The forces aligned and the Two Brews crew took a trip to Athens, Ohio for the Jackie O's bottle release. Mikeski, Keith and I made the trip down on Friday afternoon to secure a calendar page for the release on the next morning. Jackie O’s has developed a reputation of doing bottle releases "the right" way and I was anxious to see how things were run.
Jackie O’s uses a system whereby the
night prior to their bottle release, they hand
out unique calendar pages beginning with
January 1st. People begin lining up on the
street in front of Jackie O’s in hope of
getting an early date. The earlier the date,
the better chance of a full allocation, the
better chance of an additional allotment,
and the earlier you receive your allocation
next morning. Each person in line received a
page from the brewmaster and then the
remainder was placed behind the bar.
night prior to their bottle release, they hand
out unique calendar pages beginning with
January 1st. People begin lining up on the
street in front of Jackie O’s in hope of
getting an early date. The earlier the date,
the better chance of a full allocation, the
better chance of an additional allotment,
and the earlier you receive your allocation
next morning. Each person in line received a
page from the brewmaster and then the
remainder was placed behind the bar.
The Jackie O’s Pub and Brewery is a small rectangular space which holds the previous brew system behind the bar and has seating for a little over 100 people. The Pub offered some traditional grub and was a good warm up before moving next door.
The next morning people queued up on Union Street awaiting to get sat inside the Public House at 9:00am. Guests were quickly sat and their drink orders were taken. It was a great jovial atmosphere, with people excited to drink the offerings on tap. The draft list included not only the special releases they would be receiving later in a bottle, but also small batch favorites. The brew master, Brad Clark, took to the stage around 11:00am to introduce the offerings, allocations and give everyone an update on things to come.
Another place to grab Jackie O’s beers in Athens is at their new production brewery and taproom. The offerings at the Campbell Street location mimicked that at the Pub, however, you could purchase the current available BA bottles. My personal highlight was acquiring my quota of 6 Oro Negros.
Overall, I would say that Jackie O’s does bottle releases right. If you are able to get there in the early afternoon on Friday, you can be assured an early calendar date. If you’re slow to get moving like some of the folks, you can still be assured of getting your share and a place in line for the release. Before the night was over, all the remaining spots were handed out by the bartenders and people could eat, drink and kick back until timing your arrival for the next morning’s release. It was nice not to wait for hours outside in line, not knowing how many bottles are available, whether we would receive any, and continually monitoring people cutting in line. The future looks bright indeed for Jackie O’s. The new production brewery will allow for hundreds of cases during release instead of the current level which is far less. A reason to say cheers craft beer lovers!
-Paul
-Paul