Destroying a beer's legacy...

At my fridge when people are lining up for KBS and passing on the cooler of Miller in the yard.

 

Interesting. Up until now I've never heard of it being in the East any where but the Philly area. At least one place here has the tap currently pouring as well. Wonder if their current brewery has expanded enough for that to be a regular thing for you folks. In either case, nice, it is definitely a top notch beer even though some say there are better beers out there. Among the top tier beers "better" only means someone likes something else better...

 

Just finished my last KBS bottle from a 4-pack. OMG it is sooo good. But, at $22 for four, I like to think there are other brews that are close to giving me that much pleasure for less money. On the other hand, sitting in the local pub restaurant spending $7-8 per pint for craft, I realized that $22 is not so bad. Unfortunately, I have not seen CBS around my parts. Perhaps it is snatched up before I arrive at the store.

 

Monks is an always stop for me, then onto Jim’s Steaks. Love Pliny but Blind Pig is every bit as good.

 

Sounds good to me. I just noticed that my closest bottle shop had Blind Pig. Hmm, maybe it's time to beer shopping.

 

Wow no shit, I’d be in the car already.

 

I think CBS is incredible — did a blind stout tasting last fall w/my crew and 2017 CBS was right there at the top - all agreed it was a well crafted complex sipper.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/international-stout-day-tasting-results.593463/

 

Go to the Nelson thread in the Pacific forum; you can taste the heartbreak.

 

The new brewery complex is massive. It's nice to be able to stop in four some pours on my way through the area and not have to battle lines and crowds

 

I never bought any of the KBS stuff, but tried a number of them. I was never moved to possess them and could easily satisfy my beer desires without them. I didn't bite.

 

I'm still seeing crap loads of Napa Parabola all over Norcal. I could, however, do with more than the 2 bottles of regular Parabola I got. Miy FW distributor in Santa Cruz sucks.

 

I had not bought beer (outside of a random six pack or while drinking at a bar) in probably several months but today went to the local store after posting that. Picked up a 4 pack of KBS, thank you very much. I remember waiting in line prior to a store opening for a KBS release, and waiting half an hour to get ONE BOTTLE. And it’s not like that was THAT long ago, 4ish years maybe. So yeah, I’ll take the 4 pack sitting on the shelf with no wait 6 months after release any day.

They also had some Bourbon County Midnight Orange sitting on the shelves whichever I definitely wasn’t expecting and grabbed a few of those.

 

Yeah I thought the $6plus per beer i spent on the four pack was a bit pricey, but then I remembered I spent $6 on a Corona at the local dive-ish tiki bar the other nice. So, it’s all perspective I guess.

 

I hate to single you out here, but you do realize, don't you, that your lament has everything to do with you and nothing to do with the beer/brewery(s)?

 

I assume you are being sarcastic. If KBBS hit mass distro it’d sit on the shelves and everyone would say how overrated it was and that it was ridiculous at $100 a bottle.

If you were being serious then I don’t know why to say other than the, “brewery only release of the overpriced ultra rare, wish you could get it, most people there just want it for the second market, fanboy flavor of the week” beers is what has essentially driven me completely away from craft beer scene.

 

Agreed, now that there are local/regional brewers that can produce these beers or VERY close to, these classics lose their exotic flair.
Pricing hasn't helped either. I am less given to drop a lot of cash on old dogs unless they consistently deliver greatness

 

I never suggested it suddenly go into mass distribution, nor that they retain the $100 price - quite the opposite. I was giving an example of a beer that while probably outstanding, is artificially limited and priced to create cult status. You are correct that if it went into mass-production/distribution, particularly at $100, that it would rot on the shelves, which is why they'll never do that.

I was suggesting that they could avoid what Founders did with KBS by ramping production up slowly. They could keep it rare and brewery only initially, maybe expand distribution eventually and slowly, but get it into more hands and actually extend the hype. Even if the price came down, they could make a killing on it and maintain cult status. If they are smart, they are doing this, but slowly enough that it isn't obvious. My point was to illustrate how Founders screwed up KBS cult status by ramping up production quickly.

 

If a brewery (in this case, Founders) wants to sell a lot more of a particular beer (in this case, KBS), why do they care about "cult" status?

For all the lamenting about KBS around here, I'd guess Founders is making a lot more money off of that brand than they ever have. And, since cult status doesn't have a flavor, it remains a great beer.

 

Breweries participating in hype-driving practices no doubt has been happening for years, but that’s the type of practice that should be looked down upon by the craft consumer community, not the expansion of a breweries highest quality offerings to get in the hands of more costumers. If increased availability leads to a decreased reputation of a beer (or loss of cult status as you say), that’s more of a reflection on the community of consumers than it is on the brewery. Assuming quality remains the same with increased production, of course.

 

Funny there’s bitching when at release KBS sometimes was a 1-2 bottle limit, there’s bitching when you can buy as much as you can afford. There’s no pleasing everyone evidently, but it’s as good as ever and I appreciated their effort. The margins must be friendly or there wouldn’t be much incentive to flood the market, cheers to them.