Impossibly good beer luck

I was working out at a gym next door to my usual Binny's so I wandered over right after they received King Henry. Still pretty happy about that one.

 

Not as good as your story, but around Christmastime this year some rinky-dink liqour store in CT had a bottle of DFH 120 on a clearance rack for I think $3.00. Guess they couldn't read the "Ages Well" written on the label.

 

I felt that way about a playstation that I got back the first christmas they came out. They were long gone everywhere and I was in a kmart and saw a guy piling up some behind the counter... I assumed they were pre-orders and asked in passing if they were for sale. "Yep", he says, "Truck just left". Um... I'll take one please, woohoo!

As far as beer goes, it's lucky, but only because it was almost bad luck. Months before CBS came out I put my name on a local shop's list for it. Weeks before I called to make sure if they were getting it or not, and whether I was still on the list. Maybe, and yes were the answers. Days before I called back to see if they had gotten a definite answer, nothing yet and they tell me to call back again. Day of the release I was told it wouldn't be at the local distribution warehouse until the next day. Next day I call back at like 2 o'clock and the manager had left to pick up that day's shipment which may or may not include CBS. Around 4 I get a call back from the store from somebody that I knew (not the manager/buyer) and she tells me, "We've got two bottles of CBS left for you, name omitted (manager/buyer) was just about to sell them when I asked her if she checked the lists and she said no...". So long story short I almost didn't get something that should have been a sure thing.

And it was fantastic!

 

For some reason Julio's didn't post on Facebook/Twitter when they received Great Divide Barrel-Aged Yeti. It had always been a personal whale, one of my mightiest ones. I walked in randomly on a Thursday and it was just sitting on the shelves, 5 bottles of it. I grabbed one and was very happy for the rest of the night. It is not everyday when you can grab such an awesome beer off of a shelf, especially at a store where limited releases rarely even make it out of the back room.

 

My buddy and I planned a trip to Michigan a few weeks ago to hit a couple breweries that we had never been to before. We picked a date that worked well for both of us. That was about all the planning that went into it. So we're on the brewery tour at Bell's and what do we hear? Sombody mentioned something about a barrel-aged stout in the bottle shop at Bell's. We went to check it out after the tour was over and BAM! Black Note. That was just good 'ol dumb luck.

 

I have gotten Hopslam, Abyss, BCBS Coffee, Bramble Rye, BCBS, KBS, CBS, Backwoods all from the same Super Market. I am extremely blessed. Luck has nothing to do with it.

 

Several years ago when I stopped in at a beer bar in the Twin Cities I'd never been to I ordered two beers I'd never heard of before. After drinking them and deciding they were probably the two best beers I'd ever tasted, I wanted more. After a little research I came to learn that it's not everyday you get to enjoy Black Note and CBS on tap in the same sitting. Haven't gotten to enjoy either one since then because the hype train got rollin'.

 

Fall 2008 put my name on local distributor's list for a case of Breakfast stout, but never heard from them about it. Fast forward to the next March, get a call apologizing for never getting Breakfast stout and wondering if I'd rather have a case of Kentucky Breakfast. Yes, please.

 

Sounds like it's time you signed up for a Twitter account. I finally did recently just for beer news and updates.

 

Yep. My entire Twitter feed is just to monitor beer goings on.

 

Well just this past week I made an impromptu visit to my local store and they just happened to have a few bottles of Bitches Brew, which I thought was long gone from the retail market. Picked up two. Two days later went back in and the manager had some Lunch stashed in the back. Picked up two more. I felt very lucky.

 

Glad I'm not the only one!

 

Not nearly as good a story, but I happened to wander into a store in a "not so good" neighborhood in Houston to find that they had a huge supply of Deschutes Abyss and XXIII on the shelves long after it was gone from everywhere else in the area. Guess people in that area weren't down on paying that much for a beer, so lucky me!

 

Then I should add I think it's about time to join the future with a smartphone . I just got my first one last month and it also had a lot to do with beer. Now I can look up beer as I shop, find new stores while I'm out and about, and keep up with news while I'm not at home. It's a nice luxury.

 

I walked into a bar once and '83 Dirty Horse was on tap. True story.

 

I was visiting a local shop sometime in September last year to get a hold of some Cantillon (the basic ones are still on shelves here in Italy). After selecting 4-5 750s and something else I went to check out and noticed behind the counter a 375 of Blabaer. After investigation I found out it was brought to the store owner by a friend of her. Long story short: it was not on sale, but she was not intending to drink it either since she claimed "she would not appreciate it fully", so she just gave it to me (after detecting my love for Cantillon). True story. I thought I'd never see it in my life but there it was. I was like Alice in Wonderland for a few hours.

 

Another Blåbær story.. A few days before its release, I posted a Facebook status to the effect of: "anyone in denmark? I need a favor."
Long story short, a friend's boyfriend who lives in Copenhagen freaking went to the Ølbutikken that weekend and flew a Blåbær to Pittsburgh where my friend was meeting him for 4th of July weekend. He gave it to her and she flew it back to Atlanta (where she and I lived) in her luggage. Free shipping!