BeerAdvocate's Misguided Question

This morning, BeerAdvocate tweeted that they were soliciting comments to this hypothesis:

From what the bro and I have been reading, it appears that most people feel that special release beer events have gone too far. Generally speaking, these special release day beers gain an insane amount of hype, get put on eBay before they're even released, bad distribution systems are put in place, people are waiting in lines for many hours/traveling from afar in hopes to get their hands on a bottle or taste, hoarders/campers are an issue, many walk away disappointed, etc, etc, etc. There are exceptions of course ...

So assuming that most think they've gone to far, what are some solutions? (Examples from some of the exceptions perhaps?)

In the eight plus years I've had a login at BA, I've commented on exactly four threads. So I didn't take it very seriously when Todd wrote not to post if you disagreed with the "general consensus." So I commented. And my comment was deleted. D'oh! Now I know. Anyway, since BA is clearly not the forum for dissent, I'll use my own. Here's what I wrote, and I offer it partly as Beeronomics bait.

I disagree that this is a problem. The issue is one of demand outstripping supply. If breweries wanted to put the supply and demand into equilibrium, they would either produce more beer or raise the prices. An example: for the first three years of production, Deschutes enjoyed the intense scramble for Abyss. Last year, they produced far more Abyss than in previous years. The result? Bottles are still available, months later, at local grocery stores. They'll sell the full run, but the scramble is no longer mad.

Breweries have to be a little careful not to abuse what is actually a wonderful manifestation--a constantly-growing interest in intense, specialty craft beers. If they make it too difficult or too expensive for consumers to buy their beer, they risk alienating them. But one of the main goals is to create exactly the fervent interest these specialty releases produce. The market is self-correcting, and to the extent there is a problem, it will resolve itself--to the detriment or benefit of individual breweries. In this balancing act, smart breweries will use specialty releases to bring attention to their products, which will in turn boost sales on regular releases--the bread and butter of most breweries.

Your thoughts?

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