The 'news' was posted on Beer Advocate, where the trading forum vibrated into action. A few members with functioning cerebella smelled a rat and wondered why they hadn't seen the info, since they are on the brewery email list. Their voices were drowned out as the Vampires worked out how to corner the market in the precious nectar. Some bleated about the scheduling, complaining they had other spooge to hunt. Then, later the same day, word came down that it was all a hoax. Vaccaro had seen the info late in the day and passed word that it wasn't true. Beernews.org published a correction and apology, and BA admins locked down the thread before anybody exploded with anticipation.All well and good? Well, not quite. The Ladies Of Craft Beer pondered a while and concluded that Captain Lawrence are somehow culpable because they don't have anybody scanning the social media interwebs 24 hours a day. Instead of just accepting somebody perpetrated a clever hoax that got a lot of knickers bunched, there has to be an inquest.
You want an inquest? The often despicable behaviour of these people in their single-minded pursuit of eBay and trading fodder continues to be hothoused by the online beer communities providing them with trading fora. They have become predictable in their greed, and eventually, somebody was bound to dupe them. To claim that a brewer has some complicity because he isn't baby-sitting a bunch of avaricious numbskulls instead of trying to run his business is to offer excuses for shallow greed and disrespect for beer. The Vampires scored big last month when they cleaned Russian River out of commemorative beer in 24 hours, this month they've been made to look stupid. Get over it.
Here's to the next stunt!
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20 comments:
Hear hear! Eejits.
I love you. Thanks for this.
Score! Fucking Idiots. Fact.
Oh my. Not much self-awareness over at the Ladies, is there?
I'm going to put the Vampires back below my radar where they belong.
Bravo!
Snurtle!!
It happens to all us beer enthusiasts, Sid. Recently I saw an ad in the paper for 3 boxes of lout for buttons down at Morrisons. I got there, half the choice had gone.
These people that get in early doors and buy up all the grog are not playing fair. Good to see them get some comeuppance.
Well stated.
I can't get over how some, even local supposed "fans", are blaming Scott and CL for any of this. It's their own monster they created. Now live with the consequences.
Remember that his brewery would still be successful without the need for tickerific specialties, that seem to be the only desire for the type of rabid Pavlovian "tweeters" out there just looking to score.
Cheers!
Thanks guys :-)
Lew - does your wife know? ;-)
As posted on Facebook...
I didn't consider the possibility that it could have been perpetrated by someone as satire against BA's. Glad to see that folks in the UK are keeping up with new releases in the U.S. though.
Doing quick posts without proper journalistic fact checking is part of the grind of pushing out nearly 150 posts/month. Especially when leaving a few mins. later to help a buddy move. Price = paid.
I will say that monitoring customer feedback is a way of life for businesses in the U.S. I guess it's quite relaxed across the Atlantic.
Cheers!
Sid, it is one thing for you to attack the American beer community, but it is another to post falsities. My post on Ladies of Craft Beer actually says, and I quote, "It’s not his fault- he brews for a living and was busy... Don’t get me wrong, I love what Captain Lawrence does and I am in no way hating on those guys- it’s just an example of what a lot of breweries are struggling with." I encourage you to actually read postings that you are going to talk about. Ladies of Craft Beer are very aware of the beer world (even self-aware, although I'm not sure why that would matter in this case). When you are running a business that relies on social media (such as emails, Facebook and Twitter) to spread the word about your product (especially for business like Captain Lawrence that send out their entire specialty release schedule via email) then yes, it is in your business' best interest to be a constant online presence. I responded to your comment on Ladies of Craft Beer with a more thorough response. I enjoyed reading the comments to your post here, because it just goes to show you how people will believe anything they read without thoroughly checking the facts and forming their own opinions!
Thanks for mentioning Ladies of Craft Beer and best of luck in your endeavors.
I don't think Sid's hating on Captain Lawrence either, Stevie. Seems to me he's hating more on the "small community of selfish and acquisitive beer ‘lovers’", and calling them up on their cheek of suggesting a brewery should run its business in any particular way.
Maybe leave what's in Captain Lawrence's best interests to Captain Lawrence?
I don't think that Sid was hating on Captain Lawrence, nor was that said in my above comment. The social media position was a question raised in an opinion piece on LadiesOCB- and here I simply point out the false nature of what Sid wrote of the piece.
On the same token, why should you tell me how to run Ladies of Craft Beer? Did you read the piece on there that you are commenting about? There's a difference between commenting on something and raising a question to the community than telling someone how to run their business. Captain Lawrence was just an example- it could be relevant to breweries, bars, the pet shop down the street, Mary's Needlework Craft's on Etsy, etc. The point was to bring an awareness up, which, as beer bloggers, is what we do- talk about relevant news in the craft beer world.
I, too, would like to try every beer on the face of the planet, but realize that there are just some rare gems I'll probably never get to try. I stand in line just like everyone else to get what I can, and I drink the shenanigans out of it. To automatically lump my business, which is about educating women about all facets of and advocating for craft beer, into a category that you so despise because you misread a posting is close-minded. But now we are aware.
Yep, I've read the piece several times; Sid's too; and I just can't see the falsehood you're accusing him of.
It looks to me like you reckon the problem is in the mis-information itself, rather than the way readers treat such information when it comes their way. Your suggestion seems to be that such mis-information can only hurt the brewer's business, totally ignoring the fact that sometimes these hoaxes are pulled by the brewers themselves. Self-harm?
Wow, looks like I'm late for my own pissing match. Adam - saw your second comment at LOCB. I don't 'disdain' the whole beer community (I'm part of it, after all I love beer), I reserve it for halfwits who take 2oz samples and reduce them to a series of meaningless numbers; and the small but harmful trading community who are prepared to go to absurd lengths in order to acquire 'White Whales'.
Stevie - nice job of ramping up the hysteria - "attack the American beer community" - and calling me a liar. The story here was the hoax, until you expressed incredulity over how long it took Scott to realise what had happened, and then your "I appreciate... but..." Then you became part of it, for me. I don't hate what you're trying to do (you do fly off the handle, don't you?) with LOCB, I just can't believe you'd see CL as part of the problem here.
As a matter of interest, are you on the CL email list? I am. As I said, some BAs smelled a rat, but they were knocked over in the stampede.
Oh, by the way - BN, the cheque is in the post... ;-)
Cheque? I expect at least a bottle of AB:04 so I can show off how cool I am.
What a load of old bollocks. Another good reason to keep away from this sort of anal stuff.
Crept back here as I sip my Sierra Nevada IPA (not limited, readily available in stores across the U.S.!)
I recently missed out on tickets for a band whose short name is Godspeed! They are on tour for the first time in 8 or so years. The tickets sold out in one day & I had forgot about the sale. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me probably. Or I can shell out $200 for a ticket on eBay...
Does that anger me? No, it's life.
For those who attend the shows, their ears will have such an experience comparable to a beer geek whose palate tastes some sweet nectar from Russian River or CLB or Cantillon or wherever. It will probably be memorable to say the least.
I recently had a bottle of a beer called Deconstruction and I haven't forgot about it. One of the most unique, well-made beers that I have ever had and only one batch was made.
Should beer people lose sight of the merits of a great pilsner or pale ale that is available every day? No, but I can't blame them for being especially excited for experiences like Framboise for a Cure or the latest CLB sour ale either.
The balance comes in being able to appreciate all those beer experiences.
Correct me if I'm wrong here, but your desire to see the band came from first-hand experience of hearing what they sound like. Would you have shelled out $200 if you'd never heard them in your life (they only gig live; no recordings exist) going solely on the reviews of other people, some of whom have paid fortunes to see them on previous occasions?
Me, I'd consider the band's refusal to record to be a fatal dick-move and wouldn't pay the asking price to see them, never mind over-the-odds on the grey market. What if they're actually shit? And what if other bands decide to stop recording and go live-only? That, IMO, would be bad for music.
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