I'm going to my wife's house in Bloomington/Normal, IL for Thanksgiving and am interested in picking up a few BCBS variants while there. I'm debating whether to try to get it in Bloomington vs drive to Peoria vs drive up to Chicago. Would really appreciate help on the following: 1. Does anyone know if the local Binny's in Bloomington (or other small town that is a couple hours outside of Chicago) will get BCBS Vanilla this year? 2. Would my chances of getting vanilla go up significantly if I drove to Peoria? If so, can someone share the best place to go in Peoria? 3. For those that have gone to GI for the release, how early should I expect to get there in order to get Prop and/or Vanilla? And is it better to go to the brewery or a local store? I realize this event is massively oversubscribed so helping an out-of-towner goes against keeping the beer local. With that in mind, thanks very much to anyone who's willing to help.
1. Binny's, Friar Tuck's, and other places in BN usually get the variants. 2. No idea, but Peoria has a Friar's and couple decent smaller places if you head out that way. 3. No release at GI - check the thread in the Great Lakes forum about the release at the Lincoln Park Binny's.
FYI - I called Binny's to check what they are getting since my wife will be in Bloomington, they will have regular, coffee & barleywine. Limits are 1 - 4 pack of regular and total of 2 bottles between coffee and BW. Pretty slim pickin'. I'd imagine it'll be similar or worse at Friar tucks.
Will be plenty of reg BCS in and around Peoria starting tomorrow morning. Only hope you may have for Vanilla and Coffee rests at Friar Tuck. I believe they open at 10 am.
