Last night I was at a bar in Fargo, ND and noticed they had a 375 ml bottle of Cantillon Classic Gueuze on display above the bar next to all of the other, mostly domestic, beers they carry in their fridge. I asked the bartender if they had any since I didn't see it in their fridges. He was able to retrieve some after asking around to see if anyone knew about the beer. They had multiples of it, but the manager didn't know who they received them from. After asking how much it was for a bottle, I found out they were $16.73 after tax, cheaper than you can get them for from Etré or Belgium in a Box. I found out afterwards a local liquor store received a couple cases, but they sold out quickly. Has anyone else seen Cantillon Classic Gueuze pop up recently in the upper Midwest? I'm a little shocked to have stumbled across it here in North Dakota; I always thought it was only sparingly distributed on the coasts and in Denver.
You can get 750's for like $17 from Etre if you fill your box. So I find $17 for a 375ml very expensive. Anyways, as they are carried by Shelton Bros. they can potentially show up in any state they send beer to. They have sent a shipment at least once in the last 1.5 years to Iowa, and I know they pop up in Missouri too.
Shelton Bros pulled out of MN early 2013 prior to that Minneapolis received very little allotment when sours became oh so popular here is a good read http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/so-whats-the-deal-with-shelton-bros-in-chicago.182758/
Based on recent price increases the 750's are actually about $22 for a full box etre order of 11 bottles shipped (but the real problem is filling out a box because they are limiting the 750's to 3 now). Even classic is selling out in a few hours. It's getting pretty crazy.
Yeah, I was thinking about this and realized that due to increased prices (and I believe the euro appreciating more than anything) makes them more than $17 these days. Didn't know he was limiting the classics. I think a bunch of his mules got found out or something. I didn't even realize he had any 750's in a while because they are never on the site in the last few months.
Dude, that shipment was in October of 2012. I remember because I took the day off work prior to Darkness Day to go to John's in Iowa City to stock up and it was flying off the shelves. It's been a while since Abu Nawas/Shelton sent any to Iowa. Hopefully we get more soon!
I too am in Fargo and ended up grabbing a couple bottles when they were at the store. Missed out on the drie Fonteinen stuff a month or two before that.
Oh, for the days when one could just find Cantillon sitting on shelves. Didn't know how good I had it back then.
