Goose Island Bourbon County Stout Massachusetts - Sightings!

Anybody heard anything about Coffee & Cherry in MA? I know I should probably be patient after how long it took for regular BCBS to appear...ugh

The GI rep I talked to a few weeks ago told me January. But who knows..

Cherry is pretty much everywhere else in New England. I picked up a bottle in Maine last week. They aren't expecting coffee up there for another couple weeks. Given they saw BCBS about 2 weeks before MA, maybe we see cherry sometime in the next 2-4 week? Total guess, but you have to figure it's in the warehouses.

Strangely enough, a couple of the staff at Blanchard's said the coffee / wild card variants of BCBS had came around summer. They were probably thinking of something else or last year's shipment (which still doesn't make that much sense).

I find that most of the time workers at big stores will say whatever is takes to get you stop asking questions. When I was calling about BCBS in early October, an employee told me he thought they had it, but it was reserved for people. However, he couldn't tell me for sure as his manager was on vacation. Turns out it was BS.

Coffee/Bramble came late February/March of this year, so I'd guess that's what they were thinking of. Lolita came a few months back too, and that's made of fruit? Grasping at straws.

BTW - it wasn't Blanchards that gave me the wrong info. Another store in that general area...

I've found a store that's willing to sell the normal BCBS by the case, they've got 7 or 8
I'm still debating whether to cough up the dough to get a full case even though I've already amassed half a case... (I've had a '12 BCBS and tried coffee BCBS and found the latter much more desirable)

FWIW, they plan on making BCBS a year round beer. We saw a healthy amount of 2012, and should only continue to see more of it to the point that it is soon permanently available. Point being, I don't think you need to hoard unless you really want to drink the liquid diabetes that is BCBS on a regular basis...

It sounds like Cherry is going to be in very limited quantities in MA, at least from my distributor. I didn't get a case count on the Coffee, however I got the impression that Coffee would be more available than the Cherry Rye. Granted, I'm making assumptions based on a phone conversation.

Not surprised - this seems to be how it was in other areas, Chicago included. Cherry is very limited compared to Coffee.

Did they give you any ETA?

No ETA... they never seem to give one until it's already showing up in stores. While I do love the Goose Island brand, the way AB distributors handle the product leaves much to be desired. We had 7 cases of the Belgian line jammed down our throat when we asked for our regular Bourbon County. I'm scared they may ask for a minority stake in our store when we ask for Cherry and Coffee.

BCBS still on tap at Saus in Faneuil Hall, although not much left in in keg (fries are awesome)

4 packs on the shelf at harringtons in Chelmsford. $24.99

McAloons in North Andover still had some on Wednesday. Looked like 2 cases left. They also had some of the Madame Rose.

BCBCS hit Maine yesterday. Snagged two bottles while home for the holidays. Keep your eyes open in the Boston area - could be anytime now.

Kappys in Falmouth got some. Only selling one bottle per person apparently.

Pemberton on Mass Ave. has a whole stand of Goose Island, including BCBS.

Regular (and fresh-bottled in November) BCBS is at Wines and More in Mansfield, it is behind the counter. They had about a case on Wednesday.

This will be available real soon or perhaps even now if you try hard enough. My store got a small shipment in, but we are waiting on a slight pricing change before it hits the shelves.

Luke's Liquors in Rockland - about a month ago
Bin Ends in Braintree - I cleaned out the last 2 bottles on Monday (sorry)

We might want to differentiate between where there's still BCBS on shelves, and where the variants (coffee and cherry) have finally surfaced in MA.

I'd suggest just starting a new thread for the variants, but practically speaking, the variants aren't even going to hit shelves, as stock will be tiny and reserved/hidden/backroomed. And even if they do hit shelves, by the time they are announced on BA they will be gone before you can get to the store.

No need for another thread. Just that when someone posts about a few bottles left in Location A, it might be helpful to know which ones those are.

On tap at Prezo in Milford, Mass. last night.

Judging by the reports I have heard from distributors, I would call your favorite beer guy and ask to be put on the list. Better to be proactive than complaining on the boards a few weeks later.

Grabbed a coffee bomber last week at Pop's in Easton, $14.99, as well as a Night Stalker for $11.99. There was one or two more each, couldn't tell you if they lasted. Also was a Bolt Cutter for $25 (yikes!) that's been there a couple weeks.

Liquor world in franklin had quite a bit of regular bcbs and what looked like a case of coffee at 13.99/bomber (not sure about the regular).. No cherry though

Old Colony in Quincy has a about 20 bottles of the bcbs in the shelves, for sale by the single for about $7

At that price just drive to RI...

Honestly, this is the biggest "Cloak and Dagger" release of beer I've seen since getting involved in the hobby.

Julio's still has received none (talking BCBCS) and they don't expect to get much at all. Meanwhile small stores (and some large ones) have the Coffee Stout popping up across the south shore. When it does appear (as you would guess) it's gone rather quickly and no-one seems to be seeing more than a case.

Meanwhile the regular BCBS continues to re-appear across the South Shore too (Wines & More Mansfield).

Supposedly, Coffee is hitting Boston proper this week.

If the coffee stout has been this much of a fiasco, I can't imagine what the Cherry Rye will be like (now rumored to be end of January)

I know the "grassy knoll" crowd and the "evil corporation" crowds will screech "ABInBev!! Man, they're hiding under my bed!! but there has to be more to the story than that. Especially, given how much of this beer landed everywhere else (like Maine as a small market and New York as a large one).

Anyway, landed a bottle of coffee to drink eventually, god knows if I'll see the Cherry Rye! Oh, well it's just beer, bring on the KBS games after all they're just around the corner and Goose Island will make that release look easy!

Liquor World in Cambridge also got BCBCS last week (I assume a case) and burned through it in about 4 hours. Plenty of Night Stalker as well. Only place in Boston area proper I know that's gotten any yet.

Yeah ugh I missed it by about 10 minutes. Stupid Boston traffic.

went in at like 6 and it was all gone. of course, my friend goes at about 9 pm, asks the dude, and turns out they had been mistakenly holding the last one for someone, so they sold it to him. some people have all the luck!

Any place in the Boston area still with regular BCBS on shelves?

Try giving Liquor Land on Mass Ave a call, 617-445-0560. They had some last Friday.

Any places in MA or RI still have regular BCBS available?

Harringtons had 3 4 packs on the shelf last time I was there

Honestly there is no reason to gO crazy to get it. This will be year round very soon. AB has seen the $$ and will invest heavily in GI to maximize profits. Hence the plan to grow them from like 100k barrels to 1MM barrels over several years, distribute them nationwide, and make those hard to get releases year round. I will admit that goose island would have had a tough time to do it on their own, but what they did up until the sellout was down out of passion, what is down now will be done for profit