Bourbon County 2017

I do think people just disagree with their decision to put such a big variant allotment at LP. That’s different from saying they should have changed it midstream.

Also, sending so much to LP is their prerogative, but it also seems like they wanted a big newsworthy event but then ran it like it was their first rodeo.

No - strongly no - because if you’re going through that line you aren’t buying anything but BCBS inventory. They were gonna sell out of everything Bourbon County regardless, so why piss off your customers?

 

Also at whirlyball, bottles of 09-14.

If you ever wanted 2011 for $25, now is your chance at that whale.

 

................and now I'm sad that I'm in my pajamas.

 

Drive out to Valporasio, tomorrow for the Four Fathers BA Wheelhouse release, one of the most coffee forward beers I have ever had, and the best coffee stout I had at FoBAB.

 

All that I want to see change from this shit is someone from Jewel, Binny's, any store that has a fucking blog dedicated to this release, to get someone out watching the line to give people tickets/wristbands/numbers written on their forehead in sharpie/whatever to prevent line cutting. You're writing about it online, hyping it up, don't act surprised when you have a line of insane people that started at 11 the night before or whatever.

I was at Jewel this morning at 4:30, around #40 in line. We got inside, they handed out their free snifters, I ended up #52. Alright, whatever, not like I need more glassware. Northwoods ran out two people in front of me. I'd like to give a big thanks to the line cutters, especially this rude guy and his girlfriend who joined the group in front of me after 5. I told the guy the line started in the back, he looked at me, turned around, and went back to talking to his friends. Kinda salty about it, but whatever, I still got some good beer, but it's the principal of the thing.

For the people talking about "calling out line cutters", when they don't give a shit and are only in it for themselves, screw everyone else, what are people supposed to do? Can't actually touch them or shit's gonna get out of hand real fast (who wants to see a bunch of fat drunk neckbeards wrestle fight? I mean, I do, but I don't want to be the guy to start it), so if they aren't gonna own up to it, you're outta luck. It's like, you're lying, I know you're lying, the only proof I have is people who saw it and will corroborate, but when nobody from the store is out policing the lines and their excuse is "We can't control what happens outside", there is no penalty to cutting in line so people are going to continue to do it.

As long as I'm ranting, if you put your chair out and go back to your car, don't get pissed when people move past you. You're not outside, you're not in line. If you're "holding a spot" and your family piles out of your minivan at 5 minutes before they start selling, open the store, whatever, and you get some comments, don't act surprised or hurt.

Man, fuck rude people.

 

...exhausted after catching up to 6-7 pages of complete shit show stories that I read, but here are some of mine for the day (in highlights)...

• LOVED that I got GI Clybourne tasting tickets for $100 a piece. Took my girlfriend (who was looking forward to the desserts more than the beer) and was thrilled to escape the horrid shit shot that was LP Binny's release (more to come on this later). Ended up having all 6 variants stress free, we got 2 Proprietor's 2017 bottles (which was both of our favorite variant)... and on top of that I won a free sweet GI Bourbon County zipper sweatshirt hoodie. If anyone was in the noon tasting group and you saw a drunky lifting his sticker taped menu into the air next to a small blonde girl, that was me. Fucking thrilled I bought those tickets because...
• I showed up at LP Binny's around 6:10A.M. (@flat_lander , were we next to each other??)... I was almost two blocks wrapped around from the GI door... absurd. Basically, I was just ahead of Best Buy store entrance. After about an hour and a half, and after realizing that I was not even half way from when ticket number 750 was handed out, I asked myself: 'what the fuck am I doing here?! This isn't what I want to be doing with my life'. So we left. Went home. Took shower. Ate. Went back to GI Clybourne and had the awesome time at the tasting room and left LP Binny's bullshit in the rear view mirror.
  
• After the great tasting event, we went up north to my suburb and went to my spot where I always score a nice variant with minimal wait. My girlfriend has a great time people watching, and after a short wait we both scored a Reserve as well.

In all, I decided to say 'fuck you, LP Binny's... never again'. I got to try all 6 beers (Prop>Reserve>Reg>Northwoods>Barleywine>Coffee), won a sweet free sweatshirt-hoodie, ended up with 2 Prop and 2 Reserve, and was home in time to relax and lay in bed for the last.... 5-6hrs.

 

I said the same thing to myself when Henna double rainbow was released. I pulled up, saw the line, and then after a few moments left.

I totally planned on waiting in line this morning, but luckily my hungover (possibly still drunk?) self checked these forums and went back to bed.

 

I felt like this was my moment of clarity today. Not doing this anymore.

 

All of this 100%. @kodt And I were basically right next to each other, which we figured out somewhere around the power station in back. When my buddy and I got in line at 6:10am we had several people tell us we were somewhere around 900 pre line collapse which was a wild thing. It condensed from pretty much Best Buy all the way up Willow and we ended up in front of GI. Didn't find out we weren't going to get a ticket until 8:30ish and somehow our real spot in line was 1200ish+. I politely and friendly posted to the Binny's blog around 11:30 if they could come give the line past 1000 some intel on what was up. I decided to go that route because they had answered a question from someone as recently as 10:29am. My post was noted as waiting to be approved by a moderator, was ultimately deleted, and they have subsequently deleted the entire Q&A history from from the Black Friday announcement blog. You know, the one where they said pretty much if you got there before 7am you were good. IIRC you called that one @kodt . I'll only add that '17 regular is fantastic. Tons of boozy, oaky, vanilla-marshmallow, char going on. That is all for now. Dissertation coming down the pipe with more humorous anecdotes from the day. They kept on coming up until the very end...

 

See you all next year.

 

Henna was my moment of clarity too. I'm just not going to be miserable for hours on end for any reason, even precious beers.

 

Yes! And finally, we have acceptance. The full seven stages of grief. (Shock, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, testing, acceptance)

Gotta love Black Friday! Cheers everyone!

 

Shhhhhh

 

Couldn't believe we ended up #'s 1001 and 1002. We figured we were perfectly ok and ended up just barely making it really. I was happy honestly to hear that we were the first ones that they pulled 1 Prop back from our allotment so it could stretch a little further for more of the folks that had to stand in that miserable line just as long as we had. Very sorry to the probably few hundred after that that ended up with nothing.

 

After I left line, we hit up a local shop selling regular by the case. So I was all good on that front.

All in all, we just needed more communication from Binny's.

There was definitely entertainment to be had and had a good time hanging out and meeting you.

 

I thought Wheatwine was pretty good.

What a wild ride this am. My spidey sense gave me the inkling of shitshow, primarily because of the large allotment and good weather. No store has ever offered 2 prop and 2 coffee that I've been to. I ended up 922 and felt lucky as hell, no reason the line had to be that slow or that many people left hangin and hoping after 1000. I also agree with handing out numbers waaaay earlier as people arrive, no need to wait until 8. Line was over 1000 by 530am, people would have loved a chance to leave and try another Binnys or Jewel or whatever and not waste 8 hours of their life.

 

Hopefully Binny's will respond to these valid criticisms from customers as well as Goose Island probably being peeved that they are souring their biggest release of the year with these blunders. It seems to be pretty simple fixes. Take the $2+ gouging premium you're adding to BCBS and pay for some people to work outside and control the tickets and the line properly.

 

I was the guy there in his pajamas...

 

Charging more than MSRP isn't "gouging." It's the only rational thing to when you've got 1000+ people in line before your doors open. I seriously don't know why this beer continues to be woefully underpriced everywhere. Of all the things that could "fix" this release, nothing would help more than tripling the price of everything.

If you need evidence that this beer is totally underpriced, see Craigslist.

 

Love reading all these posts about the day. Since I missed out, I'm drinking a 2016 right now, and it's reminding me why people so fervently chase this beer. It is that damn good. Easily the best pure BA imperial stout I've had.