FW15 still in stores

There is a bottle shop near us that got 5 cases and has probably sold 3 over the last 2 months. The price still remains high on it (about $18-20) but I guess he is moving enough of it to warrant keeping it and not just return it to the distro or sale it down to $12 or $14. It's such a good beer. I'd grab 2 or 3, drink one now and then see how it ages over time.

 

It was one of the best beers I had last year, I liked it better than CBS. I've got one I'm aging and i would buy more if i could. I drank a lot of it on tap too it was delish.

 

It's freaking fantastic. Just expensive.

And if you only get a couple of bottles then I'd drink them fresh.

 

I dont if it'll be better aged, I really think that addition of fresh Double Jack adds a great dimension.

 

I want a bottle of that damn Stickey Monkey that's a part of the blend. They should bottle that shit. Might not be good on its own, but I'd love to try it.

 

Buy one to drink but one or two to cellar.

 

Never had the 15 but the 14 was ridiculous good...FW executes barrel aged blends better than any other brewer IMO

 

15 is such a great beer, much better than 14 was IMO. I bought a few bottles; I would have bought a few more if the price wasn't so high.

 

Got a bottle from my daughter for Christmas. Having it for my birthday next Saturday. Really looking forward to it.

 

I've been thinking about grabbing this one myself. I'm gonna hit a couple of my usual spots this weekend to see if I can locate a couple. Like everyone said, one to enjoy now and one to age. (maybe two to age, so I have trade bait in a year with one of them.)

 

I personally thought 14 was much, much better. In before Levitation.

 

The deal is it is a $20 bottle and FW doesn't get the hype of Founders or Goose Island. That's pretty much it. People really don't have unlimited budgets in the craft world, and many (unfortunately) spend all their money on the most hyped stuff. There's little other logical reason why the much better FW -bal beers sit around while Bramble flies off of shelves. It's not just FW either - I see it with Boulevard, Hoppin Frog, and others...

Whatever - I'm a bit of a FW fanboy, so I personally have no problem with them lingering on shelves for the taking many months after release.

 

I agree with that. I think 15 is still an excellent beer, but 14 was sublime. Really, 15 was basically a barleywine whereas 14 was closer to an IS or a true blend of styles. And 14 is aging fantastically.

 

who says an anniversary beer should fly off the shelves and be impossible to find within a month of its release? I appreciate the fact that this great beer is still available to me to by off the shelves a few months after it hit the market.

 

24.99 quality market SD ca. Too rich for my blood

 

Yeah, both of my local shops still seem to have a good amount of bottles, yet they stupidly won't lower the price from $20 so the geeks will swoop in and finish off their stock. I have a bottle that's been sitting in my fridge since a bit after the release and am planning on opening it soon (my first FW anniversary blend).

 

Only had 13-15 here, so take this for what it is worth. Of those 3 I have had, IMO, FW has not produced a mediocre Anniversary beer; but all 3 are quite different. Like stated earlier, 14 is a very RIS/IS style blend, 15 is a very "American Barleywine"esque blend, and, to me at least, the belgian character in 13 really comes through. As the craft beer "craze" has boomed, so too has the production/distribution of FW beers. It was an unfortunate coincidence that the poorest of their recent blends has come at the height of the craft beer boom (FW15)... Higher production, higher price, lower demad, results in plenty of FW15 still around. Kinda a scatter-brained thought, but it makes sense to me.

Personally, I bought 4 bottles before even opening 1 out of fear that I wouldnt be able to track more down as time went on. Stoked to still have 3 bottles, but now i have a 3gots to 1had ratio... probably in line with what you posted.

 

When I had it on Christmas, I thought it was a little hot with the brandy barrel characteristics. My sisters exact response "This tastes like hard liqueur!". Haha. But I think age will calm it down a bit. An expensive option, but if you've got the cash I would buy one to drink now and one to put away. Much more complexity than a $20 bottle of wine!

 

15 is in my top 10 for sure