Old timers: When did Cantillon "boom"?

Hard: 2009 (I was living in mass at the time).
Impossible:2012. I found it relatively easily before 2012 by just calling all the stores listed on ba within an hour or so drive of wherever I happened to be but in 2012 is just dried up all togeather

 

I've only seen one of these beers on the shelf since 2009, and it was gone in a day (Rose).

 

Looking through the sales history, I can pinpoint it to sometime between February 2011 and July 2011. Prior to that it would take 2-3 weeks to sell a case, but the cases we received in July of that year were the first to sell out in less than a week. It kept accelerating after that, and now we're lucky if they last a day on the shelves.

Random fun fact: During Puckerfest 2008/2009 we actually put them on sale for $10-15 off just to help them move a little bit.

edit: Just found this in an email from July 2008:



Just in time for the Portland International Beerfest this weekend we have a few in-store super specials:
DeProef Lozen Boer $6.99 (reg. $10.99)
DeProef Zoetzur $7.99 (reg. $11.49)
Hanse Drinker Tripel $3.99 (reg. $5.29)
St. Sebastian Golden $6.99 (reg. $9.49)
Inveralmond Lia Fail $3.99 (reg. $5.29)
Chapeau Framboise $4.99 (reg. $6.49)
Chapeau Peche $4.99 (reg. $6.49)
Bink Bloesem $2.99 (reg. $4.29)
Bink Blond $2.99 (reg. $4.29)
Baladin Nora $9.99 (reg. $14.99)
Cantillon St. Lamvinus $24.99 (reg $28.99)
SUPPLIES limited to stock on hand. No rain checks.

 

In Southern California I would say around 09', and even more in 10'. I worked for Whole Foods, and we had many different Loons on the shelf that had just sat there. That was 08-09'. After that, you could only find them in smaller craft beer retail stores. Then distributors got changed and it was impossible to find for awhile. Just in the past year or so have we seen more regular distribution of Cantillons.

 

When I started drinking good beer and looking on this site in '07, yes that stuff would sit around. I recall seeing 50x4 sitting on the shelves for months with a $40 tag on it and walking past countless times. I'd say loons really took off around '09 around here. Until then stores were leary to even buy stock it because of tag. When I worked at a high end store here in town I had to beg them to buy it. They brought in Rose and classic, I bought 2 of each and was able to hand sell the others with in a week. The rest is history at that store.

 

haven't seen any in the capital district of NYS in at least three years - I remember seeing the LPs in the mid to late 2000s with dust and wondering who the hell would drink a fruit beer, especially one that had been sitting around with dust on it. oh well - someone who new better probably stocked up pretty good on those.

 

First time I went to Cantillon was back in 1994. Even then there were U.S. beer geeks roaming the place, cutting out chunks of the roof beams with a pocketknife and dropping them into test tubes in order to "culture the wild yeast back home." From there the crowds of U.S. beer geeks seemed to increase year after year. In other words, this kind of thing has been going on for quite some time, and it's only gotten (and likely going to get) worse.

 

Here in North Carolina I was selling Cantillon starting around 2003-04, pardon, but near there. I well knew of lambics and their deep historical signifigance, but for me it was Rodenbach Grand Cru that really made me pay attention. I always had a strong following for any Cantillon, but we always had something in stock to sell. It's tough to remember exactly, but around 08 and 09 I never had enough Cantillon to satisfy the really great customers that supported our entire portfolio. Before my retirement from the business, I had to resort to selling Cantillon by the bottle and caught utter HECK from everyone coming on board for never having enough. In the early 2000s all Cantillon often sat around getting dusty.

 

I recall buying my first bottle of Cantillon in Boston in '03 - a Vigneronne - and blanching at the price of $22! Then I discovered my favorite Belgian beer bar in ME in '06 and began trying as many imported Belgian sours as I could because none of it was really available in VT. Last time I recall seeing a dusty Foufoune on the shelf was at the old Table & Vine in Northampton for $24 in '07. Now I have to buy it in Canada!

 

I was there in about 98 for the first time. Jean Pierre knew about all of us American homebewers. He said "You all are!". Michael Jackson could be held responsible in some ways for putting them on the radar before the online beer forums.

 

Sad days indeed. If I had only known then. It seems that right after the Black Tuesday 2009 release, and that was the first "true explosion" in beer trading on BA. There's a lot of factors as well, before and after of course, but that was like the Gavrilo Princip of beer trading.

 

Why did it take off like crazy? I was definitely part of the craze, it took off just as I got into it.

 

used to walk past 2006 Iris in 2010, along with a number of others. went back soon after and it was cleared out. Last saw it regularly on the shelf in 2011.

 

I started getting into craft beer in 2011 and in the 3 years since, I've never once seen a Cantillon beer on a shelf.

 

I guess early 2011 is when I stopped seeing it in the USA. I still like seeing it all over in Belgium and Japan.

 

Basically impossible

 

Hey OP - if you and the doc are planning to go back in time to get lots of loons back in 2005, keep in mind those Libyans can't be trusted

 

Do not forget that there are little jewels everywhere. I seem to think that Cascade might be a direct descendant of the old sour curse. Lusting after rare beers is no where as good as drinking- let's see.. Foothills Hoppyum right here in my hand. Buried my Mom today and I'm keeping busy while my mind races. Cheers everyone and please take care.

 

i remember buying a bottle of fou foune in 2010, and not buying a 2nd or 3rd because it was way too expensive...

 

When the rumor that Fou Foune was never going to be made again surfaced, it seems everyone went on a run to the beer stores. Think Its A Wonderful Life when George was suppose to go on his honeymoon. At that time Fou Foune had a meager 4.0 or something close. Now it is basically a top ten beer, and won't sit on the shelves in the States.