Philly BCBS 2017

Just left Capone's which is pretty packed. Northwoods is NICE! Definitely going to age well.

 

Great event at Capones. Northwoods, Coffee plus older vintages. Great stuff.

 

Man I totally misread his posting, I definitely would have gone over today. The black friday event makes me nostalgic though haha.

 

Sent my wife over who was working from home and she picked up 4, don't think I am going to head out Friday morning now for the variants.

 

Agreed. Thought northwoods was good and far less artificial than I anticipated.

 

CJ's Doghouse in Lansdale will be selling their bottles Friday:

 

When does that go on sale?

 

Just picked up a case of coffee from a place in Boyertown. They had no idea what they sold me.

 

Rader's?

 

This is from Shangy's (Emmaus, PA) FB page:

Come to Shangy’s this Black Friday for an array of Barrel Aged BIG beers like you’ve never seen before...

ALL VERY LIMITED. We will not release until 11/24 @9A.

Alltech Bourbon Barrel Stout 2017
Anderson Valley Wild Turkey Bourbon Barrel Stout
Avery Brewing Nuttiest Professor 2017
Avery Brewing Tweak 2016
Avery Brewing Tweak 2017
Avery Uncle Jacob’s Stout 2016
Avery Brewing Vanilla Bean Stout 2017
Avery Brewing Xolotl 2016
Bell’s Brewery Black Note Stout 2016
Bell’s Brewery Black Note Stout 2017
Dogfish Head Craft World Wide Stout 2016
Dogfish Head Oak-Aged Vanilla World Wide Stout
Fegley’s Bourbon Barrel Imperial Coffee Stout 2017
Founders Brewing Backwoods Bastard 2017
Founders Brewing KBS 2016
Founders Brewing KBS 2017
Free Will Brewing Ralphius 2016
Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout 2014
Goose Island Bourbon Brand Coffee Stout 2014
Goose Island Bourbon Brand Barleywine 2014
Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout 2015
Goose Island Bourbon Brand Barleywine 2015
Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout 2016
Goose Island Bourbon Brand Barleywine 2016
Goose Island Bourbon Brand Stout 2017
Goose Island Bourbon Brand Barleywine 2017
Hardywood Park Bourbon Sidamo Coffee Stout 17
Nebraska Barrel Aged Fat Head Barleywine Aged in Whiskey 2015
New Holland Brewing Dragon’s Milk 2017
New Holland Dragon's Milk Reserve Mocha Mint 17
North Coast Brewing Bourbon Barrel Aged Old Rasputin XX 2017
Oskar Blues Barrel-Aged Ten Fidy 2017
Sierra Nevada Brewing Trip In the Woods: Barrel Aged Cocoa Coconut Narwhal 2017
Southern Tier Brewing Barrel Works Series: Monstrosus 2017
Terrapin Beer Ales From The Wood: Richland Reserve Volume 2 2017
Thirsty Dog Brewing Siberian Night Bourbon Barrel Aged Siberian Night 2016
Thirsty Dog Brewing Wulver 2016
Victory Brewing Java Cask 2017
Weyerbacher Brewing Sunday Morning Stout 2017
Wicked Weed Brewing Dark Age 2017

 

They typically have a black Friday opening release.

 

I'm a stranger in a strange land this weekend, a Virginian in Havertown for Turkey Day. Can't drive out to Exton or Emmaus to stand on line, anyone know of something closer by that is getting BCBS?

 

Debating on waiting in line at wegmans tomorrow. Would getting there at 630 be a safe bet?

 

Yeah so... did they have more?!

 

Anyone else get their hopes up for the State Line sale only to be let down by terrible mismanagement? I'm glad it's only beer, because wow... they sent an email out asking customers to email them to reserve regular, Northwoods, and Coffee, probably took way too many orders, were incommunicado for some customers and told others they would get back to them yesterday (and didn't), and are now reviewing customer history in order to determine who gets what (and getting a lot less than they ordered, if anything). It's like they set it up without the slightest plan lol, definitely won't be returning back there in the future.

 

Wegmans Nazareth gets quite a selection in all week long. FYI

 

Only had the funds for a couple of bottles this year but had no issues filling that quota at Springfield distributor on Washington. $14 for regular and $18 for variants, steep but typical for Philly. There was absolutely nobody there waiting but they did have a list of people who had reserved their's. At first I asked for 1 regular and 1 coffee and the cashier told me no coffee if I hadn't reserved it so I asked for barleywine instead. He rang that up as 1 case each and I had to correct him but it seems like they have enough to spare. Once he realized I meant bottles he was willing to part with a single bottle of coffee. First time I've managed to get it in 5 years of black Friday hunts! Small haul but a good day.

 

My hunt for Goose Island Bourbon County Stout on this Black Friday Release day was a quick one. It was great so snag 6 bottle (3 coffee, 2 barleywine and 1 regular) effortlessly, but a slight premium attached this year ~$20 each bottle. The ease of acquisition I attribute it to the followings reasons:

1.) Pennsylvania's deregulation of distributors allowing them to sell increments less than a full case. This allows more people each walk away with one bottle (12 people) rather than requiring them to sell the entire case to one person.
2.) Ability of the market to catch up with similar beers. Uncle Jacob's Stout by Avery is right up there. Since its such a time consuming batch to make it took other companies awhile to produce similar copies.
3.) Increased supply! There had to be way more produced this year compared to last. Judging by what my local Philly distributer had this was way more than his 7 cases last year especially when it came to the variants.
4.) People's dissatisfaction with InBev. I've seen some social media posts of those willing to boycott the release, and I'll also lump in what people call the "fumble" of 2015 where lacto... bacteria snuck into a few batches spoiling them.