PYOB!

So we are two and a half-ish months into the 2018-2019 NBA season and the Wizards are screaming down the highway of irrelevancy at top speed. The hoped for recovery after a typical slow start to the season hasn't materialized like it has in past years and the team continuing to make trades to change the perimeter of the roster isn't going to make that much of a difference so here we are. Oh, and that's ignoring the fact that John Wall is done for the year. Happy new year! Although not really, I guess.

What am I going to do about it? How about blogging about pouring your own beer at Capital One Arena. Seems like an appropriate enough reaction to me. At least I'm not talking about effort or pride or playing hard or contested shots which are really wide open.

In case you missed it, a pour your own beer stand (officially the Over The Top self-serve beer stand) was added over the summer as part of the massive renovation project at Capital One Arena. If you've attended a few games this year and have still missed this gem, it's likely because it's on the typically half-full-on-game-days 400 level of the building. It's over by Section 417 on the north side of the building in case you want to go check it out after you read this post. Or before, if you are really impulsive. 

Instructions to PYOB. It all starts with scanning your $13.50 cup that you just bought. 

So how's it work? Well, it's pretty easy once you get a barcoded cup to start the process. There are  a series of six or so different screens displaying the various beer choices offered. Scan the code on your cup, pull the tap handle, tilt the cup like a professional beer pourer and fill your cup with sweet, sweet beer. From the time you scan your cup to the end of the pour you have 18 seconds. Seem unreasonable? It's not. There's more than enough time. No word on if you have extra cups if you can fill those with the remaining time (assuming not). Also no word on if you can pour from multiple taps simultaneously (your scan activates a bank which includes three taps.

Like most things in life, there are some good things about PYOB at Cap One and there are some not so good things. Let's start with the good. I got two things here.

First, the beer selection is better than in other spots around the building. I have never done a comprehensive beer survey of MCI Center or Verizon Center or Capital One Arena (believe me, it's crossed my mind a bunch of times) but I am not aware of any other spot in the place where I can get Dominion Oak Barrel Stout during a game. And I really like Oak Barrel Stout, although yes, I realize it's not as good as before Dominion sold out and turned the business over to Fordham but it's still pretty good.

Maybe a quick disclaimer is in order: only drink Bud Light at games? Probably need to go to a different stand. Sure you can get Bud Light here but why would you? You're just paying more (because it IS more expensive at PYOB) for the same product only you have to pour it yourself.

Second good thing: it was super easy once you have cup in hand. I have in the past had some performance anxiety about pouring my own beer, mostly stemming from cups of foam using hand pumps on kegs in someone's back porch in grad school. No such difficulty here. The operation was smooth and simple.

So, why wouldn't I do this all the time? Well besides the cost (I can get more been cheaper elsewhere in the building) and the distance (usually I sit in Section 109, three levels or one express escalator from the 400 level), it's confusing as hell.

I know, I know, I just said it was easy and smooth and simple. AFTER you get your cup. It's the getting the cup part that is difficult. 

Roll on up to the Over The Top stand and you will likely see a completely empty, customer-less bank of pour your own beer taps. It's not immediately obvious how you actually purchase a cup. Now in defense of the system, I guess, I've only tried to do this twice. The first time, there was someone standing just to the left of the taps with a scan device and access to a pile of cups, although it wasn't immediately obvious I should approach her because (1) the pile of cups wasn't visible and (2) she was talking to the person working the Over The Top food stand right next to PYOB. Eventually we asked her how we could get a cup and found out she was in fact the keeper of the cups. 

The second time I tried this, there was no person where we bought our cups the first time. The credit card scanner was there, just no person. We tried ordering a cup at the Over The Top stand and it just wasn't obvious that the drink options included buying a pour your own beer cup and the line was too long to just ask. So we left. No beer for us.

Credit card scanner but nobody to take our money.

I get that I haven't given this much of a chance, but with cheaper, quicker and more reliable beer options in the building, first impressions matter and I'm not likely heading back here again, even if they are the only spot (again, unconfirmed) where I can get an Oak Barrel Stout.

I've read on Twitter (great source of information, I know) that other stadiums and arenas in the country have tried a concept similar to this and have removed them. I haven't independently confirmed that in any way but if everyone's experience outside Section 417 at Cap One is any indication, it won't last long here. I'll stick with my 25 oz cans of Bud from the Budweiser Brewhouse. It's fun to do once I guess but I don't see the point of doing this long term and apparently from what I've seen at games, not too many other people do either. 

Oak Barrel Stout. Good stuff, just too impatient and too far to go through all this every time I'm at a game.