Did we ruin Bourbon County?

I have 2 places I buy beer from Specs and Whole Foods. I had talked to both beer guys and I went into specs when they opened out by me and loitered around while the truck was unloaded and grabbed a couple along with a fresh squeezed. Then to Whole Food who had it on tap and grabbed only one because their shipment wasn't that large along with a Prairie Christmas Bomb and a BC on tap. I can't stand in line for beer at this point in my life. If my wife and friends found out that I did that I would be the laughing stock of my family. If I can't roll in and get what I want it wasn't meant to be, now that doesn't stop me from randomly driving around looking at what various liquor stores have in stock

 

suggestion, if you find yourself tempted to spend these outrageous prices and do these foolish things for bourbon county stuff, remind yourself that goose island is owned by Budweiser, then choose not to support such a fucking nasty machine. Simple as that. people have many times told me that these beers are amazing and that I do not know what I am missing. I am sure this is true, but I choose not to know and have what I'll call something of a moral reason for doing so. Feel however you wish about the morality of the choice, but if you take that approach it might help you get over not doing such wack-ass things for that beer

 

A lot of viewpoints in the thread but ultimately its down to you to decide on an issue like this. I did stand in line from 5am till store open at 8am with 2 friends. We had a great time, met great people, and after talking to the group in front of us, one of them gave a bottle of KBS to my buddies just because they had never had it. We then bought all we could and proceeded to hit more stores, having a blast along the way. So for us the day was worth it. As stated before YMMV, and its up to you to decide when the line has been crossed.

 

I was in a bottle shop on Friday and asked if they received their shipment yet and the answer was "no" - OK, all good so I went about my business looking for some bottles I've never had. Within three minutes two other people came in asking the same question. I struck up a conversation with one of them and they were on their way home from making a drive 45 minutes West over to Bloomington to get in line at 4 AM and there were already many people ahead of them. I guess I'm getting crotchety in my years because I stood there thinking, " holy crap". I'm now to the point where there's no way I'd ever do that or pay some crazy amount for that beer, had it too many times and there's too many other great beers out there. Don't get me wrong, I'll snatch it up if I happen to find it and at a reasonable price, otherwise 'not going out of my way. It drives me crazy when I here stories like yours - the retailer is blatantly taking advantage of the situation and worse yet, people are paying those kinds of prices. wow.

 

I haven't had 2015 yet, but I'm assuming it's still a great beer. So to answer your question, no, we didn't ruin bourbon county. It's a beer. It's a really, really good beer. All the format changes and "price gouging" (so weird that it happens with serious enablers out there. Cough.) in the world isn't going to change that.

The buying experience sucks and if anyone wants that to change, the internet and this website are going to have to not be a thing. "We" reminisce about the days you could find it on shelves and complain about what a fiasco it's become and yet "we" call stores a month in advance, get up at silly hours in the morning and wait in lines, pay......how fucking much did you pay for rare? If you want bourbon county to not be "ruined", if "we" want bourbon county to not be "ruined", stop starting bourbon county threads, stop harassing your beer guys, STOP BUYING THE BEER. It seems there's some contest with no prize to see who can get the most BC, who can post the most ridiculous picture in the "latest haul" thread, who can tell their friends they got 8 cases of coffee.

I long for the day "we" revolt and refuse to buy any on Black Friday. The day "We" refuse to pay more than suggested retail for the beer. It's never going to happen. I'm personally looking for growler fills only in the future.

 

SO just as into beer as me. I wanted to stay in and go later LOL. Sat under an awning. Didnt get wet and wasnt that cold lol.

 

http://houston.craigslist.org/search/sss?sort=rel&query=bourbon

 

Beer is a luxury item these days and therefore you can't say its price gouging because its not an essential item (no matter how much we kick and scream or want that to change).

 

Must be nice to be rich.

 

My problem with posts like this is that it paints the "chasers" with one broad brush. Yes, BCBS takes some effort to get, but OP's example is definitely the extreme end of the spectrum; it went beyond "effort" and well into compulsion. Of course the amusing part (to me) is the fact that the other end of the spectrum is the folks who seem to look down their noses at anyone who spends some level of effort to obtain BCBS (or whatever the beer du jour happens to be). BCBS is not the best beer ever, but it's extremely good and in spite of all the price complaining, is very well priced for what it is. Think about this: if most "limited release" 750s were priced at $0.50 per ounce, then they would run about $13/bottle. Very few barrel-aged beers of BCBS' stature are that cheap. And no, Dragon's Milk is not on the same level. I wish.

The reality is that there are a lot of people--myself included--who are somewhere in the middle. I'm not lining up at 6am and I'm not paying $230 for a Rare and a Prop, but I will certainly go out "hunting" on Black Friday and stop by a few stores if my schedule allows it. Not saying that people who line up or pay marked up prices are dumb either--to each their own. If their budget and schedule allows it then more power to them! But you don't necessarily have to wait in line or pay huge markups to get BCBS.

When it really gets sad is when people spend time and money they don't really seem to have in order to "feed the beast", as it were. And that is how the OP's post came across to me; that their desire to have this thing took precedence over everything else in their life.

 

I would agree with you right now however this is when they first started really distributing so at the time it was kind of a big deal. Also the 10% bombers are in my opinion head and shoulders above the 5% 6 packs.

 

I believe the OP's tale better suited for the confessional.

 

I had a chance to buy Rare at my employee price of $53 and passed because I can drink for two weeks for that much. I got my two bottles of regular and was happy. Whoever even suggested to sell you Rare for 170 is a thief, but furthermore they offered that in the first place because you seemed like someone that might go for it. Craft beer is awesome but it might be something that is too centralized in your life and you may need to reevaluate that. You should talk with someone you're close with if you're struggling with it.

 

I've never seen any of the variants, would like to try them, but just not worth the chase and/or expense. So many good beers out there, nobody can try them all so why worry about any one beer that is so difficult to get, there are plenty others to drink

 

Exactly. Very well said

 

fixed it for you.

 

You got in line for beer at 2am and you're calling someone else stupid?

 

I have to say: people who object to buying ABInBev products are welcome to do so without judgement from me. People should buy products from and support businesses that they feel comfortable supporting.

But I don't think I'll ever understand this prevalent attitude that ABInBev is a "nasty" operation or that there is some moral imperative not to contribute to their bottom line. The subtext seems to be that ABInBev is the WalMart of beer, and I don't think that's a fair portrayal. By all accounts, ABInBev's worst sin is aggressively competitive business practices. But they don't treat their employees like indentured servants not do they contribute to the exploitation of less-developed countries unless there are articles/reports that I'm unaware of...

Like I said, I'm not arguing that people who actively avoid supporting ABInBev are wrong to do so. I just wish the conversation about them was of quite so sensational.

Sorry for the thread hijack. Carry on...

 

This sounds like a "you" problem and not a "we" problem.

 

I both bought personally and sold all BC stuff at my shop for the same amount as Goose Island was selling them for on Rare Day. Price gouging is lame; lame to do, and lame to perpetuate by giving into the pressure and buying.