KBS Release Date

Sadly in some instances it's shop owners hoarding stuff away and other cases it's the local distro holding out. Tis the beer world nowadays, not much you can do about it. You can find pleasant surprises every now and again. 1 bottle of KBS purchased last week and about 2 months ago got a Bramble for $20 when distro owners changed and they discovered a stash of bourbon county in the warehouse, immediately shipped out to stores. In each case it's a thank you very much for 2 great bottles to drink.

 

When I was up in Waterbury VT in June I stumbled on some KBS (tipped off from a BA) right next to Heady too.

 

You are right to be miffed.
send it all to me and I will get rid of it for you.
that will show them

 

I know personally that a store that I have been to before holds back a couple of cases of beers like KBS and let it go about a month before the next year's release. They call it "cellared" and charge a premium for it. I received this knowledge first hand from an employee of the store who still works there. This year they are holding one case of KBS and one of Black Note. As much as I think it's not right to do that, he says most good beer stores do it.

 

As the beer manager at a liquor store, I know for a fact that the distributor in my area held back a keg of KBS for special events later this fall. So my guess is that they did just that. Held it back.

 

That seems stupid. If they want to charge a premium for those beers, they can do it when it is first released.
I don't understand why they would wait 11 months to upcharge.

 

Funny you mention this, about two weeks ago one of my favorite bottle shops displayed Sucaba 2014, Parabola 2014, Old Rasputin 16, Fyodor's Classic, they put out about 2-3 cases of each. I thought, where did this come from? I'm thinking they held on to it and I noticed the prices were 'adjusted.' Maybe Total Wine held out.

 

It has secretly appeared sitting in my fridge

 

Unfortunately, because of the hype, demand, and shelf life - it's "because they can".

 

I think a distro is trying to make a buck. Though if this was in my area, BUY ALL YOU CAN BUY!!!

 

Wouldn't even try to caress this thread with kevlar...

 

I picked up a 4-pack at my local beverage store yesterday -- the first time I've ever seen it on a shelf. A hooray was definitely in order.

 

They might even consider it a convenience/service for their customers.

How many people do you suppose there are that both have access to enough of the beer and have enough patience to cellar the beer for a year before doing a vertical tasting?

And in this case the upcharge is at least partly based on the expense they incur of investing in the beer and then sitting on it for a year before selling it.

 

He says also it's a marketing thing. They put it out a month ahead of the current year's release and it gets everyone talking about it and helps get the word out about the release so they get slammed with people when they get it in.

 

2014 Parabola and Stickee Monkee appeared here in NJ about 3 weeks ago.

 

That manager is either a liar or clueless. KBS is released once a year.

 

That makes sense. So there are fringe benefits both for the customer (pre-aged bottles) and for the store (word of mouth advertising).

 

i don't see the big deal with holding a small amount of a special release and then putting it on shelves 6-12 months, gives a chance to people who don't have time to chase or stand in line. even if it was a couple bucks more, I'd be smiling while handing them my cash

 

Why would Founders do this? They're wouldn't anything in it for them, probably a guess but I'd guess beer distributors are at the bottom of this special release.

 

Distributor or store. I know of a few bars and stores that still have bottles in their basement that they don't have on their menu but probably sell to people in the know. Also, a bar around here kept their 1/4 bbl of KBS until the other bars had run out before they tapped it to be "the only one in town with KBS". So these things do happen.