Goose Island Bourbon County - 2024 (Chicagoland)

What are they thinking with the adjuncts in that prop? Just keep it simple.

Overall I think it's a solid lineup though.

 

I'm sad that they've stopped tapping the entire lineup (or really most of it) at FOBAB. Though it used to be that I wanted to try it before I could buy it, whereas this year, it's more that I want to try prop to verify once and for all I don't need a bottle.

 

All I hear is, GI has you on the hook for a bottle now

 

Dammit, where's the dislike button?

 

I've already decided it will be meh. If it ends up being good I'll be surprised and happy.

 

That’s clearly a sales tactic. Why give a sample and lose some sales when you can make everyone buy at least one bottle just to try it

 

They do....it's called Prop Day.

 

That's the problem I guess. It used to be a good sales tactic because it was good enough to drive sales.

 

Fair. The schedule doesn't always work out for me and when it does, I haven't won the lottery. It was just nice to have access at something I always go to.

 

Well, you also have to get the bottle pack along with the ticket there, right? So if you hate it, you also get 2 bottles of it lol.

 

Bitter Pops is having their BCBS presale this Friday...

 

And they'll be on the shelves for sale in October

 

I wonder if they have to get their orders in to the distributor and only want to order what is basically prepaid already.

 

And/or they want to lock it in before people get the packages through their compeitors.

 

Back when the first Vanilla Rye happened in 2014 how difficult was it to get? Was anyone here hunting around and getting shut out back in those days? I'm predicting it won't be that hard to track down this year's, but given the OG's status as one of the most legendary craft beers ever released I'll be curious to compare the obtainability between then and now.

 

2014 was tough. Was that still 22oz bottles? I think 2018’s Vanilla is a more apt comparison since they were making way more in 2018. There should be no trouble for anyone in Illinois to obtain this as it will probably occupy the shelf turd spot occupied by backyard and banana last year…

 

2014 was peak BCBS difficulty in Chicago. Even Binnys would not give you a full allotment. You had to pick either Vanilla Rye or Prop, and also between Coffee or Barleywine. Many random shops would only be allotted a single case of either VR or Prop so it sold out fast.

But I don't think 2014 has any bearing whatsoever on the state of BCBS today. People would still hunt for the regular back then. None of the remade variants have been hard to get in comparison (Bramble, Backyard, Vanilla, Fourteen)

 

Oh for sure. Even putting the question of quality aside the production is so increased and the hype so decreased I think this year will be just like the last 2 have been with everything sitting on shelves forever. I still enjoy going out on Black Friday morning to pick up what I want and hit up other local releases but I notice the crowd growing noticeably smaller year by year. It seems the high water mark for beer hype in general has come and gone so it should be fun and interesting to see if a remake of VR gets anyone out of bed that day. I'm preemptively guessing not but maybe we can place a wager in the hyperinflated currency of VR Bucks.

 

There’s a few contributing factors to the hype dying:

- Easy access. People aren’t running around town at 3am to get a good spot in line for open when every store has multiple variants in almost every state
- Price. Most places here are $15 for regular and $27 for the “basic” variants. Store near me still has Eagle Rare on the shelf for $50. As soon as they mark it down enough I’ll probably grab them.
- The general cyclical nature of humans and fads

 

I was able to grab several bottles off the shelf with little effort at multiple different locations.