Stumbling Upon Hidden Treasures

I was in Bloomington, IN and hit up a grocery store that had a treasure trove of beers. I filled a cart (and emptied my wallet) with goodies like Three Floyds Dreadnaught, Arctic Panzer Wolf, Behemoth, Tilquin Oude Geuze / Quetze, Rodenbach Caracter Rouge, multiple vintages of Rodenbach Grand Cru, and even a Cantillon Geuze 750. The beer manager saw my cart and hooked me up with some additional Three Floyds goodies hidden from display.

The beer manager at my local, regular place is great about stashing random beers on shelves, and I've found Abraxas, DB Jesus, Velvet Merkin and other FW goodies just hanging out.

 

Wow. I would have whipped out the credit card for that one. Probably the biggest whale ever sitting on a shelf!

 

There's an exceptional place in Bardonia that consistently has hidden aged gems. Granted, these aren't whales, but finding 2-4 year old barleywines, IRS's, scotch ales, double bocks, and Belgian Quads is always fantastic. For instance, not the biggest Brooklyn Monster fan, but they were sitting on the shelves from 2011 at $2 a bottle. That's prime right there.

 

I came across a 2014 Stickee Monkee several months after it was initially released. I bought two, as the cashier didn't seem to know/remember that they are usually limited to 1 per person. Later that same store had Dogfish 120 and BCBS out on the shelf, randomly.

 

When I was in Vermont at the Warren Store this summer in July, I picked up my two bottles of Lawson's Super Session IPA and Spruce Tip IPA, was about to leave and then realized I needed some ice to keep my beer cold. I go back in, grab a couple bags of ice and put it on the counter to pay for it. Then to my right, I saw 2 bottles Maple Tripple just sitting by the cashier. I asked what these were doing here (since they were released the week before), and they told me that someone was supposed to pick them up from last week, but never showed to pick them up. They just so happened to put them on the counter right as I walked up to pay for my ice. I asked if they were for sale, and they said yes. So, I ended up buying a bottle and letting the guy behind me buy the other one. Probably the best "stumble upon" ever. Talk about right place, right time!

 

$3 bottle of Fort a few years back that was in a shopping cart for a fire sale, alongside a ton of Barefoot wine. I only bought it because I recognized the label art style because the artist has quite a distinct style.

 

that's the way she goes rickey

 

I went into a liquor store that has Budweiser products only typically, but right next to the Budweiser, I found Cigar City Good Gourd Imperial Pumpkin Ale. Bought a bomber immediately. I asked the clerk if he knew he had it and he said "yeah that craft beer stuff sells well these days." lol