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Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by gumby on Saturday April 25, 2020 @02:16AM (#22976067)
My son in college (well in his apt with his gf, taking classes online) could easily take care of one before it expired. Hell, we could too.

In Germany we had the “beer man” who would drop off beer weekly and collect the empties. This should be adopted in the USA.

Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by tonyarkles on Saturday April 25, 2020 @10:43AM (#22978460)
I’ve been chuckling a fair bit at the changes around here. Alcohol delivery very rapidly became a thing here as the lockdown was looming; local breweries teamed up to put together a website and the logistics to deliver their products together (Want craft brew from these 3 companies? You can get it all in one order!). Other companies are also delivering “mainstream” beer and wine as well. In-person liquor stores are still open as well, with one-way aisles set up and checkout distancing requirements, etc, because they were deemed to be “essential services”.

That’s not what makes me laugh the most though; pot is! Less than two years ago, marijuana was illegal in Canada. Now? The stores themselves are not open, but the local gov’t relaxed restrictions and there’s now a number of same-day delivery services! From illegal to essential in under two years!

Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by thebean11 on Saturday April 25, 2020 @05:26PM (#22981662)
It would be pretty ironic if it became harder to buy pot in legal states than non-legal states because the only sellers left were the ones following the law.

As funny as that would be, I think allowing pot delivery is the right call. No reason to shut down businesses that don't pose much of an infection risk, it's more economic strain we can't afford.

Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by cosmodisk on Saturday April 25, 2020 @01:01PM (#22979436)
Sounds so much better than milkman tbh!;) That's brilliant concept, definitely need to look into this,maybe one day I could open a microbrewery and become a beer man delivering your weekly dose of foamy nectar.
Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by ashtonkem on Saturday April 25, 2020 @05:49AM (#22976967)
Most of us don’t have the equipment to tap a keg at home, and I seriously doubt that the rental services for hand pump sankey taps could keep up with the spike in demand.
Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by Ericson2314 on Saturday April 25, 2020 @03:07PM (#22980477)
Growlers
Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by ilamont on Saturday April 25, 2020 @03:09PM (#22980496)
When I lived in Taiwan there was a Belgian guy who did this, driving around his VW microbus with mixed cases of Belgian beer to deliver all over the island. It was awesome.
Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by boomboomsubban on Saturday April 25, 2020 @03:02AM (#22976259)
>In Germany we had the “beer man” who would drop off beer weekly and collect the empties. This should be adopted in the USA.

This is standard practice in the US, empty kegs end up back at a brewery where they are sanitized and refilled. Part of the problem reported here is that kegs aren't being used, leading to a lack of kegs available to be refilled.

Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by subpixel on Saturday April 25, 2020 @02:18PM (#22980008)
No, the beer man in Germany comes to your house and delivers a crate of .5l bottles of beer, and picks them all up the next week with your next delivery. The bottles are washed and are reused (not melted down and recycled).

That - along with the bierautomat - ranks up there with the things I miss most about Germany.

Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by gumby on Saturday April 25, 2020 @05:29PM (#22981683)
Bierautomat is also common in Japan, luckily!
Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by joezydeco on Saturday April 25, 2020 @02:25PM (#22980095)
The commenter is talking about weekly scheduled home delivery of cases of beer and soft drinks.

Many communities in the US had similar deliveries for milk back in the day.

Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by Falkon1313 on Saturday April 25, 2020 @04:21AM (#22976588)
The local beer store here is doing daily deliveries now, including kegs. They don't say whether they pick up the empty kegs, but if they're bringing a new one they might.

Of course it's geared toward craft brew snobs, so not really a general thing. But it's one step closer than we had before.

Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by thebean11 on Saturday April 25, 2020 @05:30PM (#22981687)
I think beer delivery like this is tricky here because someone 21+ needs to sign for it. The poor beer guy would end up needing to wait for everyone, and skip houses where nobody was home.
Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by welder on Saturday April 25, 2020 @02:29AM (#22976124)
Germany is mostly pils, heff, and radler. The USA has more beer variety, maybe it's more difficult logistically? Companies in the USA do have a beer man, never heard of individual houses hiring one.
Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by jbigelow76 on Saturday April 25, 2020 @03:00AM (#22976257)
The USA has more beer variety, maybe it's more difficult logistically?

No, it's just that for as much that has changed in America since its founding, being a bunch of Puritanical tight asses is still kind of encoded into our societal DNA.

Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by yostrovs on Saturday April 25, 2020 @08:12AM (#22977507)
The Puritans had beer upon arrival, so don't lay this on them.
Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by capn_cabbage on Saturday April 25, 2020 @03:45PM (#22980806)
Yes, beer would be acceptable in moderation by the Puritans and their Protestant descendants. Early Americans advocated temperance rather than complete abstinence. Much of this was a result of seeking a better/perfect society after the American Revolution. Evangelical Protestants spread religion and reform through the USA in what is known as the "Second Great Awakening" from 1790 to 1840. During this time, the temperance movement gained support. This led to a gain in popularity of complete abstinence from alcohol and the formation of various groups advocating for teetotalism. Through the late 1800's and early 1900's prohibitionist movements gained traction including the Anti-Saloon League which was driven by evangelical Protestantism. It was this organization that ultimately led to the Eighteenth Amendment of the United States constitution being ratified and prohibiting sale and manufacture of alcohol.

It has been a battle ever since. The area I live in only recently allowed the sale of liquor in restaurants and bars and still does not sell liquor by the bottle. There were many movements that had influence so perhaps it isn't fair to lay the blame solely on the Puritans, but they did have great influence in regards to alcohol in the USA and the parent isn't wrong, but has certainly omitted details.

Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by yostrovs on Sunday April 26, 2020 @07:10AM (#22986287)
Puritans, mostly because of the modern misunderstanding of the term, are blamed for all enforcement of any vice in the United States. I'm saying that the larger society, made up of different religious beliefs, has its own course and its social institutions are not constantly controlled by the "Puritans".
Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by sl1ck731 on Saturday April 25, 2020 @02:37AM (#22976160)
I think there are a few varieties of regulations across different states regarding the shipment of alcohol. I'm not sure how far they go with respect to "last mile" delivery but it could be an inhibitor in something like this.

For example, I can't purchase wine to be delivered to my home over the internet in my state.

Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by veggieburglar on Saturday April 25, 2020 @10:40AM (#22978437)
There are more than a few varieties of regulations in the alcohol business. It’s such a jumbled mess, especially for interstate commerce. Check out freethegrapes.org, they are an industry advocacy group and are sure to have an ongoing lobbying action in your home state to permit direct wine shipment. There’s only a few holdouts still, although many states make it prohibitively cumbersome and expensive for small alcohol businesses to open up direct shipping, even if it may be legal.
Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by gumby on Saturday April 25, 2020 @03:02AM (#22976260)
We had beer, dairy and bread delivery subscriptions, plus the organic veg delivery -— all pretty nice! In Palo Alto I have subscriptions for dairy, butcher and organic veg. So not that different.

As for beer selection, as in the US the major brands are of a limited nature but there are many small breweries. All subject to the Reinheitsgebot but I doubt it really cramps their style.

Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by baron816 on Saturday April 25, 2020 @02:23PM (#22980068)
> My son in college...could easily take care of one before it expired. Hell, we could too.

I'm calling bullshit. Went through this in college. There's 165 12oz beers in a standard keg. If you don't refrigerate it (which you probably can't), that beer is going to go bad well within a week once it's tapped. That means to finish a keg between 2 people you're drinking 11+ beers per person every day. I mean, yeah that's doable, but if you're a normal human being, it's not that fun.

Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by xendo on Saturday April 25, 2020 @02:34PM (#22980168)
11 small beers is not something I would recommend, but its fairly easy if you start in the morning. After a couple or weeks it will probably ruin your immune system which is not a great idea considering current circumstance.
Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by donogh on Saturday April 25, 2020 @02:41PM (#22980243)
Irishman here. Not to further a cultural stereotype but.. I know plenty of binge drinkers who could put away 20-30 pints[1] over the course of a day-long drinking session. Get a couple of them together and they'd finish a keg that size in 2-3 days.

[1] Imperial pints: 568 ml / 19.2 US fl oz

Re:A New Problem Is Brewing in the Beer Industry: One Millio... by lsllc on Saturday April 25, 2020 @04:41PM (#22981276)
Not if you use CO2! For less than $100 you can get a regulator, keg tap and pouring spigot -- it'll last for several weeks.

... so I've been told by a "friend".