Capitalism and Craft Beer: Muling for Black Friday Brewery Releases

Here is a quick and sloppy log of my not ordinary Black Friday shopping:

7:35am "Are you up yet?" Text from Dave of the Buckeye Craft Beer Club, They Ship Beer

7:37am I reply, "No doubt, headed to the release now." That was a lie, I may not have made it if he did't hit me up.

7:55am I leave my house and head to Listermann brewing to pick up the max allotment of their limited release. I smoke a bowl and sip coffee on the way, hoping nothing was sold out to the early birds.

The release starts at 8 am with fellow craft beergeeks sharing bottles outside of the brewery, chilling in camping chairs, talking about their cellar and their favorite breweries around the city.

Imperial Nutcase and Marshmallow Imperial Nutcase are todays score. 10.2% ABV, strong peanuttbutter porters.

I buy 12 of each. Total: $138. Since I am muling for Dave I keep 2 for myself and he will reimburse me for ALL of the beer I pickup.

Next stop is 50West. I am there by 9am and run into some framiliar faces. While waiting for the official release at 12pm we all share our bottles. I share my 2 nutcases that I had just picked up.

Some of the graveyard is depicted below.

My phone died while I was here or this would be a longer journal and I would have more content of the day. It can be hard to take pictures when you are drinking and socializing, but I try.

12pm: Everyone is pretty buzzed at this point. I've tried 15+ different beers in line, mostly stouts, and had a breakfast sandwich from the brewery.

They were releasing 3 bottles all $12 a piece. From left to right- 10&2 Barley wine, Ghost of Imogene Stout, Brett is my copilot a brett amber ale that is meant to be stored in different conditions to get different results from the wild nature of the yeast that makes the beer (my personal favorite... I will talk about bretts in the future)

I manage to talk my way into them selling me double the max allotment. 4 Barleywines, 4 Imogene and 6 Brett. Total $168

When you get this much (which really shouldn't be that big of a deal) you gotta keep it on the hush or some people who don't show up until 8 hours after the release get butt hurt if a beer is sold out, then the brewery gets bitched at on Facebook because they support capitalism. We can talk about this BS another time.

Next stop is to my buddy Justin's house. I scored 2 of the Imogene for him. He insisted to Venmo me (wish he was into crypto). He sent over $26, thats a $2 unnecessary tip, but appreciated.

Then he cracks open this delicious blueberry pie fruit beer! Then I crack one of the Brett is my copilot. We drink and chat for a bit. Then he insists on giving me a KBS for helping hm out. What a great friend!

2pm: It's time for a nap! All in all I had a great time drinking great beer (FOR FREE!) In the end I got to try over 15 new beers in line hanging out with like minded craft beer lovers, earned $40 worth of limited edition beers plus an extra $22 cash profit given to me and a Founders KBS, all while day drinking!

I hope someone finds this log interesting.

Are there any other craft beer lovers out there?

Any Steemians trade craft beer?

Be sure to follow for more beer shenanigans,

Cheers!