Hey All, While the rest of the family is out shopping on Black Friday, nothing is more enjoyable than going to a bar and tasting some excellent stouts. I've gone to Hugh Oneills a couple times and really liked both the selection and the fact that it isn't slammed and super chill. Any other recs. on a bar/pub/brewery that throws a great, relaxed, Black Friday event?
NOT MA But if you can somehow swing up to York Maine the Black Friday event at York River Landing is always spectacular. No lines and normally any wait to get in. Somewhere around 40ish or so stouts to choose from and plenty of whales typically to go around. Normally a few fun timed taps that change out through the day. It usually sticks around for days too. Last year we went Saturday (or Sunday?) and were the only ones there to start with the entire list still pouring. Brought home squealer pours of Bourbon County vintages. Along with the French Toast Backwoods Bastard…holy f BCBS 2020 BCBS 2021 BCBS cherry wood 2021 BCBS classic cola 2021 confirmed for now. That’s an automatic Uber back to Portsmouth.
This is where I will be for a portion of Black Friday. Tradition for about 5 years for me, just skipped last year since I didn't want to risk any Covid transmission visiting my 70+ y.o. parents up in Maine. Along with BCBS they almost always have Mott the Lesser, Stoneface RIS and a Framinghammer variant amongst other BA beers.
Totally respect that and hear ya. We went the day or two after and we’re literally the only ones on the outside porch and hardly a soul there perilous. They essentially said you can try pretty much everything and take anything home. i believe I’ve done every year it’s gone on.
Definatey interested to hear what other places are doing an event. I've been to Hugh O'Neil's in the past and this years looks pretty week.
are any of the bcbs variants expected to be attainable w/o line waiting in the boston area? I'll be in town and on the road and would like to pick up a bottle or two of somehting like the blantons maybe but not really about standing around for an hour to get it you kno? thx
Only variants coming are cherry wood and cola to most stores. I would just go to Total Wines after the morning on Black Friday to avoid any rush if people still stand in line for it.
Variants at my local shop already on the shelves. Cola, Cherrywood, Fourteen, Regular. Able to walk in and buy them. I grabbed some regular, a fourteen and a cola (just to see what its like).
I know One Stop Haverhill has them in and out for sale. The more I read and think about the Cola version the more it bums me out they used it as a variant. It just doesn’t sound very good or exciting.
Right?! I can easily make myself a Jack and Coke, not exactly jonesing for a slightly better version of that at a premium price. As opposed to starting a whole new thread with few replies, feel free to reply here if you have a good idea of places to look in southern Maine besides Bier Cellar. I'll be driving through Friday early PM with a detour to York River Landing for their draft event. FYI for Bier Cellar you can order original BCBS online for pickup and their variants will be in-person only starting at noontime Friday: Cherry Wood, Classic Cola and Reserve 150. I won't be around Portland until late afternoon so the 150 will be gone hours before. Any leads on places that might be closer to Kittery/York, let me know!
I try to avoid going to TW and the big supermarkets - I prefer spending at the locally owned. |But the one time I go is for BCBS - they get pallets of the stuff, plus varients, rather than a case or two at the locals.
Easy one! Go to Carl’s Meat market in kittery just over the bridge from Portsmouth! They’ll have em! See you at the landing!
Good to know! I typically drift towards Spruce Creek Provisions especially for IPA shopping, but my sense is they don't participate in Black Friday or anything Goose Island really.
We’re swapping spots for the weekend. RSVP will have rg + variants, not sure exactly which. Usually get a healthy dose though.
their website crashed for 10 minutes. Then they only have 2019 & 2020 reg listed. Ppl on instagram were pissed.
I live in Watertown but was visiting family in CT this Thanksgiving. Stopped at CT Beverage in Newington at 10:30 this morning and they still had regular BCBS and all three variants plus three of the “special” variants including: Double Barrel Toasted Barrel Reserve Blanton’s Stout Reserve 150 Stout I had no clue these were seeing distro. Did any places in MA land them?
Well today started off fantastic, my wife had a hacked bank account so our trip started late. But while still in RI, we went over to Wines & More where I got the second to last bottle of 150. That appears to be the same additional variant as Maine got, so I just sat down at YRL to relax and have some drafts. Not worried about store-hunting up here. Cheers!
Fine! I bitched about the Cola variant then had it up against 2021, 2020, cherry wood and cola… and yes, I enjoyed it! So shame on this prick ha
jesus! That sucks when that happens! Would’ve bought you a pour at river landing if still there. We were at tbe corner of the bar to the left from 11-2 or so. Met some awesome folks and had some bottle pours of the Bissell barrel aged stouts shared with us. Gave our two seats eventually to the sweetest couple who were thrilled. Those ladies worked their asses off behind the bar. I hope everyone said a kind word and tipped them well. Great time as always
Thanks for the offer. We walked into a freaking paaarty sitting at a small table behind the bar. There was a party somewhere in the low teens taking up half of that side and they had appatently been there awhile! We had to ask how much the bill was as they left and it got quieter; the waitress said $1500. Yowsa. Gotta admire that, so long as they were local/carpooling with DD's.
Same here lol. Got my 4oz sample of the Cola and it was perfectly fine. I was expecting a mess of an aftertaste but it was clean AF, the adjuncts come through nicely in the middle and don't linger.
I know my store only got offered 3 on the south shore. Seen 14 pop up in places in MA, but not sure if others have.
Oakdale in Tewksbury had Cherry Wood, Cola, 14 and OG all available as of noon today. They also had a lot of back years' OG out too, all priced at $12.95, if you're looking to fill out for a vertical. Also copped a '18 Vanilla that was just sitting on the shelf! No complaints here.
