Bottle Conditioned

I feel like this blog is becoming one giant rant.  Sorry about that.  I’ll try to curb my future tirades and present more information here that is actually useful…not simply me spouting off

But, until that time, here’s another interesting discussion I’d like to begin, and would really love some input from others out there in the beer community.

I’ve noticed an interesting trend in tastings (be it beer, wine, liquor, whatever) - they attract the wrong crowd. 

Well, at least, sometimes.

Case in point:  Last night, we attended a tasting at a local beer/cigar shop here in Nashville.  Aside from the fact that there was zero glassware (see the previous rant on this blog), I was excited to try some new beer, learn about the brewery, and engage in beer conversation with like-minded individuals.

I realized, about halfway through the tasting, that the conversation I was interested in wasn’t really going to happen.  Why?  Wrong crowd.  Completely.

I’ve noticed this at other events.  For example, earlier this summer, Nashville played host to a very large beer tasting event called the Music City Brewer’s Festival.  We were lucky enough to have a booth at the event and represent the craft beer industry and our charge to educate more people about craft beer.  I noticed, however, that the vast majority of the people in attendance didn’t care about learning about or tasting craft beer - they simply wanted to get drunk.

Now, I realize that drinking large amounts of alcohol could potentially hamper your ability to think logically…but come on…this doesn’t make any sense at all.

Let’s look at the logic.  If someone’s goal is simply to drink as much as possible in order to get drunk, then they’re firstly not interested in taste.  For them, it’s alcohol delivery that is key.  So, to be as efficient as possible, they ought to either drink liquor or drink cheap mass market beer.  Remember, for the vast majority of these folks, getting drunk for cheap represents the epitome of the mission. 

So, this is where the math starts to break down.  The average 12-pack of swill costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $10-$12.  This provides the user with 12 cans of easily drinkable (I realize that this characterization is a sliding scale, but go with me here) alcohol water in 12 oz doses.  Generally speaking, the drinker (depending on their level of “experience”) will achieve their goal before finishing this 12-pack of beer, giving them an estimated drunk/dollar ratio of 1 dU (drunk unit) to approx. $10.

Why then, do these people choose to attend a festival with tickets that start at $30 and result in the same output of 1 dU?  The cost analysis here is mind-boggling.

Seriously though, I don’t understand it.  How does one organize a tasting and attract the correct clientèle?  Attracting the wrong crowd can undoubtedly ruin the experience for those interested in pursuing an educational opportunity.  One thought is to simply price the event out of reach of those simply interested in drinking, not tasting.  However, this seems to unfairly punish those who are interested in tasting by putting the burden on them.  Smart marketing could achieve the goal, but how clever would you need to be?

Has anyone had a good experience in setting up tastings at reasonable prices while attracting the correct group of customers?  Or are we simply relegated to always having to deal with the drunks?  Should we start setting up events called “drinkings” instead of “tastings” and see if the public starts to discern the difference?

I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences on this.  I don’t want to come off as a “tasting snob”.  Certainly there are times where I simply just drink beer.  But I want to preserve the opportunities for tasting beer as well.

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