Black Friday 2014 Bourbon County Release

Well, we did squeak by with BCBW last year, given the ABV. I wonder what % is for any variants; if its 14 or under we might be lucky...again.

 

From the other thread in the Beer Release section: 13%

 

I don't think we saw any in middle GA, but it would be nice if we did! BCBS is 14.2 according to the Goose Island website.

I definitely hope we see this in middle GA!

 

I noticed that I had some bottles at home with different colored caps from each other, I never put 2 & 2 together and realized that they were different ABV's though. Makes sense. They're not drastically different colored, but noticeably different.

 

Anyone in Greenville, SC know which stores got it last year? I was out of town.

I'm hoping GBX and Community Tap get some. Really want to avoid Green's/Haywood Mall area and Total Wine/Woodruff Road area on Black Friday.

 

GVL missed out on the intial Black Friday shipment last year.

 

As someone living in south FL who has seen ridiculously small allotments of Tampa seasonals in my area, this did make me chuckle a little bit.

 

Someone correct me if I'm mistaken, but isn't GA law 14%? If so, 0.2% would leave us out of the running for most BCB stuff. Strangely, I was drinking 14.6% Bells Quince Old Ale in town last weekend. Note, Prairie Bomb is dead-on 14%.....

 

You're correct. Prairie Bomb is 13% per their website. I think there was discussion in the Prairie thread about it dropping from 14% to 13% just prior to the GA release. Not sure if it's related. As you mentioned, BCBW was available in GA because of its 12.1% ABV. BCBS is out of the conversation but the label for Vanilla Rye indicates 13.8% ABV so it's possible we'll see it.

It would appear that the BCBS beers range from 14-15% prior to blending, hence the varying ABV. I don't know exactly what they're blending in to the variants, but they're all sub-14% according to the Goose Island website. Coffee is the lowest at 12.6%, which makes sense if they're blending in cold-pressed coffee or something similar. All of that said, I've personally not seen the variants for sale in GA, but I also didn't see BCBW here last year either so that doesn't really mean anything.

 

Where is my best bet to get the bcbs and coffee stout in nc? Im in fay/raleigh

 

True story, plus all my distro friends have stated that zero 2014 BCBS/Variants have even shipped yet

 

Raleigh's best bets for the super rarities are Tasty Beverage and Ridgewood. Whole Foods gets a lot of good stuff but they keep things in the back and take reservations on a lot of stuff. Unfortunately the beer scene in Raleigh is super fiendy and a lot of things are gone within the hour they drop. You have in have an "in" or camp out at the store to get things like BCBS, KBS, Harvest etc.

 

Last year the BCBS/BCBCS/BCBBW all were delivered to the distributors the Tues or Wed before the release. In Orlando the Backyard actually showed up on Thanksgiving day and they didnt even know they had it until that Friday morning. It was a Shit show getting that diliverd. Every sales rep had car loads of it and were dropping it off all over town.

 

Now that GI is 100% AB/InBev, I won't buy it. It's a well made beer, but there are others that are just as good, which are not brewed by corporations that take active measures to attempt to limit your and my choices at our local bars and bottle shops.

No thanks.

 

Name all the ones that are just as good that are distributed here, if you wouldn't mind.

 

Any of the Founders Breakfast variants, Mexican Cake, Bell's Black Note, Bell's Expedition, Firestone Parabola, some of the Evil Twin Biscotti variants, I think Dragon's Milk and Event Horizon are within shouting distance, too. I'm probably forgetting some.

That's not even taking into account stuff that's not distributed here, but isn't all that tough to get - Perennial's Abraxas, Dark Lord, Hunahpu, etc.

Hey, I'm not castigating anyone who still decides to buy BCBS or other GI beers. I just won't do it, and feel I have very strong/valid reasons for that choice.

The fact that AB/InBev actively strong-arms handles and shelf space OUT of local resellers with a myriad of shady tactics is something that all craft beer drinkers should have a huge problem with. How far you take it is up to you.

 

Black Note - about equal to BCBS, I'll give you this one
Founders Breakfast Stout & KBS - neither as good as BCBS
Mexican Cake - not distributed in NC
Parabola - not distributed in NC
Dragon's Milk & Event Horizon - not in the same league as BCBS
Biscotti Break - regular not as good as BCBS, barrel-aged version close but super expensive

My opinion, of course.

 

We'll agree to disagree, then.