Goose Island Cthulhu

Good point, just speaking to the regular then.... I only know this from following clyborn on Twitter and I see it tapped quite frequently

 

It's increasingly clear that this "2013 batch" is literally them initially filling far too many kegs back in 2013, and their realizing that the only way to get rid of the stuff before it goes "bad" is to fill bottles directly from the kegs. These bottles are like growlers and I would say that it would be best to drink this stuff ASAP if you have the overwhelming desire to get a bottle.

 

Serious question, why do you have such an axe to grind about this?

 

Whole thing feels weird. Something just off about this, not sure what it is exactly.

 

Well it TASTES delicious, so just ignore that feeling!

In all seriousness though, anyone who hasn't tasted this stuff should avoid being taken in by hype, and simply decide whether they think $35 is an acceptable price for a 765 (I think?)mL bottle of a BA stout. I love this stuff personally, but it's not quite as full-bodied as a BCS, and $35 is a lot of money given the amazing selection of BA beers we have in Chicago now. I'm still on the fence about grabbing a bottle for that reason.

 

I'm incredibly biased because it's one of my favorite beers ever, but it was tasting pretty choice yesterday. And it almost certainly was more than a sixtel because it was on all night and our crew ran a train on the keg.

My speculative theory is they want to get the beers into people's hands and make a profit before InBev owns the place. If they have about 400 bottles it would be something slightly more than 5 big boy kegs so it's not like they are liquidating a huge ammount of stock.

Is there any reason to believe bottling it from kegs would degrade the beer given they have professional level equipment? I would think aging it in a larger container would prolong the shelf life vs. having it in bottles?

$35 does hurt but I'm willing to pay it based on my subjective opinion of the beer. I sure as hell didn't buy a bottle of cherry run.

 

John is selling the brewpub to GI, and it isn't final for another couple of weeks still. Makes sense for him to tap and sell all of it now to put the money in his pocket. Doubt the value of the Cthulhu was included in the sale price...

 

@Vav told me the following, which makes sense and is way above my head in terms of how the whole bottling process works with regard to bottling from kegs:

'You can run out through a Sabco or whatever under pressure and then it's never exposed to oxygen...and their hand bottler is a counter pressure hand filler...so it's just like bottling from the Brite tank...but it's the keg...[so, essentially] a mini Brite tank.'

Sounds legit/makes sense...I think, I don't know ...big words...industry terms...sounds good to me. Good luck to everyone getting bottles!

 

Everything I said previously about them running a release well was false.

 

Oooo do tell

 

I stayed away from this release but I have been told in an early report by someone there (as of 5:35 PM) that they may only have enough bottles for folks inside the pub and any line that forms (if any) may not get wristbands. Essentially, sounds like you had to get there early (no surprise) to have a chance to get a bottle.

 

sooooooooooooo glad I passed on this. I was tempted to leave work early to head up there, but thought better of it.

 

Everyone in a seat got a bottle. Then they went to the table wait list. Which directly went against everything they said. Such a fucked up release. Everyone was giving out different information. Very disappointed.

 

The staff had no idea what was going on. Every staff member you talked to gave you different information.

 

That was a shitshow for sure. I would've liked a bottle and could've stuck around to see if more tickets appeared, but I took off to drink beer at home and spend time with family. Oh well. I'm bummed they gave the impression that anyone in the door at 5:30 would get a ticket, but I'm over it.

 

Yeah. I bounced too. Really disappointed in the staff.

 

That sucks, I figured it would be a mess, but now definitely glad I stayed home.

 

Very poorly run. No communication at all. Really surprised that Goose Island shit the bed here. It's not like this was their first bottle release.

 

There were more people inside the pub than tickets available. Everyone at the bar seats and at a table got tickets first. Then they made rounds to people standing around. There simply weren't enough to go around. It was definitely a shit show, the place was more packed than I have ever seen it.

 

My cousin went down there for me, he got there at 4:30, said they(him and girlfriend) waited 30 min and got sat, got his wristband for a bottle, had a pour, bought his bottle's(actually one is my bottle because I bought him a ticket to Iron Maiden)and left, said it was smooth for him but said at 5:30 it got real packed.