Bourbon County in the Triangle

That's pretty true. Guys, we aren't getting any, and we don't want to deal with the bullshit. It's also kinda my job to say please buy beer from us, so yes, please buy beer from us. It doesn't have to be Event Horizon : )

Our distributor has known since last year's release that we didn't plan on doing the whole BCBS thing anymore, and in the past year, we've stopped selling Goose Island as a whole. Between that, and the low yields, we probably wouldn't be receiving any either way. That said, even if we had the same allocation as last year, we're just not supporting them anymore.

There are a lot of good things to be said about some of Goose Island's beers, and some of their employees, but the way AB Inbev wields these acquired brands in the market is harmful to the industry as a whole, especially local breweries who can't compete with selling their half barrel kegs for the same price as Bud Light. As a beer store, we can choose to not perpetuate these practices just by not putting this one beer on a pedestal.

At this point, I'm happy that we sold so little Goose Island this year, because if we had pushed them in hopes of getting a big allocation, it looks like that wouldn't have happened either way. So, instead of selling however-many cases of Goose IPA, or Elysian Spacedust, we probably sold that many more cases of local IPA's instead. A few cases of BCBS would not have been worth supporting a company that screws over our friends, neighbors, and the industry we're part of. Sorry to rant, but this felt like a better venue than our email newsletter : )

The past few years have had the tradition of releasing Bourbon County on Black Friday, people having to stand in a line for 30+ minutes, and maybe having enough beer to make everybody happy. Now our tradition is that open a little later, giving us time to get all that Tryptophan out of our system, and we tap a bunch of awesome local beer. We think it will be a lot of fun and hope you'll join us if you can.

 

At what point do we boycott tasty because they've become too big and are able to "bully" smaller shops out of business? They should do their job and stop trying to make a statement.

 

We aren't the AB Inbev of bottleshops by any stretch of the imagination, and we definitely don't do anything shady to usurp the sales of other bottleshops. If you wanted to boycott us for some personal reason, you have every right to do so, but we also have every right to not buy or sell Goose Island. Trying to sell their beer all year long in hopes of having Bourbon County one day a year is not our job. You apparently had a problem with us before today though...

 

That troll needs to stay under its bridge. Please don't feed it any more.

Have yet to see a positive or insightful post from it over the years.

 

What is wrong with Tasty going out of their way to visit this forum and provide clarification to the local Triangle BA's that support a good portion of the bottle shop revenue? I'm pretty sure the guys from Stone and Sixpoint do that in these forums as well...

I also have no problem with Tasty or any other bottle shop from taking a personal and business stance on the topic of "big beer". Although it doesn't necessarily feel personal to us because the majority of us don't own a bottle shop, these employees pour their heart and soul into the business, making it personal to them. I think the issue runs somewhat parallel to the Wal-Mart situation that came up a few years back where consumers were boycotting them because they were driving mom and pop stores out of business?

 

GI continues to make it, and continues to keep it limited in order to force sales of GI IPA all year long (as well as other AB InBev brands). Without BCBS once a year, there would be no carrot. They force LBS to pump the higher profit beers all year in hopes of getting limited allocation of the 'carrot' beer once a year. Good business model if you only care about making money.

 

Thank you. It's more a matter of principle than time and effort, but not dealing with the BS is also nice. I certainly don't fault you for wanting a bottle, or even cases, for yourself, and I figure a lot of people who come in Friday will have gotten BCBS elsewhere earlier in the day. So, if you're looking for some great local beer on tap and high fives, we'll have plenty of those. If you got all your drinking done while hunting BCBS, and Tasty isn't it the cards for Friday night, there's no love lost, hopefully we'll see ya soon. : )

Anyway, it wasn't my attention to detract from where the beer will actually be, which is what this thread is about. After bottleshop raffles, I would guess grocery stores and Total Wines are going to be your best bet this year FWIW. Harris Teeter sells way more year-round Goose Island beer without trying than a small bottleshop is. That's about all I know though.

Happy Thanksgiving all ( even RBowers ) and happy hunting.

 

LOL I seem to have gotten your mustache in a knot. I don't have an issue with your store but your clientele is hipster as all hell, no? That said, you seem to want to make the ABinBev thing about you and your personal feelings towards their evil corporation when your hip customer base is what you should be worried about. And I think it's funny that you clarify that your store is not the ABinbev of shops, at what point shall a business not expand towards increased profitability in order to consider itself one of the local, good guys?

 

Happy Thanksgiving to you as well!

 

Oh, I understand the nefarious business model. I just think it's rather silly. It's also a contrived limited supply.

They most likely COULD make more than one batch annually with a larger capital investment in warehouses, barrels and additional facilities, but they do not because what do they stand to gain? They leverage the one beer that the beers geeks crave to hold bottle shops and retailers hostage year round to push their other sub par products.

Which is why I completely understand more bottleshops push back and reluctance to carry anything under he ABINBev umbrella. Their tactics are absurd.

People who covet BCBS rarely buy any other of the Goose Island portfolio aside from the sour sisters collection, and I think that is even a stretch.

 

Never came here with the intentions of arguing, so let's keep it civil, but to answer your questions...

We have a super diverse clientele. We appreciate everybody who shops with us and don't label or judge anybody. That said, I'm not surprised people who like artisanal foods also like artisanal beverages.

In my opinion, business should stop expanding toward increased profitability when they reach the point of having to break laws or behave unethically to do so. If AB had their way, every beer sold would be brewed by them, and they'll do pretty much anything to increase their market share, even if it is unethical. I'd like enough of the local market share to keep my staff paid well and be happy. I'm not looking for global, or even local, dominance. I just want to sell beer and have fun, and that's what's happening.

Let's let this thread get back to being about where to find BCBS in the Triangle, and not why you can't find it at Tasty (or about why you can find hipsters there).

 

Back on topic

Not sure if this has been posted yet, but Sam's Bottle Shop in Durham is doing a Black Friday Event that includes a raffle for a chance to buy one of the limited bottles of BCBS that they will be receiving. Here is the facebook link in case anyone else wants more info. They have some really good taps that day as well & 20% 750ml and 22oz bottle formats as well.

I'll be there in the afternoon if anyone wants to chill. Hit me up on here if interested.

https://www.facebook.com/events/892469624220608/

Happy Hunting.

 

Harris Teeter in Winston-Salem had BCBS last year, in addition to Lowes.

 

I was able to pick some up at a few Harris Teeters with ease.

 

I'm honestly surprised anyone even cares about BCBS after last year's debacle with infection issues and the "rumors" that it happened again this year. I'd rather just go buy some scratch-off lotto tickets with my money than gamble on BCBS.

 

Forgive and forget.

 

Talk about a quality control nightmare they've got going on. The obvious aside, I'm amazed they didn't just keg all of the yield and get it to the pubs & bottle shops. Then again.. what do I know anyway.

 

No doubt no doubt the volumes were reduced. I also don't understand the infection speculation if they pasteurized the beers. The volumes so low, I'd be damned if I was a retailer if I'd be bullied to push their other shitty beers all year to get a few cases of Bcbs, but I assume you know the distributions also do this with Founders yearly brews and Kbs. So how do you know your being bullied by In Bev when Barringer or Caffey distribute? Once they get it , seems to me it's up to them to distribute.