MA Bourbon County Release (2018)

I have never seen variants in MA for retail but have never looked very hard. Possibly BCBCS on occasion? I would like to know the answer to this as well.

 

You're probably not going to find anything other than stout and barleywine in MA. Maybe if you know a guy at a liquor store he could hook you up but thats about it.

 

MA got Regal and a very small amount of coffee last year in addition to regular and barleywine. The variants are usually really scarce. I'm guessing Craft Beer Cellar in Plymouth will have some? Other than that I have no idea about stores in that area. Sorry!

 

You're out of luck on the South Shore. The only chance you have of scoring variants in MA is to wake up really early on Black Friday and head into Boston. Personally, I've never even seen the barleywine in the Plymouth area, nevermind any rare stuff.

Also, inb4 a pallet of variants mysteriously breaks in transit to MA again.

 

Hugh O'Neils in Malden just announced their Black Friday tap lineup on FB.

We've been storing some of our favorite brews for years in anticipation of #BlackFriday — very limited supply, don't miss out!!

Epic Brewing Company - Denver Taproom DB BIG BAD BAPTIST '16
Port Brewing Co / The Lost Abbey TRACK #10 '15
Mystic Brewery BOSTON CREAM PORTER
Night Shift Brewing EL LECHEDOR
Idle Hands Craft Ales BOURBON BBL AGED #34
Lagunitas Brewing Co WILLETIZED COFFEE STOUT '16
Goose Island BOURBON COUNTY STOUT '13, '14, '15, '16
and more...

 

I'm just going to leave this here since the thread this year seems pretty dead.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/black-friday-bourbon-county-release.464610/

 

This is my new Saturday post Thanksgiving tradition. Head over to Hugh O'Neill's for a Bourbon County Flight and maybe another beer. And then walk over to Idle Hands.

I think we did Nightshift too after Idle Hands. It was a long day.

 

Dead in what way?

 

I'm going to be on the Cape. So screwed.

 

Regular will sit on the shelves for a few days at the larger accounts (Marty's, Gordon's, Kappy's, etc...) and last year BW was kicking around too. Smaller shops which get price gouged by the distributors will definitely still have them on the shelf for a few days - I saw plenty of places charging $18+ for single bottles of Regular last year. If you don't mind the premium price, you'll be able to get it.

 

Just that last years thread had multiple pages of discussion on the release, and this year has like half a page.

 

One of the guys in the CT thread said there will be lots of regular and barleywine available, as well as northwoods. But like previous years, a very limited amount of Coffee. I’m assuming it will be a similar situation in the Boston area. Has anyone seen any stores post any Black Friday events yet?

 

Gordon's in Waltham had coffee last year for the first 20 in line, plus 2014 BCBS and BCBW. Haven't seen them post anything for this year though.

 

I got a coffee last year. BCBS regular is easy to find across MA really. The coffee was just lucky, I was there Wednesday before Thanksgiving, saw it on a back shelf and asked the guy to grab it. I said "can I buy this"? He scanned it and it came up, so he sold it to me.

 

Variants get harder and harder to find each year... back in the day it was much easier; got 2 bombers of coffee in 2012; four 4-packs in 2013, then just 2 four packs in 2014, then just one bottle each year since... I am an old man.

 

This is a genuine curiosity:

All year long, there’s this narrative about ABI being the bad guy. The blog they run is corrupt/propaganda; they create legislation that hurts the little guy; they monopolize tap space and shelves; They are watering down these ten craft breweries and the beer now sucks; I won’t support anything they do; I dump 10 Barrel/Goose/WW down the drain.

What makes Bourbon County the exception? If the answer is, “It’s really good,” I don’t consider that acceptable.

 

If you don't consider it acceptable, that is fine - and I struggle with the same issue - but "it's really good" is the answer. To me, this and a few other BB aged stouts are just the benchmarks for the style. I hate what ABI is trying to do to craft, but the fact is that this is a great beer. No doubt the "rarity" factor plays a part. But it is, to me, a really really good, well made (usually) beer. So once a year ABI will get my $20 and I'll drink one now and save another for a few months.

 

I know this is the MA thread, but I will be in CT for Thanksgiving. I will be in the Bristol area - does anyone know a place where I could get some BCS? Doesn't need to be a rare blend but if you know of a place even better!

 

ABI is still the bad guy, but it's not like they're evil. I'll support them at the amount i'm comfortable with, which is generally just getting bourbon county. If Wicked Weed released an equally amazing beer up here i'd probably buy that as well.