GI Bourbon County purchasing habit for 2016

BCS is one of my favorite beers of all time - top 5. My market usually gets BCS and sometimes very little allocation of coffee and barleywine. For the last two years, I've arrived at my local liquor store about an hour or so before the release time, waited in a smallish line, made very pleasant chat with other beer folks, and walked away with 3 or 4 bottles of BCS and 1 bottle of the variant. Pretty low-bar for entry for one of my favs.

So yes, I'll be in line - probably with my wife and our newborn - and will be happy about it. Goose had some issues this year, they owned up to them, did the best they could to rectify the situation, and moved on. All good in my world.

 

It wasn't that big a deal. I was at total wine about 30 minutes early. Got my 1 Coffee, 2 Barley and 4 regulars. Then I made it to another store for another 2 barley and 4 regulars. Picked up two down later on just walking into a Harris Teeter with no limit, and they had several cases.

So yeah... about the infected. The coffee was a disappointment as I heard so much about it. Despite the tart cherry after taste, it was still better than most of the genre. Sad when an infected beer can taste better than most other brewery's top of the line.

GI refunded the infected beer and provided that awesome and comfortable T-Shirt that I will wear this black Friday.

I hold no grudge. They made things right.

 

I don't know yet, depends on what the variants are

Mushroom, pecan, green bell pepper rye barrel aged maple stout - no

Mounds bar aged in pappy barrels - yes

 

I'll do that same thing I did last year. Go to the store when it releases or a day later. If they still have it, I'll buy a bottle or two. If not, I'll buy another good stout or BA stout that is at the store. A couple years back, I picked up Ten Fidy for the 1st time and probably wouldn't have tried it if they had BCBS. Was actually happy they were out of BCBS once I got home and tasted the Ten Fidy.

 

I'm already in line... Line is about 300 deep.

 

There have been infected BCBS, I can confirm.

 

I'll likely put in the same amount of effort again, which for me is 1 store waiting about half an hour to buy 4-6 bottles.

 

I didn't have to do any waiting last year and came out with a dozen bottles or so of regular. I was happy with that and would do so again. The variants are mildly intriguing to me but I was pleased enough with the regular to be content with that and that only.

 

I'll buy what I can when i can, but no truck chasing

 

I'm not interested in waiting in line to purchase BCBS.

I wasn't planning on having any this year, but a guy showed up to a small NCAA Tournament watching party with a bottle his boss gave him around Christmas he didn't want...

 

this.

I'll buy some again...I didn't really have much trouble getting reg and its variants. But the amount I buy will be less

 

This is a tough topic for me as I've always enjoyed BCBS until this year. I was fortunate not to have any issues with my bottles being infected. I was able to obtain the regular and each variant.

The regular BCBS was right on par with what I expect. It is an excellent barrel aged stout that started the barrel aging revolution.

The regal rye was a decent beer, but below my expectations compared to previous variants. The ingredients were interesting and I don't dismiss this beer based on those. The flavors were more subtle than I expect with a BCBS.

The barleywine was a big disappointment. It tasted like the barrels had been refilled too many times in that the character was diminished.

The coffee was a big issue for me too. I've had several years and I recall the 2014 being one of my favorite coffee beers I've ever had. I went into the 2015 version with big expectations that fell flat.

The biggest bust in my opinion was the proprietor's. A score of 92 on BA is a an outstanding beer. I came out at a 4.02, which is a very good beer. However, looking back on my ratings of 2013 and 2014, they were much better. I also recall the experience of tasting them to be more enjoyable. I was more excited about the ingredients in the 2015 version than any previous one, so that probably added to my frustration.

The rare was an excellent beer. It should age quite well. I was happy with this particular variant.

I have no personal issue with ABInBev other than to say that this year was below par for BCBS and its variants. I have no trouble buying the beer if it lives up to its reputation. Unfortunately, in my opinion it did not for 2015.

This will certainly affect my pursuit of the beer next year in that there will be less effort to do so.