2014 Bourbon County Brands release - Chicagoland

@JakeT469 how much was the case?

 

$122.01 after tax

 

That's a fantastic price

 

Except I wasn't first time shopper. I was in there a lot, I had spent quite a bit of money in that store, and had been shopping there regularly before Vince even worked there, I used to work across the street so it was damn convenient. I was in there at least a dozen times that month, every time I asked about BCS and cherry all he would say was keep an eye on twitter. Keep an eye on twitter, man. Yet a tweet about cherry never happened. He made everyone line up, just like every binnys, but unlike every other binnys, he only sold the coffee. Don't say one thing all month and change the rules at the last second without telling anyone.

 

Went to get a couple 4pls and it's gone. Haha.

 

They may not have put it out yet. They were still in the back when I got mine. I've got an inside guy there and he gave me a heads up when it came in.

 

Now you say so. I'll try again tomorrow.

 

Didn't know you were gonna go mins after I posted that. I figured by the time anyone was able to get there it would've been out on the floor. Apparently I guessed wrong. Good luck tomorrow.

 

Its all good. I was actually at Menards and stopped in after that. It was a few minutes before closing. They remaining people had no clue what I was talking about.

 

Hey guys Vince here. @DrunkAl, I get that you are upset but I only saw you when there was a limited beer was released. When Cherry Rye came in, I took ONE bottle. The rest of the bottles went to a couple of employees and the rest to regulars. To define a store regular, it is a customer who comes in frequently and doesn't just buy what's being released or behind the counter. I would only allow employees to buy as much as the customer was allowed. I felt like I was allowed to buy these beers, considering I spent 40+ hours a week at that store for about 4 years.

I cannot tell you how many times I gave up my chance to buy a limited release beer to take care of a customer. Most of the customers had no idea that's what I was doing and I didn't care. You would of known this, had you actually shopped my store. So your statement about me buying it all for myself, couldn't beer more off. Hell, I gave up my bottle of Bramble Rye to @stevegoz for having an awful experience at my store.

I find it pretty pathetic that you had to wait until I'm no longer working/living in Downers Grove to call me out. Please get your facts straight before you make me out to be a shady asshole.

<3 Vince

 

Thank you! I ran my department as fair as I possibly could. I,and other employees, only took the same allotment as everyone else. All the bottles that were set aside, were set aside for people who wouldn't trade it away/sell it and who shopped my store frequently.

 

Completely understand about the letting employees buy the same allotment as customers. However, I always thought that, aside from a few exceptions, most Binny's releases were first come, first served. I'm a bit disappointed to hear that it is not true.

 

I believe you hated on some hippies who cut line at a woodman's a few pages back. Wouldn't having bottles held for you for being a regular at an establishment be the same as cutting line to get the same beer? Both actions result in someone in line behind you or your held beer, not getting a beer or beers they should be "entitled" to. Line cutters and those having bottles held that screw others out of bottles are equally as bad as one another.

 

Completely agree with htkeyes. I think the argument DrunkAl is making is that there is a huge difference between holding bottles back for "regulars" at a small independent store and "regulars" at a large chain like Binny's.

For a small independent shop, "regulars" make a noticeable impact on their bottom line. They are what keep the doors open. So for a small shop to hold back beers for "regulars" is completely understandable. If they didn't, their "regulars" would go elsewhere.

At Binny's, craft beer "regulars" make up an insignificant amount of their sales because they have so many other customers, some of which are buying $100+ bottles of wine and liquor. The Beer Manager at Binny's isn't dependent on keeping the "regulars" happy in order to keep their job or the business afloat.

So for a beer manager at Binny's to hold back "limited" beers for "regulars", it's a completely different thing. "Regulars" at Binny's are really just buddies of the beer manager.

DrunkAl's frustration is that for a beer to be announced as a limited release to all customers first come first serve, it really isn't the case. It's just a sale of what's left over after the beer manager hooks up his buddies.

 

Binny's a fucking joke. I guess when you get paid shit, you have to pretend to have some unimportant power like become a beer gatekeeper. It's not YOUR store, you're a measly employee who used your "power" to "hook up" who ever would pretend like you meant a shit to them. Guess what, everyone moved on.

 

"I felt like I was allowed to buy these beers, considering I spent 40+ hours a week at that store for about 4 years."

LOL! I work at a bank, 40+ hours a week for 10 years, Guess I can be allowed to just take some money.

 

My only addition to this would be setting a standard of what a "regular" is and letting your customers know that. Is it an amount spent, number of visits to the store, time spent speaking to beer manager or the number of purchased overpriced Only Child and Pipeworks bombers. Im also waiting to hear back from DG store manager on their bribery policy. When beer managers post pics of their "gifts" from regular customers I again just want to know how to play. FYI stevegos or whatever his name was one of the customers mentioned and we now hear he got "Vince's" only backyard rye. Funny how these things work out.

BTW, I have no problem playing the game, but give everyone the rules to play.

 

BourbonCountyStoutAdvocate.com

 

I shop at Target a lot. I should have asked them to put aside the 40 inch HDTV that was $100 on Black Friday because you know, I'm a "regular".

 

C'mon man, there's no reason to insult people's jobs on here; working at Binny's is no more or less noble than other other type of employment. And if the beer manager of a Binny's thinks of the store as "his" store, what's wrong with that? He's in charge of a significant aspect of the store, and is essentially one of the figureheads of his location (ask Vav how much work went into his black friday event). I'd rather these guys feel some sort of loyalty to their store than have random employees stroll through the aisles aimlessly, not giving a shit about what's going on there.

I get that distribution of hard-to-get beers is a slippery slope; even a beer as big and mass-produced as BCBS can turn into a complete shit-show, especially in a beer market like Chicago, but there's no reason for ad hominem attacks. I don't envy these guys having to make the call between selling a bottle of Prop to the guy who flies in off the street and has no interest in the rest of your stock, and the guy who's in there multiple times a week, seeing what's new, shooting the breeze, etc. Could you take the choice out, and just put it on the shelf? Sure, and then you'd have people take more than their allotment (as has happened at LP Binny's more than once, according to their signs), and you'd run the risk of your most loyal customers being completely screwed (which, on a human level sucks, because everyone wants to help out their buddies). Either way, beer advocate is usually one of the few positive places I visit on the internet, and there's no reason for that to change. This isn't the place to call people out; we all love beer, so let's focus on that.

Now, if we could just get back to obsessing over BCBS...