Ithaca Flower Power in NJ

saw the same, a few cases with october best before date at Shoprite liquors in Westfield last weekend

 

I/We do too.

 

Was going to post the same question. Just about impossible to find and I'm in South Jersey, southeast PA area.

 

Linwood in Fort Lee is just about out of their last drop from about two months ago. The labels are notched September, which I guess would make them from June(?). I had a sixer about a week ago, and it was still drinking fine- not 'top of its game', but enjoyable nonetheless. Hopefully there's not much of an outage between this batch and the next one.

 

Does anyone know how many months out the best by date is?

 

3 months - according to previous posts by Ithaca employees. So, a bottle of Flower Power that's "best before" October should be consumed by September and so bottled in June. All the many cases I've bought had the bottling date stamped on the corner of lid - I'm surprised by the posts above which mention cases and then the "Best Before" date. One would have to open the cases to find that notched on the labels themselves.

 

Top case was open as a display to grab a sixer.

 

canals in delran has a few cases.. bottled 7/16/12 just picked up a case for myself

 

Grabbed a 6pack today at Hopewell Buyrite. Bottle is notched November

 

Gary's in Wayne has about 5 cases (as of noon today). Super fresh too!

 

When I'm home visiting I call Joe Canals in Lawrenceville NJ check on availability and they save a case for me. Their allotment never lasts a month, it's always on short supply. And I always get a case for right at 42 bucks. They blame it on one guy who buys 10 cases at a time every month, and I suspect a bar owner stocking up for his customers and selling it at 5 bucks a bottle. I would never ever buy 8 month old FP, it would be a sweet malt bomb of a brew.

 

I live in Irondequoit as well. No love for the Titus Wegmans? Just kidding.

 

A NJ bar owner buying beer from Joe Canal's for resale would be illegal, for both the bar and the store (I imagine the same would be true for a PA bar owner crossing the Delaware, seeing as there's often a lot of PA plates in Joe Canal's parking lot):

Borrowing or trading alcoholic beverages between retailers is prohibited. Retailers can only obtain alcoholic beverages from a New Jersey licensed wholesale ...a retail licensee is not permitted to sell alcoholic beverages to or purchase alcoholic beverages from another retail licensee. --- NJ ABC Handbook​

And why would they risk a violation? The beer is distributed by the local A-B house, Ritchie & Page, so it's unlikely a bar wouldn't already have an account with them and they'd be paying wholesale prices. The local Wegman's (in the "next-door" shopping center to the one where Joe Canal's is located) often has stacks of frequently out-dated Flower Power on the floor.

 

Just a supposition by the manager I spoke to, the guy buys 10 cases out of every delivery they receive. So what's a normal beer drinker doing with 10 cases at 44 bucks a pop every month? I don't see a ton of FP being traded, hell the one I offered to share I posted I wasn't exactly over run with requests. Lots of competition out there, illegal yes, but not blindingly so, and it's not an obvious problem why would he be cited, if this is true.

 

The latest batch in jersey is brewed 7/16. My friend was at the brewery last weekend and was told they won't be making any more until the move which is scheduled for about a month or so from now so add another month to that for brewing and bottling before any "fresh" flower power comes back