KBS distribution

It's supposed to hit shelves on the 15th according to their website. It comes and goes insanely quick around me (usually with 1 4pk per customer limit) so I decided to head to the brewery this year.

 

Founders sends out limited release beer to their distribution area.
Some retail stores sell their allotments immediately, before the date Founders requests.
Founders inexplicably gets upset that these retailers won't store two cases of beer for X number of days.
Release date arrives - other retail stores sell bottles.
Bickering begins over the fact that some out-of-state BAs are able to grab much more than Michigan BAs.
Different brewery releases a beer and everyone moves on.

4-pack is $20+.
Don't know the bottle count.

 

As disillusioned as I am with limited beer releases I kinda want to try to get some of this. Question is is it worth the 20 for a 4 pack? How much better is it then the breakfast stout?

 

Being barrel aged makes it a totally different beer and the fact it sells out in a couple of hours would suggest most people think it's worth it. If I see it I will buy as much as I can personally. Personally, I love the Breakfast Stout, but KBS is higher rated on the top 100.

 

It is not simply barrel aged Breakfast Stout either, a completely separate beer is put into the barrels.

As far as the price, no one would complain about this in a $10 bomber. Definitely worth it at least once.

 

Pricing

Absolutely. $20 a 4-pack is a great price. Though, depending on your area, prices can be much higher. In and around Philly, $32 a 4-pack is not unheard of and that's if you can even get all four. Here, it's usually sold by the single. Best price I saw was $5.50 last year, but many places were in the $8-9 range.

 

This is true and I should have mentioned it was a different beer. My post was confusing, but I think we both agree you should get it.

 

It's widely distributed but with extremely thin allocations. Expect a dogfight, same day sellouts, stores giving too much to their employees, and lots of price gouging. Bottles around here last year got up to the $10-$11 mark and still sold out same day. In a way KBS represents everything that is wrong with the craft industry today.

 

Will this be harder to procure than Hopslam? FWIW I'm in the Washington DC area.

 

This might be the release that drags me in to trading. I missed out on KBS by a few hours last year at a couple different shops (and was told by a WF that they had some ing the back but wouldn't be selling it to me). I can't see myself skipping work to stand in line for the opportunity to buy 1 12oz bottle.

 

Do you know any specifics on how different the base beer is?

 

Which is exactly why I tried to not chase these things. After the CBS and one or 2 other releases it just got annoying. Im tired of calling 20 places and driving to 7 just to have them either say they're out for whatever reason or that they didnt get any, which may or may not be true. Ill call a few places and see if I can get on a list somewhere, but other then that Im not going to kill myself over it. They either need to make more or pull back distribution. Theyres other breweries the manage to do it.

Problem with trading, at least for me, is I can never get anything worth trading for the good stuff. Its kind of a vicious circle.

 

Im in Michigan so YMMV, but Hopslam was easy compared to this. I dont know how fast it goes there though.

 

IIRC it is a bigger beer. Different coffee is used, chocolate additions are different as well. The are similar beers but not the same.

 

I fear for the world of pain you don't realize is coming to you.

Hopslam has something like 10x the bottle count of KBS, and probably half the demand.

 

I'm with you. It's possible I might be dragged into trading with this one as well. It gets harder every year, and while Founders keeps expanding distribution, it doesn't seem like KBS production scales with it.

On the other hand, while having my own bottles has been very difficult (I found 3 last year), I have been able to enjoy at least 4-6 more glasses on tap at various events. Just takes the patience to wait until someone throws it on.

 

I'll say this to those thinking of getting into trading - KBS-like releases are a fantastic reason to do it. Someone who scored a full case will happily trade you 2-4 bottles for something very reasonable, meanwhile you'll fight and scrap for $10 singles locally. Also, KBS is a pretty popular extra/BIF beer.

 

I'm crossing my fingers that this Thursday I pick the right liquor store!!! I got a few 4 packs of breakfast stout and got my CBS but please let me land some KBS!!