Schlafly Pumpkin Ale Launch at Cafe Lou Lou, Highlands - 9/7

But I guess there's marketing. And having to be the first. And our general inability to wait patiently for the time to be right. Nope, we'd rather have Christmas stuff in the store in September and be tired of it BEFORE Thanksgiving.

We need a new category for beers: Almost Seasonals.

Cheers!

I don't necessarily believe that we as consumers have an inability to wait patiently for the proper season in which to purchase goods. Still, the general marketing of products has programmed us to accept the fact that we should be buying for Halloween/Thanksgiving in late August, Christmas in September, etc. The psychology seems to be a hodgepodge of "keeping up with the Joneses," getting the best deal possible, and needing to feed the impulse of buying what is on the shelves.

As far as beer consumers are concerned, I think most would much rather appreciate a "seasonal" beer in its appropriate setting, whether that be temporal or climate-based. Octoberfests taste better next to a smoking grill surrounded by wrinkled leaves. Winter warmers should do as their name denotes.

I understand that hectic brewing schedules, fermenter space, etc. dictate the "when" to this equation, but it'd be great to regain the novelty of the true seasonal beer. "Almost Seasonals" is unfortunately apropos.

Michael,

I closed the window in which I was typing a response to you. I was basically saying you are right about the consumer and patience except the creep would stop if consumers said "no mas."

So do I say "no mas" to almost seasonals and miss out, or do I give in, and in doing so, support creep?

I cited Easterbrook in my earlier post. He actually mentions "Punkin" creep in his most recent column. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/100907_tuesday_morning_quarterback&sportCat=nfl

Just search "Punkin."

----

One final thing. Scott, I don't understand your point about demand. It would seem to be that if demand is so great you could serve more product in the same time period. However you want to spin it, it sure sounds like, because of demand, Schafly's decided to expand both product and period of sale. The "it's so popular let's do it earlier and longer" argument. And so it goes...

Nice glass! Thanks for the pic everyone....

Droid would have done it with one click And according to Steve Jobs, the Droid is the phone to buy if you want to watch porn.

I actually thought long and hard about going to Droid before I committed to the iPhone 4, but I ended up being sold by (1) 250,000 applets and (2) having a battery that stays charged all day.

I get a day and a half. Poor battery life was all part of the anti-hype. And how many of those applets do you use?

My decision was based on multi-tasking, being able to open spreadsheets, word docs, etc without having to purchase an app. Plus, I get porn.

[Robin Garr]

And how many of those applets do you use?

Not a very high percentage, but I've got about 10 pages of app icons.

My decision was based on multi-tasking,

iOS4 will do that.

being able to open spreadsheets, word docs, etc without having to purchase an app.

Two words: Google Documents.

Plus, I get porn.

Whole world of the Web is out there for all who care to surf it.
Seriously, as I said, I looked long and hard at the late-model Androids and was tempted, but 2 1/2 years of great satisfaction with the iPhone kept me on board. I wouldn't mind a cutting-edge Android, though.

It was nice to meet you at the bar Scott.

That pumpkin ale is absolutely delicious! Amazing balance and flavor. It's truly wonderful stuff.

And what a bargain. $5 for the glass filled with the ale! And the glass is not only very elegant and beautiful, but a lot bigger than it looks in the picture. It holds a bit less than a pint, but still basically a full glass of beer.

I think as of 6 pm they still had at least a dozen of the glasses left. And so if you hurry on down you can get yours.

Many thanks!

Best, Ben

Scott,

The bartender (Kyle maybe?) told me I just missed you. Forgot my gf has class until 7, so we made it nearer to 8. Beer was great, as are the glasses. Hopefully I'll get to introduce myself soon.

I'm just wondering how we'd ever introduce new beers on their merits alone if we didn't give away glassware to bribe people into sampling them.

Then again, I'm generally churlish on the topic ...

[Robin Garr]

My decision was based on multi-tasking, being able to open spreadsheets, word docs, etc without having to purchase an app. Plus, I get porn.

Here, this explains much. (Caution if you open at work: Contains R-rated language)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y-buw6t7zw

I'm just wondering how we'd ever introduce new beers on their merits alone if we didn't give away glassware to bribe people into sampling them.

Then again, I'm generally churlish on the topic ...

Do you really have problems introducing new beers? I normally make my selection by finding a beer I have yet to try and figured most beer drinkers were like that, guess not. I'm also drawn to new beers if the brewer is present to discuss them or if they are recommended with a specific dish.

I think it's all in the spin of the marketing...make it sound irresistible and people will try it.

On topic: I picked up a pack of the Pumpkin Ale. OMG Good!!! It's definitely in my top 3 beers. I'm going to try to snag another pack to take to my dad next weekend. Hoping I can talk him into bringing home some of the good Alaskan brews in exchange We also picked up the Bourbon Barrel and I liked it pretty well, think my dad will really enjoy that one!

The other topic: Love that video Robin, have had it linked on my blog for awhile and it still cracks me up everytime I see it. I'm pretty happy with my iphone and will probably stick with the next gen when it's time for a new phone, though if the Flash issue isn't solved I may wonder.

One of my friends just got a new droid and it's a pain to navigate, 6 clicks to get to a text msg, not so smart voice dailing, too much crap when I want one touch and done like the iphone. It seemed to be kinda like when you buy a new computer from HP and they load it down with tons of games and programs you'll never use but can't uninstall. I also understand you can't surf the web while talking on the android (or just on verizon's version)? That would be a big no for me since I seem to be my family's walking reference guide...I get called for directions, recipes, quilting show schedules, calories in moose meat, locating dog food retailers and all kinds of wierd stuff that requires opening google mid conversation.

Thank you to everyone who came out to Cafe Lou Lou last night for the Pumpkin Ale launch. We very much appreciate all the support and the kind words. Thanks for supporting Craft Beer. Cheers, all.

Scott Shreffler
Schlafly Beer