KBS in Chicagoland (2016)

Totally. I'll go a few mins before open, grab my 2 and be happy. If I happen upon a few more later, great.

 

Walgreens Bucktown KBS release is on Saturday.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/events/info/78913/

 

Yeah, that's a pretty generous release at Walgreen's. Too bad I'll be at a 5 year old's birthday party...who knows, I may see more mature behavior at that birthday party than I would at the Walgreen's.

 

I guarantee that walgreens line is ridiculous and they sell out super fast with limits like that.

 

While obviously people want more bottles, I'm never going to begrudge a retailer for trying to get the beer into as many hands as possible.

 

Spoiled Chicagoans! Down here in the southern half of the state, we're lucky to be sold 2 bottles. Many places have a one bottle limit.

 

Is that the reason retailers break apart four packs? Or is it because they make more selling money selling four individual singles rather then selling a four pack?

 

I'm gonna go with both

 

KBS is great, but not worth the chaos.

 

No beers are worth the chaos in Chicago. It's a zoo here.

 

Agree 128%

 

Maybe I'm just an animal myself, but I don't find it to be that much of a zoo here. It does require some work and being on top of things, but I don't think that's much different than some other areas. I can't think of another place I'd want to be for my beer needs (although maybe I'm letting other biases such as family, etc. get in the way of that opinion). But, maybe I just haven't experienced the right madness yet.

 

If you're talking about Binny's, it is quite obviously to get them into multiple hands. Selling some cases of KBS is basically meaningless to their bottom line. And I think that's true for most retailers that impose bottle limits. They have customers that get pissed off when they can't get a certain whalez beer, so they do the best they can to get some to as many people as possible.

It is also true, though, that some minority of stores will charge mega gouge prices on KBS, broken up by the bottle, but it seems more often than not the super gouge-y places don't also have a bottle limit. For instance, there's a store around the corner from my house that still has BCBS regular and barleywine on the shelf for $20+/bottle, and they would let me clean them out if I wanted to.

 

It is definitely a shitshow here compared to other places. My humble opinion is that you're just used to it being the way it is. Most non-BA type people would find it crazy that buying some beer requires "some work and being on top of things."

Chicago is a mixed blessing type of situation. It is incredible in terms of the number of different breweries that distribute here, but there is way, way more demand here than in some other places. I remember a couple of years back going to the place that would be the equivalent of Binny's in Lexington, Kentucky, and KBS was just languishing on the shelf like it was no big deal, simply because the demand isn't nuts.

 

Perhaps it all depends on our definitions of "shitshow". I don't doubt that there are some places where things like KBS or BCBS sit on shelves for awhile (like you mentioned with Lexington, although that was a couple years back, so who knows if it's the same now), but I'm not sure I'd say that is the norm. Overall, we are dealing with limited supply products that have a healthy demand, so there is going to be a bit of work to get them. My perspective may be impacted by being a wine lover before I was into craft beer - there are wines I've been waiting on lists for 7 years and still can't purchase from the winery (I could on the secondary market, but that is no different than beer). So, for me to be able to get some beer I really like by standing in line once a year for a couple hours doesn't really bother me.

The beauty of it all is that there is so much good beer out there that doesn't require any extra effort at all to get, so if the effort is more than folks want to put in (I'm sure I'll tire of it in the semi-near future), then you can just drink something else.

 

The sweet spot seems to be 6-12 months.

 

Release day for KBS, and to a lesser extent BCBS, is pretty orderly down here (I'm in Louisville, but I feel like Lexington is comparable), but it's definitely not sitting on the shelves for more than a couple of hours anymore. It's nothing like what Chicago sounds like, though; beer culture hasn't really permeated to that extent down here yet. Bourbon releases are insanity, though.