Stone Enjoy By 09.21.12 and Pumpkins in July!

If you're even a moderate craft beer enthusiast you've probably heard and even tried the Stone Enjoy by 09.21.12. If you haven't get on the chase wagon. It's an exceptional IPA that's highly drinkable for hefty alcohol volume it possesses(9.4%). The rage around this beer began before the majority of people even tried it. A beer that's meant to expire? Who would wanna do something like that? Why would you go through all that effort to have it be sent back a month later? These were some of the things I happened to hear leading up to the arrival of it in stores. What was happening was the buzz that Stone had created in a kick ass marketing scheme.

Indeed word of mouth is one of the ways that buzz is generated in the beer industry now. But add Facebook and Twitter into the mix and you can go from a small buzz to a critical mass in an hour. This is what happened that made people hang out in stores for hours waiting for distribution trucks to arrive. And made me drive a half hour to get some on tap. Cause even though I work in a liquor store, demand was so high my opportunity at getting some was missed. Stone did a great job building this beer up to a fever pitch before it arrived. But the beer had to deliver or it would have been an epic flop.

Now, Stone has set up a theater for a trend to begin. Who will be next? Will Stone pull a repeat and switch the markets? Or will someone else decide to take the risk? Either way it was a greatly executed plan this time around. Both the beer and marketing were wonderful. Well done Stone and all the distributors who made it possible!

Take your pumpkin ales to the shore during a summer vacation!

Now onto a subject that I'm passionately annoyed with. Why did pumpkin and fall themed beers get released so damn early this year? Was it an economic issue? The breweries weren't hitting target sales so they decided to push up release dates in order to meet their earning predictions? Or has this just been a slow going process and year after year that's caused it to now arrive in July (and even June in some extreme cases). Last year it was mid to late August. Well I'm against this.

It's nice to see new product roll in but after a bike ride in 95 degree weather I'm not thinking Imperial Pumpkin Ale. There needs to be a Leap Month thrown into the beer release calendar to get these breweries back on schedule with the actual seasons. The biggest problem is if you want to drink this beer "in season", you have to buy it now and sit on it. But some have been bottled way back in early June. Most fall beers aren't intended for aging so you have a declining flavored beer in the fall, or you drink it in the Summer and have your taste buds become confused. Pity. Hey breweries, take a lesson from the Stone 09.21.12. Of course you can't take every beer you brew to that extreme. But fresh is usually best. Release the beer on schedule with the actual season. So when you want a Pumpkin Ale while carving a Jack-O-Lantern, it's fresh.

Next week I'll get my Christmas decorations down and put them up. This way I'll be ready when all the Christmas Ales and Holiday Beers are released in late September. At least that's what I'm predicting will happen based on this years release schedule.

I'm done complaining. Go have a beer.
Cheers