BCBS Vanilla Rye Questions-Wisconsin

Woodmans in the Falls has regular for $31. No more Vanilla and a variant somewhere coming off the truck. Since I bit the bullett on the regular, I didn't stick around to see how expensive the BW was.

 

Sounds pretty crazy at the stores that got it today....looks like I'm drinking more CW BBS than BCBS this year. My pocketbook thanks me, and the people that are able to dedicate this much time to grabbing the beers out there.

 

What an over-hyped, overpriced beer. Good lord. This year was the last year I will buy it. $25 a 4 pack is simply too much for a 'good but not great' beer. Id take CW BA Stout over BCBS any day.

 

My black friday plans for this year and the years to come include going to lakefront, then going home. I'd much rather have to line up at a local brewery for their own product than spend my time in line at a liquor store for a beer that I might not even be able to get.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the beer is great and if I have the opportunity to try it I will. I'm just one person that doesn't necessarily enjoy the "hunt". I made a beer run to discount on Saturday afternoon and still picked up some nice things that were left over.

 

Otto's in Menomenee Falls has regular BCBS for $6.99/bottle, limit one. Not worth the drive for me, but in case anyone here was still seeking.

I'm guessing that about does it for deliveries, no? Any other grocery stores accidentally sell an unexpected amount of Goose Island junk?

 

Not sure if still available but Woodman's Meno Falls was 2x 4pk limit of reg. $30/ Too rich for my blood.

 

Whoa. I paid $20.99 for a 4-pack at Woodman's in Madison. Granted, that's the only 4-pack I've been able to get anywhere, but still amazing that it's nearly $10 more at a different Woodman's.

 

$18.99/ 4 pk at Sendiks in G-town.

 

Where is G-town...?

 

Germantown, north of Menomonee Falls.

 

If you're in Madison, check Sadhana. They had some this afternoon (just regular)

 

Man Discount had some good stuff on the shelves today. No Bourbon County but lots of other gems.

 

Tyranena Carnal Knowledge is my favorite BB Stout right now.

 

The price hike sucked from both of our ends: Consumer and Retailer. A lot of retailers complained this year that they didn't get enough of everything. We had the Wisco rep @ our Super Saturday event. Its plain and simple. The more that store buys and sells of other Goose Island products (Matilda, Sofie, 312...) the more of BCS they got and variants. The more you buy as a consumer @ your favorite retail locations of some breweries makes a difference. If you keep chasing only hyped up beers, you will keep getting less and less of them at your preferred location. Plain and simple. Over the years I've noticed those who only come out for certain releases and those who come in time from time, every store notices you. I understand that theres a lot of selection out there to pick from, but when it comes down to special releases and you didnt get a bottle, theres a reason for that.

 

It's not really so plain and simple. A lot of us choose to shop at our local bottle shops due to loyalty or the fact that we like buying from the small guys and not the places that don't give a crap about craft beer. Most of us like to think we're a part of a little community. Why else would I choose to go to these local shops, when Woodman's is now getting equal, if not more allocation than you, Discount, Three Cellars or Otto's and they have cheaper prices?

All new products have to get picked up by early adopters that help to make it to mass market. A lot of our community represents your early adopters and we've supported these bottle shops and the breweries for a long time. Maybe the real question to ask your sales rep is why you're getting a similar amount of allocation after you've been supporting them and the "scene" much longer than the grocery stores.

Are there some people who just hunt special releases? Sure, but that's not the real problem.

 

A simple concept that so many people fail to understand. For instance, the person who posted below you.

 

Allocations are typically very "what have you done for me lately?" If you're not a top Goose (or any other brewery) account from the previous year, chances are you're not going to get many, if any limited releases, no matter how much you've supported the brand in past years. It's the only fair way for distributors to do it. And now with Goose being pushed by AB, and craft beer drinkers revolting from them for the same reason, chances are better for it to go to grocery stores, Walgreens, etc since those customers don't know or care as much about where their beer comes from. Retailers can't make anyone buy anything they don't want to, but it's a pretty simple concept that if we cant well something well year round, distributors won't hesitafe to look the other way when limited stuff comes around.

 

Agreed. My point is that it is silly for the retailers to blame the customers for this. It's part of the system. It makes business sense for the distributor, but the reality is that it hurts the small shops more that were pushing craft beer long before the big chains that now get the large allocations. It's not a fair system for the craft shops who helped get the beer big in the first place, but blaming your customers doesn't make sense.

 

I agree and feel it's silly to blame the consumer especially when this particular retailer's prices are higher than everyone else's. Even when using the 10% coupons or receipts from growler purchases, prices can't compare to the competition.

 

I wasn't even talking about a single location, but since you brought it up, why not. Rays got one of the biggest allocations in the state, almost one of the top in the region! Your price factor really doesnt matter if you have the freshest beer in the area. Look at discount, old beer left and right. Salesmen complain all the time about their old beer. Look at ottos, they have IPAs that have sat on the shelf for over 4, yes FOUR years! You won't find that at Rays. And with those 10% off coupons, the prices do come down to around what "competition" charges.