Founders CBS set to return in December

When they dropped CBS a few years ago, there was a lot of clamor and some outrage over that. It was obvious it would come back, as with their Imperial Stout. It's way too popular to drop entirely, but they had to give it a break after they killed demand with overproduction. It only made sense to give it a rest for a few years.

I'm *shocked* to see that a few years after throwing the Mountie that the horse still has the saddle. I figured that animal activists opposing horseback riding and leather would have pushed to get rid of the now unnecessary saddle.

I'll buy a case of it to last me until it comes back around again.

 

I remember when this was brought back the first time and was available here in four packs of 355ml bottles. There was such an unexpected demand for it when it finally went on the shelves. The government stores were ill prepared for the beer nerd onslaught that morning and several of the cashiers were ringing up four packs for the price of one bottle.

I’m pretty sure I still have a few bottles from that release (with Mountie!) languishing in the cellar.

 

A quality barrel aged stout at a low price is still a rarity. These sold as individual 12oz bottles for $4-$5 will be appreciated.

That said, I still see barrel aged narwhal for sale in a lot of places out here... Maybe the category isn't completely underrepresented.

 

Does anyone have any insight on what October's barrel-aged beer is? They still haven't updated the website. One is French Toast Bastard but there is supposed to be another.

https://foundersbrewing.com/our-beer/tba-7/

 

Mentioned in this post from another thread it is The Headless Gourdsman BBA Pumpkin Beer.

 

I've had a similar thought with a Missouri-made stout (Abraxas by Perennial). Less than ten years ago, bottles would sell out within minutes of being unloaded from a truck. Now some shops still have the last release or two on shelves, mind you, that beer gets released around this time of the year.

I certainly hope 4 packs of CBS makes it to shelves around here in meaningful quantities, as it's something I'd pick up at the right price. But considering what has sat around in the past, and is still sitting around (KBS), I certainly won't blame stores for not ordering much if any CBS.

 

Interesting question.

I think those two reasons overlap to some degree. The beer geeks chasing rarity and/or "top beers" willing to pay more for beer than the average consumer moved on to other sought after beers, leaving a price too high for casual customers to buy in meaningful quantities.

FWIW, the format decisions probably didn't help. Craft beer hadn't transitioned to the 4x16oz can format just yet. CBS was released in 750mL bottles its last two releases (with 4 packs of 12oz bottles the last year too.) It seems those 750mL bottles are what I recall sitting around for years, carrying a $22+ (often $25+) price tag, they're more than most imperial stout packs on shelves. I'd much rather be able to drink four 12oz cans of a quality stout over the course of a month rather than slam 25oz of an imperial stout in a night.

 

Dang...I was just getting ready to post the 750 ml bottle I have on eBay...

The large format bottle makes little sense unless its being shared, in my opinion. An Imperial stout seems more appropriate in 12 ounce. I think the price point and format probably affected sales, but I also think people tired of it quickly once it lost guess it of rarity - no more FOMO? There's even a good stock of BCBS variants around and that may add somenweight to that theory. Maine Lunch that people used to line up for - pretty easily found, but a lot of it gathers dust.

We are a fickle lot. I guess we will see how this round goes.

 

One of my best craft beer deals were those 750 ml bottles of CBS. They were sitting around at least a year because they were priced at $23 to $25 by most places around Grand Rapids. Word got out one day that they wanted to clear out that excess inventory and a lot of stores in the Grand Rapids area were selling them for $5. I purchased two cases and gave most of them away as Christmas presents. I made a lot of people very happy.

 

The Mountie was removed because of a “cease and desist” message from the Canadian government. Seriously.
It’s their sense of humor that keeps the image sans rider.
Should have seen the label on Breakfast Stout when Michigan had a problem with a child on the front of a beer.

 

We need to chat. I never got to try one of those.

 

Founders should have left a boot in the stirrup.

 

I know a place where there are still 2019 bottles in a cooler. And on the shelves. Tempted to purchase one or two out of the cooler to do a comparison.

Heck, i'm sure there are plenty of bombers out there in the wild from all the previous years out there being shelf turds.

Don't say it's not the price. It's the price.

 

Sure thing. I’ll keep a couple bottles with your name on them.

 

I still find the 2019 12oz bottles around but the earlier 2018 and before are scarce. They *did* package a lot of those 12oz bottles though, far more than any other year.

 

We will probably see it in 24..