Mets Add New Craft Beer Options Tweet This Post
Last night was a preview event for the new food options at Citi Field for the 2012. I’ll get to some of that in a different post, (Or you can check some of the other obvious places, such as the confluence of all Mets and Sandwich news, Tedquarters. Spoiler alert: We both agree on what was the best new food option.) First off, the beer changes!
The Citi Field Beer List lists Blue Point Lager and Blue Point Toasted. Those are actually the same beers as far as I know. It’s Blue Point Toasted Lager. One has a star and one does not, so I think this means it’ll be available at both the craft beer stands and at some normal places. (Catch of the Day is where it’s been) Another weird one is Goose Island Sum Blonde Ale. I don’t think Goose Island makes a blonde. They make Goose Island Summertime, which was occasionally available last year at Big Apple Brews due to it’s Anheuser-Busch/InBev distribution.
Yes, craft beer stands. Located near sections 105 (That’s by the World’s Fare Market), section 127 (Near the other foul pole) and in section 413 (That’s the Promenade food court area) of the Promenade Level meaning we don’t have to go downstairs from the cheap seats to get good beer.
Real craft beers that weren’t on the list last year, or were only available in the Delta Sky 360 Club (The Ommegang may still only be there) include Blue Point Summer, Blue Point White India Pale Ale (This one’s a new one, premiered March 29th, 2012), Ommegang Abbey Ale, Redhook Pilsner, Six Point Sweet Action, Sierra Nevada, Magic Hat #9, and Widmer Drifter Pale Ale. Also new is the expanded line of Shock Top ales, the Lemon Shandy, the Raspberry Wheat, and the Wheat India Pale Ale.
I’m still going to do a full analysis of Citi Field on Opening Day to take in the options and confirm this list. Having a craft beer stand is an excellent idea, and having three of them even better. I’m happy with this expansion, but I also hope this is a first step and not a final idea. The list has 12 stars on it representing the beers available at the craft beer stands in either cans or drafts. I imagine some of the more seasonal ones will rotate out, like Blue Point Summer, but the others include Shock Top, Leinenkugel Summer Shandy and Blue Moon, which are macro brews. Also included are Anheuser-Busch/InBev distributed Goose Island IPA, Kona Longboard Lager, and Widmer Drifter Pale Ale. The real expansion is the Blue Point brews, and that’s great. It’ll also be nice to be able to have Magic Hat #9, Sixpoint Sweet Action and Sierra Nevada outside the club areas. Sixpoint has a large line of cans available these days, so hopefully more of those start showing up.
Tags: 2012 food and beer, 2012 mets, beer at citi field, beer selection at citi field, Citi Field, citi field beer, citi field beer list, citi field food, Mets, mets beer, mets food
Angels Add Local Craft Beer Tweet This Post
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are adding four craft beers from two different local breweries this season. This is nice to see, especially that the manager of premium services at Angels Stadium says it was his number request last year.
I’ve been harping on the Mets for their lack of publicly available local craft beer. Last year they cut out the local Brooklyn Brewery beers present in previous years. Now one of the only beer not distributed byAnheuser Busch is Blue Point’s Toasted Lager at Catch of the Day.
The Mets and Aramark have been pretty good at adding new food and drink at Citi Field, and there’s a preview event tonight featuring at least the new foods, so I’m going to reserve further judgement on the Mets beer situation until Opening Day. Still, it’s nice to see the craft beer revolution catching on in baseball stadiums, even ones in California.
Tags: anaheim angels, angel stadium craft beer, baseball craft beer, citi field craft beer, los angeles angels of anaheim, Mets, mets beer, New York Mets
What Was Left Of Shea Stadium Tweet This Post
It was sort of surreal at the time. I don’t know if I fully grasped that Shea Stadium was no more when I took this shot heading into the game against the Padres on April 16th, 2009.
Tags: Citi Field, demolition, Mets, mets stadium, new york mets home, Shea Stadium, shea stadium rubble
Dueling Brews: Another Beer Idea For Citi Field Tweet This Post
This is an idea I’ve been bouncing around for a while, and then The Crazy Mets Fan made a comment on Twitter to Matt Cerrone that he should get a pub in Citi Field called Cerrone’s with some nice IPAs. I chimed in (and you can follow me on Twitter here) that they should do dueling brews.
This started as a thought about a variable beer menu at Citi Field. The best beer bars are not the ones with a good selection, but the ones with a rotating selection of seasonal and small release beers. The idea was solidified while following the Giants Super Bowl run this year. Brooklyn Brewery in New York and Anchor Steam in San Francisco made a wager on the NFC Championship game that the team’s brewery that lost would serve the beers of the other brewery. Brooklyn beers flowed in San Francisco, and it was wonderful.
So why not do the same thing at Citi Field? We know which teams are coming in for each homestand. Why not have two rotating taps, one serving beers local to New York (minus the Bronx) and one serving beers from the city of the away team. These two taps would ‘duel’ until one was empty, becoming the winner. I’m not quite sure what the beer would win besides an announcement that it’d won, but it’d be a fun way to introduce Mets fans to the brews of their enemy and provide the beer-loving masses, who’s size is underestimated, with some nice beer to drink while watching baseball.
The first homestand features the Braves and the Nationals. I don’t know what the availability and distribution rules are for acquiring beer from far away places, but Terrapin is an Atlanta brewery that you can find in New York, so it’d be a good choice. Washington DC is a little tougher, and perhaps the toughest baseball city. Baltimore has some options, but that’s a different team. Shenandoah Brewing bills itself as Washington DC’s only brewery, but as far as I know they don’t distribute to New York. Flying Dog is nearby, but it’s based in Maryland and equidistant to Baltimore. On the other hand, AL is junior league baseball and it doesn’t really count.
I think this would be a cool idea. Citi Field needs more distinctive beers outside of the Anheuser Busch distribution agreement and why not tie it to what’s going on on the field? That’s why we all go there after all.
Tags: beer at citi field, brooklyn brewery, Citi Field, citi field beer, dueling beer taps, dueling beers, Mets, New York Mets, terrapin brewery
Some Thoughts on Dynamic Pricing Tweet This Post
The Mets now have their dynamic pricing guide online on Mets.com. Tickets first went on sale to certain presale codes Monday. I got Opening Day tickets at face value, but just three hours later they were $10 higher. Btw, at 10am today the Mets blogger presale begins. More details here.
This ultimately sucks, although it won’t quite hurt the true fans. Dynamic pricing does not change the prices of packs and plans. If you want a particular promotion or banner day, you have an incentive to buy ahead beyond just getting better seats. As more fans get exciting about specific events, the price will go up. This will have a fairly catastrophic effect on suddenly popular games. Clinchers, Dickey’s first home game after his no-hitter, and late season divisional matchups during pennant races can suddenly become very expensive. Staying ahead of the hype will save you money.
On the flip side, it’s unlikely tickets will plummet that far for unwanted games. The Mets set up an artificial floor so that a fan will never pay less than a season ticket holder paid for that section. Reading between the lines to me means that it’ll never be less than the 10% discount they get. Prices are fairly reasonable for value games as they are, but it’d be nice if the more expensive games become affordable if the Mets are eliminated early or if the weather is supposed to be really bad.
Another interesting use for dynamic pricing is tracking the popularity of games. It can give us insight into tickets sold that previously only the Mets knew. If you want to know how Banner Day is doing for example, you can check out the prices for that game against a similarly valued game and see if it’s inherently more popular or not. As we get a feel for it, we’ll probably be able to tell how close it is to sold out, even within specific sections.
I’ll also be curious to see how the secondary market reacts. Sites like Stub Hub and Seat Crew that deal in second-hand tickets may not be able to keep up with the fluctuations. If a game suddenly takes off in popularity, it will take a while for people to unlist and relist their tickets. If ticket prices drop, the secondary market will suddenly be overpriced. This may also kill day of game sales. If fans really want to go to a game, chances are the prices will increase past the secondary market…unless it’s raining.
Tags: day of game sales, dynamic ticket prices, Mets, mets dynamic pricing, mets dynamic ticket prices, mets prices, mets tickets, New York Mets, opening day, secondary ticket market, stub hub
Regular Season Ticket Pre-Sale Tweet This Post
A special pre-sale for blog readers starts Wednesday at 10am. Follow this link and use the code HODGES to purchase tickets to any regular season Mets game. Obviously Opening Day and the Subway Series are the ones guaranteed to sell out, but you might want to get a jump on other games as well. You never know what supply and demand will dictate closer to the day of a game, especially with the new flex pricing.
My suggestions are to buy for Banner Day and the bobblehead (Edgardo Alfonzo) of your choice. June 3rd is the Mets Hall of Fame induction for John Franco. Complete promotional information found here.
Tags: Mets, mets bobblehead, mets presale, mets promotion schedule, mets tickets, mets tickets on sale, New York Mets
Pondering The Delay in the 2013 All-Star Game Announcement Tweet This Post
This post is dedicated to the memory of Gary Carter, a true Mets All-Star.
Mets Police has been pondering why there has been no official announcement of where the 2013 MLB All-Star Game will be played. Unofficially it’s going to be at Citi Field, but that news is been pending for a long time now, and it’s past the time we usually have these things announced.
I had speculated that it was related to first Bud Selig’s pending renewal of his term as commissioner, and then not wanting to announce things during the Giants Super Bowl run. Now it’s almost Spring Training and we’ve heard nothing.
But something else is happening in 2013: interleague play and realignment. This will probably add more interleague games, and all year long. Perhaps Major League Baseball is considering changing the All-Star Game from an AL versus NL to something akin to the NHL with captains picking teams. Or perhaps they’ll go with something they did for the Home Run Derby a couple of years ago; teams based on country of origin. Coincidentally 2013 will also be the third edition of the World Baseball Classic, so the game will already be in an international mode.
I have no idea why something like that would need to delay the announcement though. Maybe they just want to have more details about it when they do eventually let us know.
Tags: 2013 mlb all-star game, All Star Game, all-star game at citi field, Citi Field, citi field all star game, David Wright, Mets, mets all star
The Bisons Beer Dinner, Mets Beer Competitions? Tweet This Post
The Buffalo Bisons are having a Beer vs. Wine II dinner Thursday at Coca-Cola Field. It’s a rematch of a dinner they had last November.
This is a pretty cool idea and a great use of the park during the offseason. $60 gets you a 5-course meal and a wine and beer pairing with each. Your vote decides which paired better, and the votes are tallied at the end for a winner. Of course beer won the first dinner.
I’m not going to whine (haha, get it?) about the Mets not doing something similar at Citi Field, although I do think it’d be a fun idea. I’m not that unreasonable that I demand all my interests to align in one centrally located area within Flushing.
Except this isn’t really that much different than an event the Mets already have. Oktoberfest! The Mets already have a plan in place for food and drink events, so why not host a couple more? I’d make a point to go to a “Summer Beerfest” event before a Mets game. The competition angle is one way to go too. When the Padres visit in town, pour five Stone Brewery beers on one side, and five Brooklyn Brewery beers on the other. Ask fans to rank their top three beers and then announce the winner during the 5th inning, which would double as a great way to advertise the next competitive beer tasting event.
Tags: 2012 mets, beer at citi field, beer events, beer vs. wine dinner, bisons beer dinner, Buffalo Bisons, Mets, mets beer, mets beer events, mets vs padres, more beer at Citi Field, oktoberfest, stone vs brooklyn
More on Citi Field’s Uninspiring Beer List Tweet This Post
Citi Field is a first-class venue. It’s got amazing food, and much of it is local. The Citi Field beer list is extensive, but it’s also uninspiring. Beer and baseball go together so well yet most of the beers available, particularly to the general public, at Citi Field are only the typical expanded list of beers available via Anheuser Busch distribution. Some of these beers are pretty good, but it lacks that local flair and originality. I’m not knocking the Redhook beers; but it seems sloppy to get them through Anheuser Busch when the brewery itself is only a handful of miles away. Even though they’re all over the place now, the Danny Meyer stands are New York creations. Cascarino’s is a New York pizza place. Pastrami on rye is a very New York food, and Keith’s burgers are especially homey. Even McFaddens was first a New York staple.
So why was Brooklyn Brewery priced out? Why aren’t there more Sixpoint beers around the stadium, especially now that they serve the beer in cans? What about some of the other local breweries? Chelsea? What about Schmaltz Brewing Company which makes the Coney Island Freak line of beer. Interestingly, the Brooklyn Cyclones, the Mets rookie team, plays in Coney Island. Maybe the Mets could serve Albino Python when the Diamonbacks are in town, or the Mermaid Pilsener to mock the Marlin’s cheerleaders. What about Harlem Brewing Company’s Sugar Hill Golden Ale? Harlem is where the Mets first placed, and where the Giants played before them. Blue Point Brewery is probably the only real local beer outside of the Delta Club. Their Blue Point Toasted Lager is available at Catch of the Day, but they’ve got other beers as well.
This all says nothing of the possibility of finding a partner to brew Mets themed beers. Brooklyn Brewery has an expanded brewery now, and when they provided beer to Box Frites, it was their own beer called Blanche De Brooklyn that they renamed Blanche we Queens. Why stop there? What about a Home Run Apple Lager? A World’s Fair Oktoberfest? A Darryl Strawberry Blonde? The possibilities are endless. Maybe Schmaltz would be intrigued by the opportunity to create a Brooklyn Cyclones Ale for MCU Park and Citi Field.
I think the Mets, and Aramark, may underestimate just how many Mets fans are huge beer fans as well. It’s not just the hardcore fan either. There are plenty of casual baseball fans out there that could be drawn off the fence and into the park if they were tempted to try a unique beer.
Stay tuned, later this week I’m going to talk about what some of the other stadiums around baseball are doing with beer.
Tags: beer, beer at citi field, Citi Field, citi field beer, Mets, mets beer
New Mets HOF Member John Franco: First Pitch at Citi Field Tweet This Post
Congratulations to John Franco for being selected for the Mets Hall of Fame.
Did you know John Franco threw out the first ever ceremonial first pitch at Citi Field? It’s true! It took place at an exhibition game between St. Johns and Georgetown. Franco went to St. Johns, so was tagged to do the honors.
Tags: ceremonial first pitch, Citi Field, first pitch, first pitch at citi field, john franco, mets hall of fame, New York Mets, st johns at citi field, st johns game