2015 Bourbon County in WA?

@JonnyBeers did it right:

"Grabbed 2 crowlers of Sump at Beer Junction. So awesome."

 

Guess I'm the only one that doesn't think it's hype, it's a great beer, if it wasn't people wouldn't line up and drive all over for it. Plus it looks like Fremont, Firestone walker, and several other breweries decided to join in on Black Friday...

 

Started the day off rather early at Total Wine. Got some sweet sweet BCBS labeled Coffee Beans from the GI rep, a poster, keychain and doughnuts! Nice guy.

Beer Junction was great. Crazy coffee beer event. Tried all the variants on tap aside from rare, along with Tweak, 2XSpeedway coffee variants, Sump and a few others. Crowlers were a fun surprise.

Grabbed food afterwards to soak up all that boozey goodness and hit Holy Mountain for the first time. Great space. Lovely beers. Big change from all those big coffee stouts.

Nap.

Fremont for BBOMB release and just missed the infusions. Sat outside in the cold with a BBomb and that actually helped wake us up.

To top it all off went to Brouwers, had a lamb burger and 'The Goat' hehe from Holy Mountain. Oh and we shared a Rare because why the fuck not.

Beer. It's fun.

 

No, I agree with you the beer is great. I've had BCBS, BCBCS and BCBBW; they're all wonderful, and the brand is important, both historically and as a long-time benchmark. The problem, for me, is that there are now beers in all these styles which, IMHO, are at least as good if not much better--including right here in our own backyard. Crucially, they also come with a tiny fraction of the hype (which is out-sized in BC's case), and they are made by breweries we can legitimately feel good about supporting. I think a lot of the antipathy, or just plain apathy, towards BC stems from these factors, not because people think it's actually a bad beer.

As for Fremont's entering the Black Friday business, I was there both this year and last to pick up B-Bomb. It was a Black Friday affair only according to the calendar, for it could've been a normal weekday morning by every other metric. No lines, no hype, no mad rush or chasing...just a great beer casually released by great people.

 

Count me among those who think that, while a very nice beer indeed, BCBS suffers from the hype that its devotees give it. Given the sheer number of breweries these days, I suspect that most beer-forward places in the country have a brewery, or more that 1, that produce an equivalent to the Inbev product. And, @EdwardAbbey is correct, the fact that it's an Inbev product does count against it.

As to the Black Friday aspect, why wouldn't local breweries/bars do a little something extra on a day when there are so many people out and about? If Dad has to trudge along to the stores with mom, why shouldn't he be able to get a treat by stopping at Brouwers or Fremont?

 

I just woke up from a tryptophan induced coma. Missed the release. Bummer. Well, it's Kitsap County, should hit next week.

 

I'm hard-pressed to find anyone posting here that doesn't admit it's a great beer (or at least a very good beer). Hype, limited access, and FOMO is what leads to the lines, though.

The people who are raining on your parade in this thread come in a few camps: (1) refuse to buy AB InBev beers, (2) don't think ANY beer is worth the excessive lines, and/or (3) don't think BCBS is worth the effort. [NOTE: Membership is each of these camps is not exclusive of one another.]

 

I had one of my BCBSs last night, then had a 2015 KDS. The KDS was better.

 

Y'all beat me to it.

Amen.

-- Nathan

 

My one and only BCBS encounter........ Saturday. Won't name the place. Walk in, head to the coolers, wanted to pick up a nice oatmeal stout. Proprietor asks 'are you here for the release?". Sure. "they are in the back, I can only give you one though". OK. " I have to charge you $xxxx, I'll probably sell out out by this afternoon." I look at what he has in his hands and said OK. Money changes hands, then bottle is wrapped tightly in brown paper bag and slid across counter with a furtive gaze. I say thank you.

Then I look around. People milling about, maintaining their distance from each other, no eye contact. Reminded me of the lobby of a peep show (from watching movies, obviously).

Stuck it in the cellar. Drank it 6 months later. Wasn't bad. A little hot. Should have waited a year.

 

I like BCBS quite a bit and try to try all the variants every year. The entire Black Friday thing is what bothers me the most. It's a time to hang out with friends and family, not sit in a line all night to score a beer or a $200 flat screen. I was traveling for the holidays so I am going to try and trade for some variants. I refuse to be trade ***** so I will mostly be out of luck.

 

It's kind of amazing how coveted and high profile these beers have become (see countless threads in every regional forums) where BCBS was mostly available year-round 5-6 years ago. It was always a great beer, and one that I drank a lot of every winter. I was travelling though, and as said above, just think the black friday charades are a little tacky.

 

I have only had it once i thought it was good but not something i would buy all the time.
I am bothered by the fact that it IS affecting smaller breweries and off course its a huge corporate monster that cares little for the scene we love.

 

For all the "oh it would be such a dream if every beer was made by independent free range baby pandas and KDS flowed from he bathtub while unicorns farted rainbows" posts, y'all are kinda negative.

 

I am generally positive about the scene up here ( or down ) ..its great and I can get almost any style i want often inexpensive.
Was not really negative about BC until talking with small brewers about the effect this huge enterprise has on them.
Maybe it is idealistic but the stuff that has happened in the last couple of years has sort f dented this thing that was so very special and different from anything i had seen in all my years in the USA.

 

Huh? I don't see it that way at all. Maybe you're overly sensitive.

 

Central Market in Poulsbo had a few cases on Friday. Marina Market was sold out.

 

If there are still people here in the greater Seattle area that have never tried BCBS and remain curious, but they either missed out when they tried to score some or just didn't want to bother with Black Friday craziness, it looks like QFC right across from Bellevue Square still has a Crap. Ton. of regular. Which I personally find utterly hilarious.

After you are done getting your bottle from there, you can wander on over to the Bellevue Total Wine and pick up a bottle of KDS, which they still have. Then compare for yourself.

You're welcome.

-- Nathan

 

Couldn't agree with this more. I remember before it was distributed to WA I'd get a lot of it in trades as extras, and once GI entered WA I could stroll into Whole Foods and pick some up whenever I wanted. IIRC the true hype only started around the time of the first variants and I remember feeling baffled by it since this beer was so common previously.

I truly wonder what would happen if Fremont made only a fraction of their normal batch of KDS, limited folks to 1-2 bottles and only sold it at the brewery if it become a much more coveted beer. Thank the heavens they aren't that kind of brewery.