Did we ruin Bourbon County?

I bought exactly 1 bottle of normal BCBS this year. I plan on doing a mini vertical of the 2013 (both ABVs), 2014, and 2015. Not worried about chasing anything else down.

 

We didn't ruin Bourbon County. Bourbon County ruined us!!! Look at what it has done to the masses

 

Mmmm...bourbon county flavor country lol

 

Just sort of rambling here with some BCBS thoughts.

So generally speaking, BCBS and its variants are allotted to all retail establishments who sell GI products based on sales? One could envision, and we've seen it with a few people posting about random gas stations or low key non craft centric beer store selling stuff they don't know exactly what they're selling.

This is sort of where the whole "hunt" can begin. I can see a gas station who's "best" craft selection is honkers, GI IPA, and their 312 series selling more by the case than a true craft "destination" beer store on a yearly basis. The stores in question would still have to order and agree to said items, right?

In the back of my mind, I can think of maybe 2 craft beer stores in my 1.3 million person metro area. Grocery stores, gas stations, and beer stores who seem more focused on bud and macro sales make up the huge majority. In theory there could be 15 times more BCBS out there that we don't even know about, right?

If sales are based on stuff that the general BCBS crowd doesn't touch, allotments and allocations don't quite make sense to me. The main craft beer store in town will get 8 cases, but the lowly gas station gets 3?

I guess lucky for me, I won't be going to every gas station and grocery store in town searching, or calling up places asking. Most generally don't know what they have in inventory. Some may sit on it for awhile.

I can see how this rewards the lower level places. But at the end of the day I think they are missing out on even bigger lines and chaos, and actually getting the beer into more hands in a more timely fashion.

Am I off base?

 

We have (had) five bottles left at work. I picked the one that looked the cleanest (no scuffs...yeah I'm like that) and bought it to age. No black friday madness, no pawning others, just a simple, available beer.

Thought about it for a week before I bought it though. $12.99 is a lot for a single beer. Only one that I paid that for was the Alesmith Speedway Stout (still in the fridge, and took a week in WASHINGTON STATE ON VACATION to decide on it).

 

Yes of course I would agree that extreme muling and profiteering on the secondary market are crappy things to do - I'm pretty sure I never said or implied otherwise. My point was that so many people seem to be grouching pretty badly about those who are willing to wait in a long line and go to such lengths to get a shot at these excellent beers, when if you just embrace it and try something out of your comfort zone, you might be surprised at how nice it can be. Not sure where the negativity of your last remark is coming from - just offering my opinion like everyone else! Sure it sucks that craft beer is more expensive and harder to get, but doesn't that happen to any good thing? And, isn't it a sign that we as advocates of good beer are having success?

And actually, now that I think about it, perhaps looking at it from an asset-based perspective would be helpful - sure the lines can be silly, but it shows smaller brewers how much interest exists in big, BA beers. Like many in the thread have said, there are tons of local and regional options for beers in the same vein as BCBS that are much easier to obtain, but without the huge success of BCBS to pave the way, how many of them would exist in the first place?

Cheers!

 

No sir - there are of course laws regarding public intoxication, disorderly behavior, drunk driving and so on, but to my knowledge Indiana Code does not prohibit the public consumption of alcohol. At least, the police officers who came by a few times sure didn't seem to mind the massive amounts of people drinking on a public sidewalk. In fact, they rather seemed to wish that they hadn't been on duty that night...

 

There's not another ba stout here on the shelf year round that is even close. Hoppin Frog Boris? No. Nebraska Brewing had an offering that's insanely expensive. It's worth the chase once a year for something I like that can't be duplicated. There's just not a lot of Stouts I really seek out, but Bcbs and Kbs are two that I do.

 

Last year, about 3 weeks after Black Friday, my wife and I went to a cozy local pub for dinner. I saw a Goose tapper, saw that they rotated what they served, asked what it was. "Oh, it's their seasonal." Okay, I'll take a pint.

I watched them pour from across the room and saw something darker than the usual Winter Ale or even Festivity that's brewed. When the waitress set the glass down on the table I could smell the bourbon at arm's length. My wife saw the look on my face and asked if everything was okay. I said, "Yeah, but I'm only having one beer tonight, and here are the car keys."

I don't seek out the Bourbon County, but was not going to turn this away -- and enjoyed it immensely with my Blue Cheese Burger. Enjoyed it even more when I saw they dinged me for $5 a PINT.

No, not gonna reveal this location 'cause I'm goin' back there in a couple weeks to retry my luck. Moral of the story being, good things come to those who really aren't blinded by the hype.

 

Walked into a local Wegmans and brought two of the six bottles of. BCBS for $10.99 each. Don't see the problem.

 

Karma is a fairytale. I'm sure plenty of truck chasers and bottle hoarders ended up finding your honey hole.

 

Those must be the special 25 oz versions!

 

This is quite the string and I haven't read each and every post. I am 53 years old and up until this time last year, Yuengling Light was my trophy beer-- mainly because we can't get it in Chicago. @spacecake9 slowly turned me onto the craft beer scene and now I consider Yuengling Light to be water. Point being, never in my wildest dreams did I ever envision myself paying $50 for a 6-pack of beer but that's exactly what I did after scoring 6 BCBS "regulars" at Costco at $7.99 per bottle. I see all of the posts and pictures of what everyone scored and how much they spent and can't help but admire that passion. Maybe another year will get me to that level but for now I'm more than thrilled with my Costco score that took all of 10 minutes.

From one Plainfielder to another-- cheers to @Billy_Bars (and please stay away from Costco on Black Friday 2016!)

 

We didn't ruin Bourbon County. It's a Black Friday release; it's predestined to incite drama. Everyone knows that release events already cause drama and attract a lot of media attention. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what happens when you add Black Friday to the mix.

As far as your own situation (@Billy_Bars) if you have to ask the question then you already know the answer. It's up to you to make peace with that.

 

Finish typing the word you Jimmy.

 

All the current evidence is to the opposite. There are certainly a greater number of very well crafted barrel aged stouts around then ever before, but this has not kept the price nor the hype of Bourbon County "in check". More people waited in line to pay higher prices than ever before. The only thing that keeps the price down is Goose Island's reluctance to raise it to the point of meeting--but not exceeding--the demand. I promise you, in a few short years we will laughing about how cheap this stuff was in the good old days.

 

I agree with your sentiments

I am pretty laid back about beer. I agree with your sentiments about line jumpers, etc., but don't have a big problem with mules. When I talked about doing the homework, this is primarily getting to a release earlier than most. It's how you are able to "ensure" an alotment. Cheers!

 

No thanks, he didn't deserve me typing it. Lol

 

It's far from ruined IMO. I lived in Chicago the past 14 years or so and now am in Pittsburgh as of 3 months ago. Pittsburgh being pretty much a black hole for BCBS, I still manged to hunt it down and get an "allotment", and actually it was fun and it reminded me of the thrill of the "hunt". Only problem being in Pittsburgh now is I highly doubt I run into more In a couple weeks like I would in Chicago, so I'm sitting here staring at my 4 regular salivating. It's beautiful and delicious and fun and that is what matters, mules suck and the guy with the sister who "drinks beer" in the line for the 20 allotments being sold suck even more but it is what it is and I just chose to have fun and make sure I got some even if it was only 4 regular 2 barley and a regal. It will always be delicious no matter how many people start drinking it and muling it and charging 8000 dollars a bottle

 

I was turned on to craft beer in March of 2014 by my brother I'll blame my new hobby on 2011 OLD STOCK CELLARS RESERVE!! I never really got into it whole heartily until January of this year (2015).

I've never had bourbon county but of course I knew its legend. My brother who got me into this hobby sent me a 2013 BCBS with the instructions do not drink unless we're both drinking it at the same time. LOL Anyway, after trying so many great beers this year, some were hard as hell to land and others not so much and starting my beer cellar I had to get my hands on some Bourbon County. I had the pleasure of trying BCBBW on tap this spring and loved it. I paid more than MSRP I think only Costco or whole foods sold it at that price in California and I went to neither one. I got 2 bottles on Wed. from a good friend who has a hookup cost me 28.50 total. Saturday without much effort I went to 2 Bevmo's got my 2 bottle limit from both stores at $11.99 plus tax. So, for what I essentially paid for one Black Tuesday I paid for 2 BCBS, I have 6 bottles 4 to drink as I see fit and 2 to cellar. I won't judge anyone in this thread because what I've spent on Grado headphones might seem extreme to many or what I've spent Guitars, Basses, pedals, & amps over the years. To each their own just make sure your hobby doesn't exceed your daily life essentials and you'll be fine. If we're all were being honest we've over paid for something we wanted really really bad and regretted it later. That's life we live and we learn hopefully.