Bourbon County MA

So I was mad because I have been a Kappys customer for years, and went and talked with the beer manager a few days before. He told me that he expected 3+ cases of vanilla and 10 cases of coffee. Yes, I understand he didn't tell me with 100% certainty, but if you have no idea, just say that. If I wasn't told that information there was no way I would have gone or waited. I didnt even expect vanilla, but when I was only maybe number 50 in line and there was no vanilla or coffee left I was most certainly pissed off. It was cool getting the glasses and coffee, but in the end we are all there to get beer.

P.S. - When you say you have doughnuts and coffee, you might want to specify coffee beans

 

No variants obviously but enough BCBS for your hearts desire and at a "respectable" price at the Burlington Wegmans as of this morning

 

Is there a difference between this year's and last year's Barleywine? In brewing? In flavor?

 

I think so, I had it on tap this year and thought it was leaning more towards barleywine and less toward stout as opposed to last year. Personally not a fan but I'm biased against most barleywines.

 

Was talking to an L. Knife rep a few days ago and he says AB InBev isn't happy with Goose Island sales in MA. So who knows, maybe that was a factor in how much BCBS we got.

 

I thought last years was great. Wasn't impressed at all with the bottle I had last night.

 

I hate how these releases are tied to the sales of other beers. I get it, but it sucks. Especially in the case of GI, where the other beers they sell are, for the most part, mediocre at best.

 

Not sure what the answer is. Over the last 3 years I've purchased about a case of BCBS each year, either through multiple 4 packs over time, or just buying a single case from a store. The last two years I simply walked into a store with multiple cases and 4 packs sitting on the ground and grabbed one. No hunting, no fuss. Drink some during the year, save some for years to come. The only time I ever 'hunted' was last year, watching some Facebook pages and these threads to get some of the variants, but I'm done with all that.

 

If the picture a few posts up is any indication, looks like you guys got quite a bit of at least regular BCBS. I've never seen it stacked up like that around here - only the very biggest stores got anywhere near that much, and even those places sold out within hours on release day (and at higher price points). Not sure if that means you guys buy a lot more of their regular lineup, or if the demand for BCBS in MA just isn't as high.

 

I posted a lot in the last few months about seeing "13 BCBS around(in MA). I put in zero effort this year and have only landed a 4 pack of the '14, no coffee(2 4 packs last year) no Barleywine(2 cases last year including 1 i purchased over the summer when I saw it randomly) Zero Vanilla(bought 1 Backyard myself and traded for 3 more bottles of it)It does seem to me like there's something going on in terms of the supply, across the board. I'm not going to lose sleep over it but it does seem odd.

 

No insider knowledge, but MA is just so saturated with brands and super competitive because of the great distribution. Think how tough it was for Yuengling, etc. MA is a great market with a very knowledgeable consumer base and lots of craft drinkers, but I have to think if big out-of-state breweries are allocating based on things like 12-pack sales of core products, MA might not beat out the big supermarket beer sale states for allocations.

 

I think it might be another year before SE Michigan gets a "normal" allotment of BCS because the Bud distributor just took over GI sales if I'm not mistaken. That is always why you got shafted in prior years..

 

Honestly if I walked into a store and saw this display I'd think I had died and gone to Heaven. This year's great beer at last year's prices. I got one fourpack of regular 2014 so far this year, was charged $26.50, and the store owner claimed he had not marked it up more than he does any other beer. Even though I knew more was coming out the following week, and that $27 was about the top markup I had read was suggested by GI, the store is local and struggling so I sprang for it. Fortunately it seemed even better than I remember the 2013 and nearly as good as the 2012 I had had the previous night.

I agree with a couple of commenters above who thought the barleywine might not be quite as substantial as last year. Last year it was my favorite of all of the four different varieties I had (regular, coffee and Backyard Rye being the others), this year not so much.

Also agreeing with those who wonder if the variants are in shorter supply. Although my area is teeming with stores I visit fairly regularly, I still have seen no coffee nor any of the bombers. Commonly. owners or clerks report they are already sold out of variants.

 

This is pure speculation, but if I'm a GI distributor (or even a retailer for that matter), I'd be tempted to keep the variants off the shelves as the BCBS hits. Certainly seems like there's tons of BCBS to go around—I remember rumors a year or so ago that AB/GI was evaluating expanding production to make it year-round—and for many beer shoppers, a 4-pack of BW or coffee could displace that second $24 4-pack of original. Stagger their appearance and sell more ultra-premium beer.

I don't know if it was their own 'hoarding' or their distributor's, but at least one of my locals was putting out both 2013 original and BW sporadically for the entire year.

 

Urban Grape's release this afternoon was what every limited beer release should be. Got there a bit after 11 and was third in line. Hung around inside (they open at 10 on Sundays) and chatted with my friends in line. Bought our BCBS, BCBW, BCBCS, and even some 2013 BCBW and 2013 BCBS (which was a nice surprise). No getting up at the crack of dawn (or earlier) to wait outside in the cold. No offense to Kappy's or anyone who chose to attend that release, but in my old age this is much more my speed.

 

Yeah as I mentioned a bit earlier in this thread, I specifically remember the initial black Friday rush with limited variants last year, then in the following months seeing coffee and backyard sitting on shelves in quite a few places which I thought was crazy. I can only hope that happens again this year as well, but the releases were definitely staggered.

 

So Wegmans, where that photo was taken, is a massive supermarket chain based in upstate New York. They obviously do a lot of AB sales which is why they got a massive allotment. For the record, there are still at least 8 cases of the stuff there as of lunch time today.

 

I did a decent amount of running around (not anything too early) and I have seen tons of BCBS around, got only 2 BW and haven't seen any coffee or vanilla...