A couple of weeks ago we spent a good chunk of time installing a new piece of shelving in beer-land, and since then I’ve been slowly expanding some of our selections and introducing some new products. I’ve gotten a fair few requests for more efficiently spreading the word about the arrival of limited release beers and oddities that come our way, so now we’ve given them a dedicated spot: the experiment area. The top two shelves, all the way to the right, are now going to play host to whatever odds and ends arrive that wouldn’t otherwise have a home… for example, right now I have some Troeg’s Flying Mouflan (Nugget Nectar on steroids!), The Alchemist’s “Celia” Saison (gluten-free from a brewery rarely seen in MA!), and the Stone/Bottleworks “13” collaboration brew.
Additionally, I’d like to use this area to evaluate how customers feel about beers I’m on the fence about stocking. In the coming days you’ll find a chalk board next to the experiments, and the names of any beers that I’m looking for input on… chalk up a tally mark next to things you’ve tried and liked, and those that are popular will become permanent fixtures of the beer shelves.
Lastly, I’m going to try and tweet out the limited beers (those that don’t have waiting lists) as they arrive, so if you want to be alerted whenever some new goodies show up, follow us on Twitter @ColonialSpirits .
How does one hear about the ‘waiting list’ beers? I mean, do I just have to know something is coming, and ask?
Unfortunately, Aaron, very often the answer to that question is “yes.” It’s a mystery to everyone in the beer department how some of our customers know about upcoming releases before we’ve heard anything about them; in fact, sometimes it seems that customers know even more about what’s coming on the market than the distributors. Browsing through websites like http://www.beeradvocate.com can give you a sense of what’s out there, the forums in particular have some good information on new beers on the horizon… the only downside being that the forums aren’t limited to Massachusetts and, therefore, we may not be able to get some of the beers they’re talking about at all. If you have something specific that you’re interested in, shoot me an email at patrick@colonialspirits.com and I’ll do my best to procure either a bottle or some good information for you!
Love the idea of an “experiment” area. And glad to see new arrivals will be on twitter! Keep up the great work.