Impossibly good beer luck

I wish I had good beer luck.

 

Another Cantillon story...I went to my local bottle shop few months ago just looking to load up on some tasty locals. So you know Cantillon hasn't been on the shelves here in a really long time. Started shooting the shit with the beer guy (Jay). After talking with him for about 15 to 20mins i go up to the register to pay, and as im walking up Jay's like "Oh Shit, Steve i forgot we just got a case of Iris (6bottles) you want one?" I thought I died and gone to Heaven. One of the happiest bottle shop moments for me.

 

I had some good luck with some Cantillon this weekend. I was doing some beer shopping at my normal place and talking with the beer guy and he mentioned that they got some Cantillon in. 4 bottles later( 2 Rose de Gambrinus and 2 100% Kriek) I walked out a happy man.

 

I stopped by a random gourmet market (that I'd never been to before) to pick up some steaks and fish when I decided to check out the beer section. I just thought, hey they have a ton of wine so they may have good beer. The beer section was pretty small, only a couple shelves worth. Nothing really interested me and I was turning to head to the register when I spotted a small refrigerator a few feet away. I walked over just to see if there was anything in the little fridge and spotted some small wax-topped bottles. 5 minutes later I walked out of the store with some Kuhnhenn Raspberry Eisbock. It was just plain luck, but I'll take it.

 

This past weekend, I was lamenting my schedule kept me away from Portsmouth for the release of Kate tickets.

Then Saturday about 3hr before they sold out, a buddy offhandedly mentioned he was nearly in NH on his way to Maine for the weekend, so he stopped and scored a few winners for the both of us.

 

Walked into my local last week and was hanging around the beer guy. He mentions he got some good stuff in if I want to come to the back. Boom! 4 cases of Cantillon, and he lets me grab one of each.

Although reading this thread, seems like the Cantillon scores are pretty common.

 

Once you're logged into Twitter you can click on the profile page for people/businesses that you follow and select "turn on mobile updates" to have text messages sent to your old fashioned cell phone. As long as you aren't getting dinged $.05-10 per message it works well. I honestly can't tell you when I last visited the actual twitter website because I just get the important stuff sent straight to my phone.

It does get frustrating at times when I see a particular bar is tapping something I want and I"m unable to go, but then I think about all the things I have been able to attend because of the alerts and I don't feel too bad.

 

not sure this counts but on a few occasions i've had the good fortunate to (unbeknown) walk into (unnamed) places & be asked to weigh in on samples offered, some of which were rarer/allocated goods under consideration or being pushed.

 

I stopped in to Uber when they had tapped Honey Ginger Lime go on. Manager and one of the other bartenders were hanging out drinking, strange for a Wednesday. Look up on the new screen, and up in two kegs was the Younger. Obviously I make my way home, grab some growlers to kill the 2010 Stone IRS (not a bad keg to kill IMO). By the time I get back, one of the kegs was kicked and they were trying to figure out which one was next. They ended up tapping it and no one knew, with the manager saying. No twitter, no facebook, no updates. Probably 25 people there, and I got more than the normal 'one glass per person' limit. Seems like some people are tired of the huge hype around it, and are instead rewarding loyal customers. The Dray also did a secret tapping.

Edit: I have been lucky enough to get the Younger in four places in Seattle, and I was only actively seeking it out for two of them. Other two I "stumbled in" on them because I'm a semi-frequent customer. Good timing.

 

Left a job in Charlotte, NC for one in a smaller town nearby. Researched the area and found a local wine shop that had beer too & checked it out. Left with multiple bottles of Blushing Monk & Dogfish Head Squall. Found a few other rarities there as well. For a small town joint they carry nice stuff.

Walked into Duckworth's - Charlotte spot with 70 incredible drafts - one day and they had about 10 Founders taps running (can't believe I didn't know it was going on). Four or five were the Backstage Series - KBS, CBS, Monk, etc... Can't chalk that one up completely to luck, they've always got something great on tap, but this stuff was gone quickly and I almost missed it.

 

-You left out the (5) bottles of Event Horizon you picked up from that one little place!

 

Good call, JdoubleA! Stopped by a local spot that has a decent selection, never seen anything wonderful there, noticed a bottle of The Event Horizon on the wall. Asked the owner about it and wound up leaving with five bottles at dirt cheap prices. He was eager to dump it - stuff had been sitting there for months. Of course - I won't mention the name of the spot - hoping to strike beer again.

 

My luckiest moment was definitely the time I decided to answer my phone on a Saturday night, only to have a friend ask me if I was interested in trying Framboos. I was.

 

found 6 bottles of The Abyss '10 just sitting in a cooler also found a Cantillion Iris '07

 

Read the second post here, it makes me want to cry tears of joy and throw up at the same time...
http://www.dogfish.com/forums/the-bar/3533/22/04/2009/srp-for-120-minute-ipa.htm

 

I went on beermenus to find where I can get king Henry. It said the only place was about 25 miles away in Brooklyn. At a bar no less. I call my sister who happens to live in Brooklyn to see if she could possibly pick one up. As chance would have it, she was on her way to that bar that night (she'd never been there b4 btw). She asked the bartender if she could take one to go. He was impressed by her beer knowledge so he gave her the last one.

God knows if I ever crack it open.

 

I've had it before. I'm just really hesitant to crack anything I only have one of. Has to be a special occasion. Getting my doctorate, birth of first child, threesome, something like that.

 

Was it 1983 in Belgium?