BCBS @ the Rackhouse

They had it last year around GABF along with a couple odd varieties: vanilla and chocolate (which i didn't think existed).





No cherry rye no care.

 

Is it $10 for a 6oz pour?

 

Close...$9.
I went for it, but I truly do hate the concept of a 6oz pour.

 

$9, but didn't say what pour size.

 

I really like Rackhouse and go there every Monday when I'm in town for 'business'. But their beer prices are usually all over the board and forget about it on beers like this! Love their lunch special though!!

 

They had it for quite awhile after GABF

 

I had a chat with a couple of folks and found out those weren't actually Chocolate and Vanilla...they were just single barrels that were chosen for having those characteristics.

 

the $9 per 6oz is harsh. I had one. I probably would have had a second if my sinuses weren't acting up dulling the deliciousness.
According to the Rackhouse Facebook post they were supposed to get a second BCBS, but they didn't actually get one. According to the server it was supposed to be coffee.

 

^ Yup, the coffee one didn't make it. I think they ended up getting Pepe Nero instead, but they weren't going to tap it right away.
While steep, the $9 doesn't bother me as much as the entire concept of a 6oz pour. Unless something is white whale rare and they have to spread it out, I think 8oz should be a minimum serving. Anything less than that is bordering on a large sample.

 

When The Mayor got the BCBS Coffee earlier this year, they definitely poured at least 8 oz pours, which I was fine with. I do agree that 6 oz would have been small...that 2 oz difference would have made a difference.

I haven't seen BCBS on tap around here lately, but a couple spots got the Sofie Paradisi and I dug that one. Especially with that beer fresh, the addition of the grapefruit improved it a lot. That beer can be a touch too sweet for me fresh, personally, but the grapefruit was able to cut into that sweetness a good deal.

I'd love to try that Paradisi with around 6 months on it, to see how the grapefruit can improve the beer when its at its best.

 

Agreed, 6oz just simply primes the tastebuds. I get that they probably want to spread it out as much as possible, as well as maximize their profits, but after the Averys and now BCBS at a steep $/6oz, my enthusiasm is starting to fade on Rackhouse's special tappings

 

Hey everyone. I'm the marketing guy from the Rackhouse. I'll try to answer your concerns below.

• Availability - Both the Rackhouse & the Goose Island rep thought we were going to get the Bourbon County Coffee Oak Aged Stout in. There was an inventory error at the distributor. That is out of our control and we apologize for not being able to get this super rare beer in. If we can track down a keg of it in the future, we'll do our best to bring it in. Having worked for a brewery previously, these sort of errors happen. Sorry about that, but there was nothing we could do about it.

• Pricing - we price our beers directly according to the prices we get per keg from the distributor. The higher the beer cost, the more we charge. The lower, the cheaper. The Goose Island offerings are priced according to the distributor's cost.

We're not out to gouge our customers - our aim is to price beers fairly.

Bourbon County Oak Aged Stout (14.5% ABV) is priced similarly to the Avery beers we have on tap - Mephistopheles (16%), Beast (16%) & Samaels (17%). We're sorry some of you took issue in the pricing. We have 25 other beers on tap for you to try, including Crooked Stave Saison Vielle, Great Divide Chocolate Oak-Aged Yeti and New Belgium Paardebloem.

• Pour size - again this is based on the amount of beer we have and the cost per BBL. I will discuss this with the owner of the Rackhouse when I meet with him next.

If you have further questions/concerns/gripes/complaints/compliments, please feel free to contact me directly at josh [at] rackhousepub [dot] com.

Thanks for your time.

Josh Mishell
Marketing Guy
Rackhouse Pub

 

I personally don't mind the pour size - more people get to try it that way, and it's a beer a lot of people should try.

 

Thanks for dropping in Josh - we always appreciate it when we get info straight from the source!
I'm still pushing for 8oz pours
I'd rather see something run out sooner by giving people a full pour (like Pliny the Younger) than to only get a double-shot.

 

I'm seriously not trying to nitpick you, but when I left the Rackhouse last night at 7pm, we were nearly full. So that can't qualify as "few people". Just trying to defend my bar.

 

I get pissed about everything else in the world, but I draw the line at anger directed at a bar that brought in one of what, maybe 5 kegs in the entire state this year, of a damn fine beer. You sell what you've got for what you want Rackhouse...I'll enjoy what you bring in and keep pummeling that Sea-Mac.

Yours truly,
Fatboy with pre-type 2

 

Yes, thanks for the info. We visit the Rackhouse regularly and recommend it to everyone we meet, even if they're not beer fans because we also enjoy the food, or if I know someone is a bourbon fan.
All the other beer prices are in line with what I expect.
The Avery Demons + Tweak as with BCBS I find to be out of range. I didn't intentionally suggest that Rackhouse was the culprit, it's not like distributors jacking the price of a popular beer is an unknown phenomenon , but the prices are high nonetheless.

For instance we had gone to Parry's for the Avery takeover where the Demons + Tweak were closer to $1/oz, whereas Rackhouse was at or close to $2/oz. Maybe Parry's had a deal with Avery? I couldn't say. But in addition, the Demons can still be found on shelves for $9/12oz. As a consumer it's hard to justify near $2/oz when we can still get them for less than $1/oz.
BCBS hasn't made it in bottles yet that I've heard, so OK it's a rare deal around here. But still, 12oz bottles are around the $5 mark, and 22oz $13-15ish, even for the variants. I've had it on tap in MA several times and it was always closer to $10/10oz. Different area, different distributor sure, but the price disparity is still a big one.
Again I'm not blaming Rackhouse, and I probably should have kept my waning lack of enthusiasm more general instead of naming Rackhouse specifically.

Sorry for the overly long post, but I just wanted to show why I find the prices to be too high for the product, even considering restaurant pricing. Maybe it's the distributor hiking the price, if so, maybe they need a talking to. If that won't work, I guess we all have to do what we have to do.

And yes, please, at least an 8oz pour. I simply can't take those little flute glasses anymore.

Thanks again for the information, we all appreciate it when businesses take such an active role and show genuine concern for their customers

 

One thing that wasn't mentioned (that *might* explain the pricing, too) - is that we got 16oz Goose Island glasses with our order of BCBS as well. That's always a nice bonus.

Oh yeah...8oz, 8oz, 8oz...
If I say it enough, maybe it will come true!