Bell's Black Note (2013)

distribution mistake, and i have no problem with it.

 

lol, wont buy Bells beer because he didnt know the exact date, time, and location of their most limited beer so he could get it instead of someone else.

 

From what I understand from talking to a few people close to Bells, it was a mistake on the end of the Minnesota retailer putting it out by accident, which forced them to prioritize the bottling and get it out the door sooner than planned which inevitably caused the CF we are now experiencing. Most Bells employees didn't know it was being released until that Monday morning, one day before it hit the shelves at the General Store. It's pretty incredible to keep that kind of information on a very strict "need to know" basis with only production and shipping management knowing exactly when it would be running down the bottling line and going out the door. You'd think being a craft brewery everyone would be in the know with just about everything happening in the brewhouse on a day to day basis, but it's obvious that's not the case at all.

On another note (pun intended), I'm more curious about why did Minnesota get it before the local Michigan distributors? I'd assume they were gearing up for the release and were slowing sending out product to various distributors in order to have an actual, but still silent, release day where everyone puts it on shelves. They normally do this with their other seasonals, like Oberon, where stores have it the week(s) before the true "release day."

What makes things worse for them is the timeliness of each distributor, and retailer for that matter, is completely different and almost impossible to anticipate, hence why they send out seasonal brews early in order to compensate but not everyone follows the rules (MN store putting it out early for instance.) Here in N. Indiana InBev is usually pretty slow getting their newly received products out. Case in point, after getting to know the guys at my local store they will tell me what's on the way and this n that. They didn't get KBS until last Thursday (4/3) and will not be receiving Black Note until this Thursday (4/10), but it has been reported on the shelves on the east coast already.

Again, it's not necessarily the brewers fault as it is the distribution network. You'd think that the industry would be highly regulated by someone like the ATF or something and everything was well documented, timely, etc. etc. but I've quickly learned it is the complete. Distributors and stores kind of do what they want when they want to, including bottle limits and pricing. Before you start getting angry at a brewery, you should at least try to understand how that beer got to where it is and who it had to go through to get there.

 

Well, at least this was a more subtle ad hominem.

If you don't understand the point I was trying to make by now, no amount of explaining is going to get it across.

 

I'm not sure I understood your explanation, but from what I did glean it seems like none of it would have happened if Bell's had announced a release date. Or at the very least that would have made it clear that any premature release was the fault of specific retailers.

 

Larry Bell said he will never do a planned release for Black Note or Wild one because he doesn't want to put the burden on his store or any store for that matter of having people lining up, doing bottle shares, and pissing on the sidewalk. He has a point, esp. if it was a General Store only release with a case limit. It would be a shitshow. You had 3 days to make the drive, you chose not to, move on.

 

That's what I was amazed with when I tried BN -- zero harsh edges, just incredibly smooth and velvety yet still somehow able to not feel so rich as to be overly filling. Truly an incredible beer.

 

@lowbit I'm sure theres some sort of "planned" release date, but it will never be publicly announced in order to prevent what @ColonelHopslam said. From what I learned this was the case. Someone screwed up in MN, it got back to Bells, and they subsequently rushed the release without having enough time to send it out to the rest of their distribution network which is why it keeps sporadically popping up throughout the Bell's distribution footprint.

With the planned and announced release of KBS, it never hit store shelves. Some places that chose to do first come - first serve had lines in the morning before they opened, which most retailers will tell you they absolutely hate the frenzy. Some try to capitlize on it by doing a 1 bottle limit to get the most traffic in their stores, which is a great move business wise but annoying to the consumer that wants more than just one bottle.

Black Note was released, unannounced, to the Kzoo area stores on Thursday and was on shelves for the first half of the day at the very least. The cases were hand delivered by the rep themselves, not by the weekly delivery truck. Other places a little farther out of town it was around until at least Saturday, which is the beauty of the silent release. I randomly stumbled across it Friday evening after work and I about shat myself.

 

You would have loved Hunahpu day.

 

I have zero desire to drive to Michigan to buy Black Note, and could care less when it became available at the brewery. Like most people, I just want to know when or if my local stores are going to get the damn beer -- why is that so hard for some of you to understand?

Enough with the rationalizations, already. None of the above (or Hunaphu-style chaos, @hopfenunmaltz) happened for KBS; Founders had a ticketed release at the brewery, stores knew when they were getting it, and nobody was left wondering WTF was going on. There's no reason Bell's can't do something similar.

 

I hope Bells continues to release the limited beers like they do now. I drove 2 hrs. one way for the case of Black Note I got. It sure beats driving around all over for singles or a 4 pack if you are lucky. Also, I am getting really sick of stores inflating the price on these beers. If you buy from the brewery, this is much less of an issue.

 

It's MY BLACK NOTE, AND I WANT IT NOW!!!

 

Just curious: Does anyone in MI know when this actually started to go on sale at their General Store? I was in GR for the Founders KBS release that week but (foolishly) didn't go to Bell's while in that area.

 

Bells can do what they want with their beer. if they dont want to have a big ass week long party to celebrate their beer then so what. i hear a lot less people bitching about this years Black note release than i do about any other high end beer release. some people like the fact that they dont have to deal with truck chasers to find a 4 pack of Black Note. establish a good relationship with your local stores and im sure they will save you some. its not our right to know when or if beer is gonna be available.

 

was in the cooler the Tuesday morning after KBS week.

 

Ok...now I don't feel so bad.

 

I got the 4pk from a local store in Grand Rapids. KBS as well.

 

That's cause Oberon sucks...imo

 

A whopping 24 bottles made its way into Savannah, GA early this week. I was lucky and got 3. If you did not get your bottle(s) by now it's all gone.

 

Live in Michigan and still have not seen or heard of any local stores receiving any allocations. But they got it in GA somehow. Larry B why have you forsaken us?