How accessible is Bourbon County in your area?

Not available enough. And yes, they try to pump up the whole GI line with all retailers.

 

Yea I had herd the same. That sending some to every state really hit the Chicago supply the hardest.

 

Haha, yeah, I'd love to hear the conversation between the High End Manager/DSM and whatever rep isn't picking up ancient beer from what sounds like an account that is extremely willing to support the brand. They'd be toast, at least they would if they worked for me.

 

I've only found one 4-pack of bcbcs in my life. I also had bcbs on tap once. Besides that, it's nearly impossible. Any time any store around here gets any, they are gone within minutes, if not seconds. KBS is way easier to find, I've had it on tap at three different establishments this year alone and picked up one bottle at a store.

 

Not very accessible around me. I lucked into a bottle each of the regular and BW a couple of weeks after it was released. Apparently, someone on the list left a disconnected phone number and never came in to pick them up.

 

In Massachusetts, the base is pretty accessible these days. For a while, stores might get half a case, if that, and only if they were great GI accounts. Now you can find stacks pretty regularly. BW and the other variants are harder to come by - past couple years I've been able to get a couple BW, and in the past 5 years or so, only 1 variant. A friend knows a guy who knows a guy, so I have received a couple coffees, but I haven't found them on my own.

 

When we first got it in SC (2013) a store close to me got probably 6-7 cases and every variant. The BCBCS stuck around for a week, the backyard for about 2 weeks and the rest were available almost a full year. Saw the regular BCBS and BW at other locations until the 2014 release. Then came the 2014 release...no variants other than BW and everything gone in a day or two, wasn't even able to get 1 bottle

 

I could only find it on tap, maybe, but probably not.

 

@OP-Will you make enough profit off the BCBS in return for the used up shelf space adding Honkers/Harvest etc. If you only get an allocation of 3-4 cases, it would seem like you'd have a better chance of putting a different beer in there and selling more of it.

 

That's an ideal I hear floated around. Here, it seems that they play favorites when it comes to retailers, regardless of total volume of GI product moved. There's no F'ing way the "cool" little shops sell anything similar to Total Wine and BevMo.

 

In CT regular is pretty easy to get the day it comes out, and after that, not to hard to find if you're willing to pay more. We only got BW as far as variants (coffee was on tap at a couple places though) go last year and it was mostly overpriced singles or 4 packs if you were at the right place at the right time.

 

I'm in S.C. and get the exact same stuff as the OPer...I want some BCS too!!!! WTH???

 

Funny story about the Vanilla Rye here in OKC. 2 kegs of it accidently showed up, it wasn't authorized in this state, and like, how do you fairly divide 2 kegs between all of the accounts that support Goose? We ended up putting it on at our tap room and inviting all our accounts that carry Goose to come in one night and drink it free.

 

BCBS bottles just sitting around NYC. They're on sale for $20/4 pack at the local dinky supermarket by me.

BCBBW is still available at some places too, but Coffee and VR sold out fast.

 

Regular stout is still available in some shelves in central massachusetts 4 -packs for $22

 

Bourbon County is easier to get than KBS is easier to get than Parabola.

Variants on the other hand...

 

I think the correct answer to the OP's post lies in his (our) state of location. Michigan is cursed and shunned by GI, they don't send us hardly enough BCBS to satisfy all beer fans even at just one bottle per person. Most shops charge ludicrous amounts that exceed $8 per bottle with 1-2 bottle limits (if they even get it at all). The only reasonably priced store near me sold it for $5.99, with a one bottle limit and no mention of the variants. Vanilla Rye hit select few locations at 5 bottles per store, with one store selling it at $39.99+tax/deposit.

GI hates us because we have such a strong beer industry in Michigan that crap like Honkers Ale and 312 do not sell well here. It pains me since BCBS is such a good beer, but I won't play AB's game of buying their crap to get "good stuff," when I can more easily attain KBS and BBPT5 (the latter which is far superior to BCBS).

Good day!

 

If the rep of a brewery was going to lecture me about my personal purchases needing to increase before I get "the right" to buy some beer, I'd just tell them no thanks.

 

Still have Parabola on the shelves by me too. $25/bottle, that's probably why. Merkin too, I believe.