Goose Island Bourbon County 2017

I'm not sure I'd say they're all better, but as far as BBA stouts that are of comparable quality, close to the same price point per ounce (except for MP), and that stick around on shelves in various places around the country, I'd say

Central Waters BBA Stout
Bruery So Happens It's Tuesday
Olde Hickory Event Horizon
Midnight Sun Berserker
Modern Times BBA Monster's Park
Deschutes The Abyss (only partially bourbon barrels, but still)
FSW Parabola
Avery Uncle Jacob's

There are some others you could bring into the conversation if you consider unaged stouts or BBA coffee stouts in comparison to BC coffee, but I'd say there are definitely a number of breweries around the country that have caught up.

 

Why has this thread turned into upset people saying: "I'm not getting this because there are SO many better options available; it's not even that good." ??

It IS actually really good.

 

It is definitely really good when it's not infected; I hope that's not seriously in dispute by anyone. But there are plenty of places that are still craft with equally good options that have better [recent] track records and more available product. That admittedly doesn't justify hijacking the thread, but that inevitably seems to happen with GI threads nowadays.

 

Fresh BA Fidy is damn fine, but a year aged it's just not as in-your-face as it was fresh. Might have one tonight though. As good as it was fresh, I still prefer BCBS.

 

I only have a few left , this one a 2013. It's cold and rainy , about the only big beer I have that's not s big bottle. I like bcbs fine, but that CW16 was killer good as was the BA Ten Fidy. Much prefer these bottles in size, the newer bcbs bottles are pretty cool.

 

This is true for Wisconsin.

 

This thread has spurned a few folks who are frustrated over limited and ambiguous distribution, compounded by the infection/quality issues which significantly impacted quantities in 2015, 2016, and now 2017 (Barelywhine). I love BCBS, but can't get much, if any. I hate it when I can't get any.

If I watch closely, I can get BCBS on tap a couple of times a year, and I might land one or two bottles. I like a number of other BA Stouts that are decent, cheaper, and easier to get such as CW BA Stout, CW BA Cassian Sunset Stout, Prairie BA Bomb/Pirate Bomb/Noir, BA Fidy, etc. So yeah, I'll join in on some BCBS bashing, but due to quantity, not quality.

 

I think a lot of butthurt over Bourbon County’s release is to temper ones own expectations. If you convince yourself it’s not worth the chase and that there are better options out there, then you won’t be disappointed when you come up with only a few bottles or worse yet, completely empty handed.

I’d say BC is still the gold standard for a nationally released barrel aged stout. And seeing the list of awesome variants most years, it’s easy to forget just how GD good regular bourbon county is.

 

same with me. Their initial response was "the window for refunds had closed" so I wrote back explaining that I age these, etc and wasn't prepared to open them sooner. I went so far as to send them photos of the unopened bottles, the close ups of the batch number, and all with a pic of that day's newspaper to show it wasn't an old photo, etc.....oh, and then the photo of my 30 or so BC's. Told them I wasn't necessarily asking for a full refund, but that they could surely find some sort of restitution. Zero response to any follow ups. Nice....

 

A store near me has been selling Sophie and Matlida 4-packs for $9.99 for the past few months when it's usually $13-14. It will be interesting to see how much BCBS they get (if their strategy is accurate).

 

The large store-front here in Indiana (big Red) has reduced theirs from 10.99/4 pack to 8.99/4 pack. Been loving it.

 

Would be funny if their "reward" is a truckload of...Sophie and Matilda. I just don't get why not total GI sales. Why those two?

 

Someone mentioned in another thread that it's a way to measure more "craft" markets. A store may sell tons of 312 but might not get much demand for barrel aged stouts. A store selling wine barrel saisons and Brett beers is likely a better spot for BCBS. Just a theory though

 

Agreed. And think about this in a circular way. Wherever people go for craft they want them to keep going, and then they will supply stuff so that they keep going, and their rare releases will get eaten there (say the Cooper project's that, on average, do not do as well), and so on and so forth.

You have to remember that BCBS may be loved by all, but Sofie and the others are not. So there is some rewards there for those stores. It also takes some guess work out in terms of allocating all similar "craft-y" beers, and forces stores to try to push sales if they want more BCBS.

Makes sense.

 

I wish the amount of bourbon county was based on the amount of Sofia I buy every year because I love me some Sofie!

 

Mind sharing which online store?

 

Do the stores who told you it was Sophie only stock any other GI beers? If they only stock that one beer....

 

Yes, they stock quite a few different ones, including Matilda.

 

Hmm, I agree it's a peculiar situation. As I mentioned earlier, around here it pretty much seems to be based on the total sales of the beers brewed at GI in Chicago not just a single beer.

 

I don't think it's that wierd given that other companies practice similar policies. Founder's reps were stating that KBS allocations were based solely on All Day IPA sales. Those are obviously in stark contrast to each other (market wise in terms of who buys what). Still, other companies do something similar.