KBS Sightings in NYC

stopped by at 11 am Tuesday, was told "didn't come in yet, check the facebook and we'll announce it when it does"... 1 hour later they post on facebook that it's in. Already back at work, SOL. Definitely smelled fishy, can't say ill be giving them my business again any time soon.
Luckily had a friend in brooklyn grab me 4, will be returning the favor with a surprise bottle of Rosso E Morrone!

 

um, I just found a case of KBS at the Park Slope Food Coop. $4.79/bottle.

There was a price sticker on the shelf for "Founders KBS", but none there, so I assumed it was gone, but paged down to the basement asking if we still had any left just to be sure, and someone came back on the intercom a few seconds later saying "case of Founders KBS coming up on the conveyor belt for the person looking for it."

I have to admit I thought about hoarding the whole case for a split second before I calmed down and remembered to be an advocate. I bought 2 four packs, and put the other 4 four packs on the shelf in the empty spot. Gonna trade a 4 pack (at the $4$ price I paid, not what most people paid retail) and drink the other 4, so hopefully folks don't think I'm too greedy for buying 8 bottles (I wonder how many people in my shoes would have bought all 24).

 

Cheers, good move!

 

So does this mean it's gonna be there when the store opens tomorrow morning?

Driving up there and lining up right now! JK

 

This just seems so typically Coop-y. Congrats on the find!

And while it may not need to be stated, you need to be a member of the coop in order to buy anything there (or even get in the door, I believe).

 

Ugh, its going to be so cruel walking past the coop tomorrow knowing there is cheap KBS right inside those doors that I cant have

 

yeah, in order to get in and shop, you need to be a member, and to be a member you have to work a 2hour 45min shift every 4 weeks. You may have read a sensationalized article about the coop being a fascist/commie cult in the NY Daily News or Post last year when there was a vote about whether to have a vote to ban Israeli products (which was overwhelmingly rejected), but it's actually super awesome. On Sunday evening I have to spend a couple hours in the basement cutting cheese wheels up, and wrapping and weighing the pieces to sell, and that allows me to buy my groceries (and beer) for super cheap.

Incidentally, I was even more stoked to find a bottle of Prearis Quadrupel at the coop tonight, which was a beer I had in Bruges two years ago after it had just won the Belgian homebrew/small batch beer of the year, and I had assumed I would never find again. Between that and the KBS, I totally forgot to get the tp which was the reason I went there in the first place.

 

the same shit is STILL. HAPPENING. read this thread. they're awful and liars and gougers. were then, are now.

 

I'm honestly not sure if that's the case - having been a few times, talked to them, talked to a couple of other frequenters, it seems as if they might just have really poor internal communication.

I'm not saying people haven't had a bad experience there, but I can only express that they've been exceptionally kind and helpful with me. They are very willing to hold stuff for me on the side, and they've always given me a price break when I buy a few things. When I reported that someone else (Crookdrain) had been told they were sold out when I was told they had just gotten them in, they immediately offered to set one aside for him as well.

Now, I'm not sure why or how they're treating different customers differently, and I'm not sure why some people are having bad experiences. I continue to get personal and helpful service every time I shop there.

 

are you sure you aren't the owner

 

I've had the complete opposite experience with New Beer. This is not meant as anything personal against you, Franch, but I think the New Beer hate has gone WAY too far. I’ve seen none of the “awful, liars and gougers” of which you speak.

As far as gouging goes, in my experience not only is that not true but I’ve found that their prices are lower than anyone else. Someone above said they sold KBS for $6, which is the lowest price I have seen posted in this thread, other than the coop. I bought a Westy box from them for $85, which was the listed price (I know there was an earlier story about a ~$135 price tag). Bought BCBCS for $23 (someone above said they asked $35).

With regards to the “awful” comment, every time I’ve been there someone asks me if I need help finding something or if there is anything they can help me with. I’ve been to plenty of places nowadays that don’t even so much as greet you when you walk in the place, much less ask if I need help finding anything or if I have any questions (I’m looking at you, City Swiggers).

Lastly, I assume the accusation of “liars” is in reference to saying they've "sold out" or "didn't receive their shipment" and not selling certain things to anyone who walks in the door. Personally, I don’t have a problem with that policy. Last year everyone was complaining about the truck chasers when KBS was released. This policy seems to be one that combats that. I would wholeheartedly agree that there is no need to deceive people, so perhaps their communication can be improved, but if they’ve chosen to set aside those things to sell to their best customers I don’t see anything wrong with that. It incentivizes loyalty, which I can’t fault in the increasingly crowded craft beer marketplace in NYC.

Again, Franch, this isn’t a personal attack on you, but since you used those strong words and continue to rail on New Beer, I thought some additional perspective should be added to the discussion. So while I can’t speak to everyone else’s experience, I thought it was fair to post my experience to show that “awful, liars and gougers” isn’t always the case.

 

Eagle was the only place open this morning when I was out so I bit the bullet and bought one there. There were 4 left as of 11:30.

I was also told by someone in there that they didn't understand the fuss about this beer and that Left Hand Milk Stout was much better. :shrug

 

are you fkn kidding me? new beer went so far as to register an account on BA to shit-talk customers. there was a line at new beer ON RELEASE DAY for westvleteren 12. they told the people on line TO THEIR FACES that it was a mistake. they didn't get any westvleteren 12. there was a person the week before who purchased a brick for $135 and POSTED THE PICTURE OF THE RECEIPT NEXT TO THE BRICK BEFORE RELEASE DAY.

someone IN THIS THREAD mentioned $35 bcbcs.

not to mention all the other problems attendant to buying craft beer from a warehouse that is not temperature controlled that is partially stocked with old product.

 

Like I said, I can only speak from my experience, and to date it has been nothing but good. I don't appear to be alone in this camp, according to other posts in this thread. But clearly some feel they have not been treated well by New Beer and, if that is the case, I 100% support them for taking their business elsewhere.

As far as the temperature control goes, I don't ever recall the temperatures getting too warm or too cold in the warehouse. My understanding is that as long as the beer doesn't go through extreme temperature changes there will be no effect on the beer. Please correct me if I am mistaken, but I seem to remember reading that in the many threads about putting beers in the fridge and then taking them out and having them warm up to room temp.

Apologies for hijacking this thread.

 

it's pretty warm in there in august. not to just pick on new beer for how they treat their bottles - very little is perfect. top hops is pretty close (doesn't have cooler lights which makes bottles obnoxious to read but makes no light shine directly at the bottles) -- i walked by WF bowery this morning and saw the sun shining right through their window onto their belgian shelf

 

WF Bowery also had Peche Mortel and Aphrodite that I was tempted to buy and try, but the heavy layer of dust on them gave me second thoughts.

 

For all the crazy love that Bowery gets, their beer storage is atrocious - I'd frankly rather have New Beer's temperature fluctuations than Bowery's constant exposure to sunlight.

Pretty surprised to find dust like that at a Whole Foods, especially the Bowery location - I'd at least expect them to dust.

 

Yeah, I really wanted to try those too, but I guess I'll just wait this summer and have it at the source.

 

In addition to finding a case of KBS at my coop, I am actually the guy that had bought the Westy 12 early from New Beer, coincidentally. It was actually $115, not $135 (I still have the receipt that was posted on the now-deleted thread). I'm not bitter towards New Beer about it, I go there less but have definitely been back there, if anything I was mostly sheepish about myself being a sucker for it. It would have been nice if they replied to my post asking for them to refund me $30 for the overcharge, before they got an admin to delete the thread though.

 

As far as new beer goes, when Enjoy By hit NYC for first time on the day before Thanksgiving, I was in the city and hot on the trail. A tweet came from Stone rep that Enjoy By had been delivered. I ran down there soon after only to be told that they didn't get it yet. Not sure if it was communication issue or not, but went back an hour later and they had it. That is a weird place for sure. Woman sitting behind a cage.