & Accurate: I know from firsthand experience what its like to get into the payment section of an online sale, only for the payment to not go thru and the browser times out on you. Make sure all of your credit card info is up to date and easily accessible. Most online sales usually have a limited timeframe to complete your purchase before the allocated bottles are put back into the purchase pool.
3. Be Prepared To Get Shut Out Every Now And Then: This Might be the one point i cannot stress enough. Listen, its simply supply & demand: there is an extremely limited supply of these special release beers that have a mass of people collectively trying to obtain them just like you. Its very likely that you could end up not being able to purchase these beers. This by no means gives you the right to go on social media and throw a fucking tantrum cause last time I checked, the legal drinking age in the United States is 21 and toddlers do that pouting shit. Grow the fuck up and get your ass on these trade forums and make a deal or two. If I see you at a release bitching bout how you were “owed” these bottles because “you spend so much money here”, I may walk up and put a pacifier in your mouth.

Thats basically the best and most politically correct way I can put it when it comes to releases without getting fully unfiltered. I’ve personally been shut out of releases and the world hasn’t ended. It happens from time to time, it just makes you go out there and try harder on the next release.

Well I’m keeping my fingers crossed in hopes of breaking this dry spell with this brewery’s releases and hope you all can do the same. As always, get out there and share some beers with a buddy and always welcome feedback.

Cheers!