Bell’s Black Note availability

OK. I have to call bullshit on myself. I made the 1.5 hour trip to Bells today to pick up some Black Note at the store and then have a drink in the cafe when they opened at 3:00pm. I never made it to the cafe. I had a flight in the General Store - Dagger Stout, Imperial Maple Cinnamon Porter and BBA Imperial Oatmeal Stout. All were solid but that BBA was out of this world. It threw off some vanilla at the end and I dig me some vanilla in my stouts.

They also had Hopslam, Two Hearted, Brillosa and Q Falls. Pretty solid lineup for their seven taps. Somebody really needs to tell me I'm full of crap.

 

Brewhouse on 41, the craft bar inside of the Schererville Whole Foods here in NW Indiana, is tapping a keg of Black Note tonight.

Film at 11:00.

 

Gotta say I like this batch better than the one from earlier this year.

 

Bell's posted Black Note will be getting limited distribution in the Great Lakes region.

 

Seeing a lot of it here in Oakland County. I passed on multiple 4-packs on the shelf. I'd grab a single if I saw it, but it's not worth a 4-pack to me. Plus, with its "increased production", I fear a KBS-like drop in quality. Has anyone had this year's and has thoughts?

 

Beer Temple posted Black Note on Instagram yesterday.

 

Seems a few Binnys have it in stock already as well. 19.99 a 4pk. Pretty reasonable price these days for a BA stout.

 

I bought it through the Binny's app while waiting to get into Costco for cheaper BCBS this morning. Just waiting to be informed it's ready. Stout life in 2023 ain't half bad.

 

Not sure about their definition for "limited", but not complaining. NW Ohio (Toledo area) received a pretty big drop a few weeks ago. This week is NE Ohio's turn. Quite a few stores in my area received theirs the last few days. Could have collected a case or more during the stops I made today if I tried.

 

Man that would be great if it showed up on shelves. I’ve missed that for so long now. Thanks for sharing.

 

C’mon Montana! One can only dream…

 

Anyone else notice a pretty decent price difference on this batch? I remember back in the single bottle days this would be anywhere from $5-8 per bottle. In later batches it got to where you could grab 4 packs for $20-30ish. This new batch is sitting on the shelf at my local Woodman's for under $16 a 4 pack. Definitely not complaining but curious if others' experiences align with this?

 

I saw it as low as $14.99, definitely surprised me. Last time I found it here (4-5 years ago?) I’m sure it was $25-30.

 

It's $24.99 at my store, and I'm only 25 miles from the brewery.

 

That tracks more with what I paid at Bells. Could have gotten 3 four backs for the price of two based on what some of you are reporting here.

Then again, I’ve yet to see it in the wild. And the last time I did encounter Black Note it was gone the same day, so I’m also surprised at its staying power right now.

 

That $24.99 price was at the Horrocks store here in Battle Creek, and they were down to the last 4-pack. I just checked the Mega-Bev site and their Portage and the Kzoo store both report it as still available. Both have it listed at $25.99.

 

I would've bought it either way but damn that is an insane price difference. I honestly thought there may have been a fuck up at the store but someone else found an even lower price than me. I know Wisconsin is famous for cheap booze prices but $10 is ridiculously different.

 

It seems it was a couple bucks cheaper this time at the General Store. As mentioned $25 vs the usual $27/28 in the past. I saw a lot of it in Chicago on Black Friday for $20. My local Meijer has had a stack for a couple weeks. I can't remember the exact price (in the $20's), but they've got buy one get one 40%off all craft beer right now, so there's that.

 

Ohio is 14.99, surprisingly since we are state controlled for minimum pricing and often more than states to the west. Same price at three shops so the standard price. I recall spending around 25.00 for early batches in the 25 oz bottles.