Did we ruin Bourbon County?

I bought a 6er of New Belgium 1554 and Sierra Nevada Celebration on Black Friday. Catch this, I didn't have to wait in line either and I spent $18 for 12 bottles of great beer.

To each their own, but reading threads like this makes me laugh. People take beer wayyyyy too seriously, like it's some kind of collectible widget instead of water hops yeast and Barley that you piss out.

 

I love those defending that "We" are not ruining it.... But in their argument stuff like this pops up:

"still waited in line from 2 AM....you are stupid...shoulda gone to the other Binny's..."

....."Not ME, I went to a different brewery and spent my own king's ransom on other bourbon barrel shit..."

I hate to break it, but we're all feeding the beast if we're waiting in line on holidays, hoarding limited releases, paying outrageous mark-ups (I'm guilty of this too), bragging about what we got in the face of OP's doubts/shame/second-guessing. Unfortunately (depending on how you look at it), this is all the current face of our collective hobby here. It's part of the hunt, part of the thrill. Yes, it's gotten way out of hand with all of the physical, mental, and financial hoops we jump through for a few beers. At this point, we're all guilty, and with this specific example, it's ABInBev that laughs all the way to the bank as our time, sweat, and dollars continue to turn beers into golden idols.

That being said, I'll see you guys at the Dark Horse 4 Elf party!

 

over here laughing literally. like doing it wasn't bad enough, already. but coming here, on a nationally... no. wait. make that worldwide medium to confess.... errr i mean discuss... what was that?? like a cry for help or some sh!+?
#PeopleThatFlunkedMath

 

Wow that lady sounds both crazy and controlling. But if she puts in the time for something as simple as beer then more power to her. Also I have to agree bombers of Not your fathers root beer is not that exciting its a decent root beer but nothing to "announce" over

 

I don't necessarily agree considering how many beer nerds do in fact chase beer

 

This represents price gouging to me. I would have gone somewhere else as I was able to get a case of BCBS for $170 before taxes

 

I have a feeling that small businesses are taking themselves out of the craft beer market. More and more I see small shops using these releases as a cash grab to take advantage of the customer by jacking up the prices or making them buy other items to be eligible. For me it has gotten to the point where all my local shops that I used to frequent are now on my do not shop list because of shady business practices. At this point I am down to two small businesses that are about 30 miles away from me that I only stop by when I'm in the area. Otherwise I do my beer shopping at my local Bevmo because I don't have to worry about having to pay a premium for my beers or some crap other stores pull. I love supporting small businesses but most have pushed me toward avoiding this crap and just dropping cash elsewhere.

 

Be lucky you can possibly get that. We "just" get regular BCBS here. No variants will ever show up on this rock, unless they are traded for, or brought in by someone who already has one. With that said, there are no lines to get anything, because the beer stores never tell when they are placed on the shelves. If you find it, you find it. Sometimes, if you call in, they'll tell you if they have it, or they have no idea when they'll be getting it. The way we find out, is a close knit group of folks that enjoy craft beer. When one of us finds it, we let others know. $10 a bottle here too.

 

I chased BCBS once, that was enough. I enjoyed Friday with my daughter and wife, and enjoyed every minute.

 

I have been asked by several beer friends why I didn't go out on Friday to chase BCBS. I simply told them that playing Tenzi with the cousin's kids, then hide and seek with the 4 year old was important to me. I got much more enjoyment out of that than I ever will from any beer. I had a great day playing with the kids and drinking what I had. Some understood, but several looked at me like was an total idiot. As for BCBS, if I get some, I get some. If I don't, no big deal. There are so many great beers out there that I'm not going to worry about not getting this one.

That said, I'm not going to tell you you're stupid, misguided, or any of that, like some others have. You already feel some of those things, just from what you said in your post. What I will say is that you recognize that you have a problem and that's half the battle right there. Find another good beer, instead of BCBS, and enjoy it and your family.

 

I guess if you can afford, go for it. As for me, I'm hesitant to spend more than $20 on a bomber, I've spent up to $30 for Black Tuesday. I'm wondering how far up prices of barrel aged beers will go before they start sitting in stores collecting dust.

 

I went to The Foodery in Philly at 3:15am and was already the 56th person in line. I was expecting Rare, 2 Brands, and 2 Barleywines, since only the first 30 or so had arrived early enough to get Regal Rye or Coffee. I went alone, since I didn't need a ton of stuff, just a little of everything. I was in line next to 4 dudes from Delaware and chatted with them and drank beers for 5 hours while we waited in the decently mild weather. Had a great time. Goose Island reps even came through with fresh, hot donuts for everyone in line. The store miscounted and sold out of everything but Rare and Brand, so I left shortchanged, but headed down to Beer Heaven since the Delaware dudes told me they'd have Rye. Waited another 2 hours in line, chatting with some other cool beer geeks, and got another few bottles there, no sweat.

Overall, I spent seven hours that morning hanging out with really cool folks in nice weather, paying just under $200 for 3 Brands, a Barleywine, a Regal Rye, and a Rare, plus some free fresh donuts and some pulls of really good beer from other generous dudes in line, and still was home by noon to nap. I could have gotten more beer if I'd tried harder, but I'd had my fun.

The point is, I had a great time, got some stellar beer, and have no regrets, other than maybe I should have gotten to the store an hour or two earlier for more Rye or Coffee. Might not do it again next year, as it will doubtless be even harder to get any good amount of stuff, but to me, Bourbon County day was all about the experience. Don't go out of your way for it if you don't want to, don't spend more than you think you should, and don't support cruel business owners, but no reason not to have fun!

 

"WE" or "people like you" ??????

 

It's still one of the finest distributed ba stouts I've ever had, but with that said I'm not going to wake up early and line up on one of my infrequent days off to get it. This year it seems like the reg is everywhere. Just got back from the grocery store and there was a half a case in the cooler and two more full cases just kickin it on the floor. Picked up a handful of bottles @ $9.49 and that will do just fine for me until next year.

 

I've already been offered 2015 at 2 stores and turned them both down. The employees seemed shocked, but I had other beer I wanted to buy instead.

 

i do, sometimes. usually with whiskey, sometimes with rum.

 

I got 3 bottles of stout and 1 barleywine , 2 bottles each from 2 different stores, $10 each for all 4.. I suppose if I'd tried harder I may have found a variant somewhere, but I didn't try. If one of the places had had them available I would have grabbed one, but if they wanted me to buy something else to get the opportunity to spend more I would have laughed in their face.
I also wouldn;t have spent a ridiculous markup on them either.

 

i honestly am down for over 100 to get rare. I wasn't something I could get where I live. I could trade beers....but I'm not even sure what on earth I could offer. I'd love to do some jacko's for it, but what else can I do?

If you want something why can't you pay for it?

And if family is down to help you get stuff, while I kinda hate when people do that, I get it. As long as they love you and want to help you, then that's great. They're good people and they love you. I'm sure they're happy they got to help you.

 

You curate your own experiences. If you didn't enjoy yourself this year, find a different way to do it next year.

 

Same here. Though I guess it also depends on what "chasing" refers to. Does it only mean running out to stores in the hopes of finding a limited release like BCBS or does it also refer to trading? Because if trading is within the definition of chasing then all we have to do is look to the trading boards to see how many people are actively chasing/searching for beers.

I did seek out the BCBS when it was released on Friday as I did this year's Fremont Abominable. But to me that is just part of the hobby and it's fun to do from time to time. That being said, if a store had offered to sell me two bottles of BSBS for $230 I would have told them to jump off a cliff, but that's just me.