Bourbon County 2017

Yeah, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it probably has something to do with Izzo's 1-11 record against Kryzww...Kyzgr...Kzyyrgh...uhh...Coach K.

 

However, as bulls fans, we should be hoping for Begley.

 

Am I the only one that was really happy I went to LP on Black Friday? Yes, the tent situation was a mess, the trash problem definitely needs to be handled, and the wait time was ridiculous...but at the end of the day, I had one stop that netted my wife and I a large enough allocation that I'll have all the BCBS I want for a year or more.

And that Bananas Foster BCBS....man...double allocation on that was critical.

 

*shudders*

 

Both. Larger and/or specialty stores have a GI rep, but pretty rare for independents. If a GI rep isn’t determining allocations, then it’s up to the distributor. That causes a lot of shady business. An example being some Lakeshore Beverage sales reps making deals with small shops to buy cases of what they want at cost if they allocated them more than should realistically have gotten.

 

We get it. You don't like it or whatever. But it's phenomenal to many of us.

 

This is not an entirely accurate picture of the timetable, allow me to clarify.

Prior to 2010, GI released BCBS once a year (i don't remember when specifically, it was i think 3rd or 4th quarter but it never had a target date) and it just kinda sat there for the better part of a year, slowly selling down, that part is true. I'd buy 50-70 cases (i got yelled at for overbuying once, true story) and it would last until around the time Mariah Carey's destruction of all semblance of decency, sanity, and holiday cheer enveloped those of us at retail that had to hear All I Want For Christmas Is You 6-14 times per day....fuck i don't miss retail.

ANYWAY, i digress...so yeah it sat around. And that's all there was. There was no Coffee or Bramble.

Nightstalker was arguably the first of the BCBS family variant, even though it was separate recipe...honestly i kinda suggested it to customers that way too "if you like bcbs grab one of these too." And for good reason, it was delicious, a dry hopped imperial stout. So Nightstalker was first released in...i think 2009, or maybe early 2010. I know they did it at least two years because i cellared it at least once. It was like an "off season" BCBS that wasn't barrel aged. There was a beer with cacao nibs as well....i don't remember the name of it though....i think it got commercially released? I don't recall honestly.

The 2010 OG Black Friday was a Rare event, not a BCBS event. It was my way of selling the 120 cases of Rare i committed to kinda just because...i mean it was really simple as they told me about it and i was all "Cool, i'll buy all of it." Then they told me about OG Coffee and the OG Vanilla and i was like "Fuck it, cool i'll buy all of those too." But then i had to figure out how to sell it, because that delivery cost like, a quarter of the cost of my house and there was no way i could inventory it all for a whole year. So what did i do? I asked for a pallet of BCBS too. Go big or go home i guess. So that's when the whole Black Friday idea happened, to move all this beer, and also why it's become a BCBS event... there was no Rare year 2, so more variants got made to capitalize on the original day's success and the like. (also, i have the absolute BEST King Henry story in the world i should post one of these days.)

As successful as it was, i *always* held multiple cases back for good customers, out of town customers, and those times when i was bored and would pull a random case from the cellar, toss it on the shelf, and Tweet it out or let whoever happened to be in the store find it and freak out with glee. So that's where the non-Black Friday releases came from. They were leftovers from my allocations i held back in the cellar.

Hope that clarifies the timetable a lil better

 

Big John?

 

Big John? Wish GI would add that and Night Stalker to the rotation.

 

That was it yep, Big John!

 

Yes, I went to Capone's Monday. People started arriving at 9AM, I arrived around 5PM, 1 hour before the sale. Was 41st in line (they handed out numbers), bought the last coffee available (leaving 2012 the last variety left beyond original and barleywine available).

Prices and employees were great, met a lot of cool knowledgeable beer folks in line, glad I left work early. If I lived closer by, I'd stop there more often, they have a great selection and good pricing. They sold up to three original, 1 BW, and then a variant. A few people left before 6PM, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten the final Coffee.

 

Anyone know what Printer’s Row got today?

I got a bottle of Northwoods and Reserve at Park West today. They were $29 and $30, and you had to buy BW and Regular to get them. I’m not crazy about the BW, but I’m drinking one now and it’s pretty tasty.

 

I have never understood why they don't. It's a HUGE hole in their line-up, especially given that they put The Muddy in essentially that slot. I can't believe they wouldn't make serious dough during the BCBS "off-season" by selling people BJ and Nightstalker.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the man who ruined Thanksgiving weekend for all of us.....

 

Why not take some BCBS and before bottling dry hop the heck out of it with the newer tropical hops? Do not age for 5 years....

 

My Rookie experience at Binny's LP

First of all, thanks for this entertaining thread. I've literally spent all day reading.

I drove from Des Moines and arrived at 1:30am. My best decision of the day happened right when I arrived. I set up my chair behind some people who were setting up a tent. Then, some new people arrived and started setting up a tent behind me. I knew I didn't want to sit there alone, sandwiched between two tents, all by myself. So I got up and jumped the line... backwards. That's right, I moved back a few spots so I'd be sitting next to others who were NOT in tents. Reason 1, I wanted to socialize a little bit. Reason 2, I knew if shit hit the fan when that crazy zig zagging line started to condense, I wanted people to recognize me when the dust settled. Sure enough that's exactly what happened. And it was really quick. People were just starting to pack up. I folded my chair and took it to my car parked only about 300 yards away. When I returned, my group was crossing the street and everyone was frantically grabbing their shit and running with it. I just joined my group and slipped right in. Did we line jump some people? Probably. But it was so chaotic, I didn't know. Throughout the night, lots of people walked by counting the line. Every time we asked what number they were on when they got to us. Because the tent occupants were unknown it was mostly a guess. But generally the counts we got were between 550 & 600. When tickets were handed out, I was #588. So if I jumped past anyone, I was equally jumped by just as many other people. I was happy with where I was at and I got my full allotment. I didn't do any more hunting. I went to the Fulton taproom and enjoyed the rest of my day.

Now, the way I see it, the real problem was fact that there was no pre-set direction for the line. From what I hear, it changes every year. It just goes wherever the people who get in it decide it's gonna go. I could tell right away the whole turn east on willow then double back on itself in front of the store thing was a mess. Tickets should be handed out as people arrive and that same employee also directs where the line goes. It's rather simple. Will people get a ticket, leave, and come back later? Likely but not the majority of them. Tell them a 2nd (matching) ticket will be handed out at some time and they won't want to miss it. Lots of those people came prepared to spent the night anyway.

I have very little sympathy for those who were still asleep in their tents when the line crunch happened. They needed someone in their group to remain awake and pay attention. Hell, the people who set that tent up behind my original spot way over did it. They had a freakin 5 star mobile hotel going on. Propane heater and everything. No wonder they were sleeping so soundly. They had a ton of shit that needed to be packed up and hauled back to their car. Did they really expect the line to wait on them?

My last comment is for you Chicago dudes on here who hate the fact that out of towners are ruining your ability to load up on top shelf beers. I get it. You want more of it. So do I. But it's because prop is available ONLY in Chicago, and variants are nearly invisible elsewhere, that we come here. If GI would distribute prop and the variants more equitably, we wouldn't have to. Trust me, if I had a chance to get a prop in Des Moines, I'd save myself the 10 hours of driving and get in line here. You shouldn't be mad at us. Hate on the dicks that live there who buy up huge amounts and immediately start selling them online. I mean shit, if they can get multiple props and variants, surely you can too. Just because your one stop shop at Binnys LP is now a shit show, don't get mad. Let it get worse until someday it's ONLY out of towners that have to deal with it. You'll still have your little hidden spots we don't know about.

All that said, they guys who I was sitting with were all long time veterans. They knew I was from Iowa and were super cool with me. Cheers to those guys!

 

So my buddy and I must have been right behind you then.....we had tickets 590, 591....we got there at 10:30pm...That's how screwed up that line was...we were counted consistently at or around 300ish or so basically almost 300 people somehow jumped the line...in the long run it didn't matter as we got full alotments just crazy to think that many people got ahead

 

The dumb thing is that people started packing up their tents and "condensing" the line as soon as daylight started to break. People still had at least three hours (or 6-7 hours if you were closer to the middle of the line) before they could get their beer and almost two hours before tickets were handed out. I don't get the sheer panic to put everything away and start jamming the line forward.

I knew it was coming as we've had some kind of shelter since 2013. () We're the black and yellow tent at 0.08 and my wife waving at 0.24. I literally bought an ice shanty because it could be popped down in seconds and the line still tried to leave us behind. Luckily my wife took our chairs and ran forward with the rest of the mob.

 

I was too burned out after Black Friday to do much searching, and I figured since I was more fortunate than many with variants that I shouldn’t be greedy anyway. But that feeling has passed and I’d like to grab another 6 or so regulars. Anyone have any leads on if these “stacks of cases” are still sitting around anywhere in or near the city? Preferably in the $10-12 price range if possible. I live pretty close to the spot mentioned previously with all the Northwoods, but I heard they’re at about $14 for regular.

 

Jewel at Broadway and Addison had a ton on Saturday for $9.99. Not sure if that's still around.

Speaking of THAT store with the Northwoods, stopped in at Danny's just north of there yesterday afternoon and they had some '16 stuff behind the counter. Not sure what's left, but when i was there they had some regulars, bw, coffee and prop. i bought the only prop they had out, so not sure if there are more. I guess since people have been asking for BCBS, they got out what they had from last year. Prices were great.