2014 Bourbon County Brands release - Chicagoland

Now if I could only have gotten some Van Winkle Rye this year-damn.

Their distribution makes BCBS look like child's play.

 

Van winkle family reserve rye was like 2000 bottles i was told. I completely missed out on all van winkle and BATC this year. Too bad, unlike beer, they need to plan 10 years in advance to increase bourbon production.

 

A few years back I got 2. The last several yrs. none. It's all about being on lists. I know this is a beer forum, but to me that stuff is like liquid sex.

Sorry.

 

It's already turned into a barleywine

 

What happened to the whole "this sits on the floor at Jewel-Osco in December" stuff? Haven't seen anything since Black Friday out there.

 

Last year Jewel hit the week after. But there were a couple waves of regular. I don't know how this year is going to go, but I think ONLY jewel got a second shipment, though that may have been from their own warehouse.

The repeating story is the small mom and pops I frequent are talking of pulling all goose products from the shelf and replacing with something else. Sad really. But they are saying the pittance they were allocated is almost an insult to their good customers.

 

This is the most ridulous thing have ever read. Yeah. Mom and pop stores who make all of their money selling cases of keystone light and gallon jugs of rotgut and cheap vodka are going to tell a distributor to not sell Them goose island beer. im all for feigned outrage, but saying "I heard a rumor" before a lie doesn't make it any less of a lie.

 

Yah, there's a small shop up by me that didn't receive any BCS (I know they got some last year because it sat behind their counter a few weeks in plain sight, but they just had no buyers). The owner said he flipped out on the distributor and said he would consider pulling GI product because it's ridiculous they couldn't get so much as a case.

It's all a little confusing to me. I understand why you would take the bulk to places like Binnys/Jewel, but the fact it seems so many independent retailers got shut out is just strange to me.

 

But in time (see: next year) this issue could be corrected or not exist, right?

I'll never forget 2011 where Goose sent Vav something like 5 cases and I struck-out EVERYWHERE. I don't mean variants either, I mean just plain ole regular 4packs, them shits was nowhere.
But then with the 2012 release I was finding 4packs all over creation.

There's nothing to back-up my prediction and in my opinion the 2014 release was a shit-show. But I'm still holding out hope that this is a repeat of the 2011-type levels and 2015 will mirror the 2012 release that followed.
Here's to hoping that barrel warehouse delivers the goods next year!

 

Aren't you the guy that kept posting about how you were only getting 1 4-pack this year?

 

I just want to wrap this thread up and put it under my tree.

 

Seeing and purchasing are two different things my man.

 

Hahaha, okay sure

 

It's OK to see beer and not buy it. Even if it's one of the real hip ones.

 

If you believe him...eh forget it, can't even take you seriously with that avatar and user name.

 

This is the most ridiculous (correct spelling) this you have ever read? Have you read the rest of this goddamn thread?

The mom and pops I am referring to make a good amount of their money on craft beer and good liquor. They have a set of craft beer regulars that they couldn't take care of this year. The owners I personally spoke to, said that they could replace the 312, Honkers, etc that don't sell that well with other local craft that could sell better. That they make money off of cheaper beer and liquor matters how? Binny's also probably sells more keystone than Goose.

 

That is not accurate. I know places like Capone's and Grand & Western got second shipments of regular BCBS and they both had cases on the floor with no limit, the beer was sitting there for almost a week before selling out.

 

Unless it's a place like the Beer Cellar in Glen Ellyn, all the "mom and pops" stores (except the one in Seinfeld) make a majority of their money off BMC.

 

One owner who I've known for quite a while was expressing his frustration and mentioned that his margin on a 12 of GI beer (312, Honkers...) was around $0.10 per unit. He carried it because it brought people into the store, not because it's inherently profitable on its own, and he too spoke of threatening his distributor that he would drop all GI from his store. I doubt many/any store owners would pull the trigger, but the level of frustration that seems to be so widespread among smaller store owners certainly seems to suggest that GI/AB-InBev review their distribution strategy before next year.

 

Yeah, I was talking to the guy who works my local mom and pop store, and he also mentioned that the owners are probably going to stop carrying GI stuff in their 3 stores. He alluded to there being a group of small stores "banding together" to show how pissed they were by doing the same. Even if it doesn't happen, the fact that it's this bad this year is pretty unfortunate.