Chicagoland KBS sightings

Your here? Hit me up on the BM/Pm....I like your avi sekc. . . maybe we can meet up for drinking and "fun"

And why wouldn't you hit the floor around here? If the situation calls for hitting the deck, I'm hittin' the deck no matter if I'm in dekalb or heck even Genoa!

 

Headed to Evanston for the day, will hit up a few of the Founder's-stocking groceries (Whole Foods) that sound like they're not good at being called.

 

Sorry, typo... It* wouldn't even the sales floor at my store...

 

Binny's in Skokie had KBS as of noon today. 2 bottle limit. Kept in back room. Not sure how much is left but worth a trip asap if in Evanston. Good luck.

 

I know that the Foremost on Kedzie got in a case yesterday after talking to the delivery guy. I havent/wouldnt stop in there so no clue on the availability. Fair warning, it's probably $50/4-pack.

 

So which one of you complained to armanetti in Aurora about needing to buy a founders 6 pack with a bottle of KBS. I still bought some founders porter with my KBS.. felt bad their email sounded extremely apologetic and theyre typically good guys there.

 

Called and was told that Binny's Skokie released this morning and are now sold out.
Whole Food Evanston sold out.

FWIW, Extra Value Liquors (N Western) expects their KBS case(s) early next week.

 

If enough people are complaining about such a practice, its clearly something that upsets customers. If they responded by apologizing and will likely not do it again in the future, it is only great for the customers.

 

Agreed if that's what the consumer wants that's what they should do. I was just thinking from their perspective. Maybe they should let regulars buy with no restriction but make the rare beer chasers buy something? I'm a sucker for loyalty.

 

They can do whatever they want, but I know it would insult me as a customer if the guy in front of me bought a bottle by itself and when I got to the cashier was told I had to buy additional beer if I wanted to purchase the same bottle, just because he likes the other guy better. I'd be more understanding if they just held their bottles back for their regular customers only, rather than charging me a different price.

 

Good point. There's really no way to do these releases in a way where everyone is happy.

 

RANT:
Willowbrook Binnys KBS Release
#1-5 got 2 bottle allotment
#6+ got 1 bottle allotment

The good and the bad of Craft Beer Community:
Got there early got my #2 ticket and went to Tap House for lunch. Came back at 230ish for the 3pm release. Close to 3 they announced that 1-10 could come up to get their allotment and check out. I was 11th in line with 2 people behind me!
After comparing numbers with the 6 of us in the back of line, the gentleman and his wife/girlfriend who had #10 and #11 let the 4 of us go in front of them since we had lower numbers. Big Thanks to you two, if you are reading this, for doing what any respectful BA would do!
When the 4 of us compared numbers again I mentioned I had the #2 and the two guys that had #6 and #7 said, "Wow you should get up there." then proceeded to cut in front of me! (did I mention these two were behind me the whole time?) Sarcastic Thanks to you two guys, before today I had never come across any rude or inconsiderate BA's. I thought they didn't exist but I guess there are some out there and unfortunately I crossed paths with 2 of them today.
Big Thanks to the gentleman with the Blackhawks hat (I can't remember your number) who then let me in front of him because I had a lower number than him. Big Thanks to you!
Sarcastic thanks to the 2 (I think my math is right) people who thought they could jump into the 1-10 line even though they weren't 1-10! I hope you didn't take anyones bottles but what do you care as long as you have yours right?!

To wrap this up:

HUGE thanks to the 3 BA's that were civil and solid examples of how all of us in the BA community should behave and interact with each other! I hope you find 4 packs of KBS sitting on the shelves of your local liquor store!

To the four of you that thought you had personal entitlement and have no respect for anyone as long as you get what want, I hope you enjoy your 1 bottle each while I enjoy my 2!

Sorry but I had to get this off my chest as it was bugging the hell out of me on my way home. Thanks for listening and good luck finding your KBS!

 

The Bottles and Cans release was great. I didn't even win the lottery to buy a bottle, but it was a good crowd and there were great beers to taste. It's kind of genius, as the tasting line snakes around the store you keep passing these beers on the shelves so eventually you pick up one, or two, or more. I'm sure they sold a lot more beer today than if they had just straight up sold the KBS first come first serve.

 

A few things:

Handing out numbered tickets definitely had the potential to create a better and fairer experience than other releases around the area, but instead of handing them out to people at the door or even in a central location, you had to find "Alex" or whoever around the store to get your ticket. Because of this, tickets were not given to people who were there first, but people who found the employee first. My girlfriend and I were there for 30 minutes before anyone said anything about getting a ticket, so we were not properly placed in the "line."

Secondly, this "announcement" about the first 10 getting in line was not an announcement. Someone said it to the people around him in the beer area. The purpose of the ticket was so that people could walk around and shop, so my girlfriend and I were not in the beer area and did not hear this "announcement," so when I saw people getting in line, I obviously got in line.

That was the first time I heard anything about being 1-10.

All that being said, I was pretty pissed off as well because I thought that system had a lot of potential, but was run poorly. Also promising two bottles per person on twitter, and then changing it after people had gotten there rubbed me the wrong way.

Sorry about cutting in front of anyone, but I think the confusion was more the fault of the store, and not customers in line. Also, we were numbers 16-17, so we would have gotten bottles anyway.

 

Anyone know where it can be found on tap tonight?

 

Yeah, I was #10
Oh well, 1 is better than none....

 

Yeah, that was somewhat disappointing, but all in all I thought the number system was fine. My only minor beef is that I got there around 1:30, and when I went back to the beer section - which was empty - I asked someone where the line would form and I was told "over by the glassware". No mention of a getting a number. I bought some beer for later and went out to my car for a bit. Went back in the store about 1:50 and overheard someone getting a number. I then got mine, which was #10.

 

They didn't check the numbers and enforce ticket order? BCBS release at Binny's LP checked your number and did not allow you to enter out of order. Some guy brought his mom as a mule and was about 5 people behind me, once everyone got back in line, an hour or so after tickets were handed out, the line was a little disorganized, but the people at the door were enforcing order.

Once we got up to the door, this guy and his mom happened to be in front of us now but were forced to wait for about 10 people to go in before they could. The woman was clearly quite annoyed at this, but I was glad they didn't let anyone cheat.

 

@pointyskull

I liked the idea as well, but I had the same experience. People that were there after me got tickets before me. Not a huge deal, since, like you said, one is better none, but after the store tweeting about the experience they had in these kinds of releases, I expected better.