re: Craft Beer Mules Exposed

On a similar note. Here is an interesting read of a specific instance of "muling." Sometimes the breweries themselves have a little complicity in the matter.

Fallout from the 2014 FiftyFifty Eclipse Party (With Comments from the Brewery)

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Where things got squirrelly is when FiftyFifty sent out a memo the day before the event that they would be releasing an uberduber rare variation called Masterpiece Eclipse and there would be NO BOTTLE LIMIT. Word is there was only 400 bottles. The lightbulb immediately went on in many opportunists heads and you can probably guess where this is going.

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So basically because the brewery was dumb enough to not set a limit, supposedly only the first 18 people in line got bottles, at a party of over hundred people. There were reports on the forums of one guy buying 72 bottles and another person buying 30 bottles. Lots of upset people.

Here was the original email text.

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Hello again!

Tomorrow is the big day! We are really excited to have you all up here. We’re finally getting some snow/slush up here, so please drive carefully and take your time. I have a couple of last minute announcements to share with you all.

MASTERPIECE ECLIPSE: This year we have a brand new one-of-a-kind Eclipse product to present to you: Masterpiece. In early 2013, FiftyFifty was very fortunate to get nine freshly emptied barrels that had been filled at Stitzel-Weller in 1991. Yes, the original Pappy. To commemorate this we brewed a Double Imperial Stout worthy of these barrels, and aged it for 18 months. Original Gravity of 31.5 Plato, 80 IBU's and 12.8% ABV. We bottled this into 750mL bottles, hand waxed and numbered, with a custom neck label. We will be selling these at the party for $45.95.

BOTTLE LIMITS: None. Enough said.

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