I will be traveling from VA to WA and my first stop is FFF. FFF doesn't have it in stock right now besides on draft so is there any stores in the chicago area that may have it in stock? Thanks fellow BA's Z
I've seen it at Delock's in Dyer and Cask-n-Cellar in Schererville in the past. Both are about 15 from the brewery. If you go to Relocks, make sure you ask if they have any in the cooler. I've seen it sitting in the back and not in the shelves there. Good luck!
Your best bet is to still go to the pub first. I stopped in this past Tuesday about 5ish....sat down, ordered a pint (Permanent Funeral), and assumed there was no Zombie Dust because there was no line at the take out door. Then, noticed that they did in fact have Zombie, so meandered over and asked the friendly at the counter how much they had in stock, and he said about nine more pallets. So, I went back to my stool, had a couple of beers, then bought a couple of cases. Again, no line. Plus, they had Zombie on cask. That's a treat, in my book - definitely different from the normally aspirated version. Maybe it was just good-beer-luck for me on Tuesday; but might be the force will be with you when you stop in, and they release a bunch. I live local, and I can count on one finger the number of times I've seen Zombie Dust for sale at a local bottle shop. Just not normal. See what I did there?
ZD does come out here and is currently in the burbs of Chicago. I don't think anybody gets more than 1 case at a time; but I've seen it at one particular shop at least half a dozen times since the beginning of the year. Just bought a couple bottles last night; singles, for $2.52 after tax. They had one case sitting behind the counter. If it weren't a year round beer, I would have been more excited.
In two plus years of being really into craft beer and searching for it, I have had the opportunity to buy it three times from stores in both the city and the suburbs. Your best bet is to check out stores on twitter or Facebook when they get their deliveries, usually on tuesday or wednesday.