You guys ever try The "Herc" from Flying Bison? Great local Barleywine. Pick some up whenever I travel to Buffalo!
$8.99 and I'm taking a pass this year. My memory is of an overly hoppy beer for the style. Haven't tried blithering idiot yet because of the price, also $8.99, but I'll hit that before the Bigfoot. Prices have been rising on beers, but I think it's a buyer's market overall.
8.99 a fourpak on da east coast go pats, and indeed there's no tax on alcohol in ma but the five centers will getcha!
I am not a fan of barleywines but I thought I would share a little nugget for people who do like Bigfoot. Archer liquors on archer ave in Chicago has some 2008 or 2009 on its shelves for around $3.40/bottle. Enjoy!
I did 09, 10, 11, 12, and 13. Loved the 09 most and 2nd was 12. All were good, but 10 and 11 weren't as tasty. So funny what a year does to this beer. 13 you would never even think was the same beer as the others.$8.99 in N.H.
Where did you buy it? Cheapest I found last year was $56 and was quoted as high as $65. 15% off seems higher than the case discounts i've seen in the area. PTR has got to be in the mid $40 range as it was $42 two years ago.
my price is $9.99 a four pack...haven't seen it in cases yet. i agree...over-pricing and taking advantage of all us beer drinkers!
My receipt (above) - as noted elsewhere, the UPC/barcode is the same as Narwhal and Hoptimum, so at retailers that scan for pricing rather than use price stickers and ring up manually (they still exist?), it should be the same prices as those beers.
$7.99 4 packs here in Northeastern Illinois, but not Chicago proper. Surprised when I saw the price tag.
I just did a tasting between an 11 and a 13. They were very different. The 11 now tastes more "barleywiney" while the 13 seems hoppier. Gonna pick up a six of the 12 so I can do all three years.
I saw 12 back on the shelf today. I suspect that the distributor is holding back on 13 until 12 is all gone.
Might be that particular retailer. I see them hold on to vintages and put them out when the new one is reintroduced. Just don't see a distro holding on to out of date beer -- then again, nothing surprises me much anymore.
I picked up a single of 11 and 12 last night couldn't find any 13. Hoping to find it soon do I can do a little vertical of them
As much as I know distros can be quirky, I can't imagine one holding on to new stock (marked with the year) until old stock (again, marked with the year) is sold out. I've seen it with seasonals, but not with annuals. Maybe BF just hasn't hit your area -- time to call in SierraNevadaBill.
Huh, I've heard of retailers holding beers and then putting them out a year later, but not distributors. Though, I suppose it is possible. Typically, distributors like to move through inventory quickly and have it out of their warehouses and with a beer like Bigfoot, they can usually find someone who will take anything that may be lingering. My guess is that Bigfoot may just be a little late getting out near you (although, it should be most everywhere by now.) Let me know where you're at and what you local store is in a BM and I'll see if I can figure it out. -Bill
Interesting. I thought they had said that the price was going to stay the same as the 6-packs due to material costs and BF being a loser for them financially.
$9.99 in Davidson NC. Might have been able to find for less, but wanted to get some before it was gone.
$10 here in Sacramento. Seems kind of ridiculous that it's 3.50 cheaper 2000 miles further away from the brewery. Still hoping for an explanation from someone as to how having the same sku for multiple beers is somehow more efficient. Not being snarky here, I just cannot legitimately figure out the advantage.
Happens a lot with Ofest beers from Germany around here. This year it was Spaten 12 packs - it was one of the first to hit my local stores (not just one retailer, so I assume it was the distributor who was holding onto them) and offered at a discount. A few weeks later, the current year showed up. I bit even though I knew they were last year's - they weren't bad, but current year was better.
Spaten hit early here too, but I checked the date codes and found it to be the new stuff. If what you're getting is over a year old, the distro ought to be taken to task -- discount or not. But with Bigfoot, the year is printed plain as day. If the distro is trying to pass that off before he shelves the new stuff he ought to be called out too.
It's mainly because of the chain stores. The distributors/breweries work with the buying team at places like Krogers and Wegmans to get approval for each SKU. If the seasonal beers all have the same UPC code and pricing, the distributor can simply send in Bigfoot when Narwhal runs out rather than having to get approval for a new SKU. Competition for shelf space is brutal, and many places only do "resets" on their coolers every quarter, so any delay in getting your new product to the retailer could potentially mean that you're SOL until they do the next quarterly review. This is also one of the big reasons for the "seasonal creep" that everyone bitches about. The retailers loathe empty shelf placements, so if there's a gap between Celebration and Ruthless there's a chance that some other distributor will come along and offer to fill that empty spot with one of their products instead. When you factor in the short demand window for certain seasonal styles (like pumpkin beers and okctoberfests) you can see why most breweries would rather get the stuff out early.
