FIB War Room

[adipocere]

Waste of ******* time. My cousin in AZ had the 2015 regular a week ago already.

 

[dgoogle]

Does anyone know what Beer Temple's allotment was this morning?

 

[stxSS07]

Local wanted $17/bottle. Nooooooooope.

 

[trickytunadicky]

Hit two Binny's. Got nothing other than regular, barleywine and coffee. Did not go further than a few miles from my house and did not get up any earlier than I get up most week days. I am okay with all of this.

 

[tag1]

Got to LP Binny's at 715am. Number 736. Full allotment plus 1 bottle each of 2012 BCBS and 2014 BCBCS.

hey guys just in front of us! we got there around the same time, #742. it turns out getting there early was totally unnecessary, full allotments could be had at LP until noon.

 

[trickytunadicky]

hey guys just in front of us! we got there around the same time, #742. it turns out getting there early was totally unnecessary, full allotments could be had at LP until noon.

7:15 yesterday?

 

[tag1]

7:15 yesterday?

helllllllll no! 7:15 this morning

 

[tag1]

My Dad snagged a Regal for $17.99 at the Oak Brook CostCo

That is the first time I have heard of variants at Costco. Did they have any others? Also, $18 is a killer price

 

[SecretSquirrel]

Local wanted $17/bottle. Nooooooooope.

where?

 

[stxSS07]

where?

Cardinal.

 

[Gonzoillini1]

Black Friday War Story

LT and myself arrived at LP Binnys at 2:45 AM and promptly met up with some local friends (same folks who saw Holland gently caress my father's head the evening before at Beer Bistro)

and lurchingbeast at the corner of Marcey & Wisconsin (we ended up being #415-420 or so). It was cold, rainy, and most of all windy which was awful with the first two conditions.

Ended up getting tickets around 8:00am ish, and then got inside Binnys about 10:15ish, and was processed by 10:25 in order to make it over to the tasting at Clybourn for 10:00 am.

Thought everything was better at Beer Bistro than it was at FOBAB, and it was better at just below room temp at Clybourn than it was cold from Beer Bistro. I'm getting more iffy on this year's coffee as I'm getting a fair bit of green pepper already, but Prop has tasted better every time I've had it.

The Prop keg at 1:00pm was oversold at Clybourn, but Erica came out and comped folks who missed out with bottles of Regal Rye & Coffee which was a greatly appreciated gesture after cold / wind / sleep deprivation. Left about 2:000pm but hear that the FatPour event is a good time.

In all honesty we were 50/50 on leaving about 45 minutes into the evening, but I'm glad we stuck it out (As long as I dont' get pneumonia from the cold I've been fighting). Will be back again next year around the same time with the same game plan and better preparations for weather (which I still hope is awful as if the weather was good I shudder to think how long the line would have been when we arrived).

 

[LSMroz]

In FL for the holiday. Spent the whole morning (1yo woke up at 5:30a EST) and afternoon watching the kids while wife/mother in law/aunt went BF shopping and then got mani/pedi's. They got back at 4:30p. I drove to ABC and walked out with 6 bottles of reg ($9.99) and 6 bottles of BW ($11.99). Chicago really is the wurst.

 

[Unbreakabolt]

Sad I had to leave and miss the Black Friday madness to attend a wedding in Iowa. Will have to trade for some bottles when I get back from vt in December but no regrets. Drinking a $10 bottle of Anna with my turkey last night made me sad for everyone paying over $1 an ounce for adjunct stouts.

 

[Ckozl]

Honestly this Black Friday was not madness. Despite the line at LP if you really wanted variants you could have had them just about anywhere.

LP let people go back through a 2nd time till allotments were gone.
Walgreens Bucktown let people through 3-4x before everything was gone
Some Jewel locations had very nice allotments including the one on Southport. Well run event with a free taste of prop to boot.

GI event at Timmy O'Tooles downtown was awesome and not overwhelming.

Could go on and on. Usually you guys see a 2nd wave so I'm sure there will be more to come.

Cheers all. I need to pass out now. May stop up at Stout tomorrow to chill if anyone's around

 

[BobCobb1]

Partially struck out at Binny's Lakeview earlier. Nearly the same spot as last year (60-70) despite being 30-40 minutes earlier (around 5:15). No Regal Rye or Rare, so probably missed my only shot there. Will show up around 9AM at LP Binny's next year and see if I get a ticket. Recalling the folks ahead of me at Lakeview lamenting the situation at LP and how they bailed. Ouch.

Regular is amazing this year.

Vanilla Rye keeps getting better. Would not trade it for Rare unless I could arbitrage the hell out of it for VR+more VR.

 

[adhdjon]

Regular is amazing this year.

Vanilla Rye keeps getting better. Would not trade it for Rare unless I could arbitrage the hell out of it for VR+more VR.

I agree with this opinion. Thought regular was the best in years...much better than the '14 which had a strong fruity note in the base beer. I had Rare on draft at GI, and it was amazing. Tobacco up front, tons of complex dark fruits, and deep barrel. But I have a hard time taking that Rare cock at $3.85/oz. It feels like diminishing returns, because regular is just that good this year and was pretty easy to find in the city and was way cheaper. I feel like Rare is going to be around on draft and at events, and that's where my sweet spot is. But it might be worth just for the trade value? Dunno.

 

[lb304854]

Fatpour was so ******* awesome. Bottles of Rare, Vanilla Rye, and Bramble lasted HOURS. I think I had 3 glasses of Prop over the course of the evening. More cofffee than I knew I could drink. And the hottest waitresses in town.

Gawd Damn.

 

[Treebs]

I retract my previous statement about not liking this year's regular as much as previous years. That pour I had at Rare Day must have been filtered through JEG's *******. Had a 2012 vs. 2015 side by side last night. Both awesome in their own way. 2015 is straight fudgy sex right now.

 

[middlebrow]

Maybe I'm getting old and jaded, but regular BCS was the best beer they released this year. Probably my least favorite coffee, barleywine, prop & berry thang. I won't count rare because it's like chocolate oak whiskey and doesn't really compare to anything.

Also was the barleywine always made with 30% fresh barrels?

 

[trickytunadicky]

Maybe I'm getting old and jaded, but regular BCS was the best beer they released this year. Probably my least favorite coffee, barleywine, prop & berry thang. I won't count rare because it's like chocolate oak whiskey and doesn't really compare to anything.

Also was the barleywine always made with 30% fresh barrels?

Yes. It's still super dark amd doesn't taste much like KH.

 

[daniel1]

Had a few regulars on tap at Nellie's with a Reuben. Got there at opening to a line of about 20 people. They had bottles of all variants and they were gone in five minutes. I guess they were selling them to go as I saw the majority of people clutching (and then leaving with) multiple unopened bottles as if they were newborns. Apparently people don't drink beer at bars anymore, either?

Met up with gtx281 who sucks at beer since he actually opened and shared his Rare there. Chris, you're doing it wrong.

 

[BobCobb1]

Had a few regulars on tap at Nellie's with a Reuben. Got there at opening to a line of about 20 people. They had bottles of all variants and they were gone in five minutes. I guess they were selling them to go as I saw the majority of people clutching (and then leaving with) multiple unopened bottles as if they were newborns. Apparently people don't drink beer at bars anymore, either?

Met up with gtx281 who sucks at beer since he actually opened and shared his Rare there. Chris, you're doing it wrong.

Yeah, buddy and I went just after open and had some regular on tap and food. Watched the scavenger hunt take place at the bar. Waitress took our order for bottles right after open, but she was new and unaware of what was going on, so we missed out there.

I don't understand Nellie's thinking at all though. Why in the hell are they selling these to go? It's essentially asking the collectors to come by and not patronize the bar. Probably will scratch Nellie's off Black Friday bar options unless they keep stuff in-house.

 

[mishuggah]

Fatpour was so ******* awesome. Bottles of Rare, Vanilla Rye, and Bramble lasted HOURS. I think I had 3 glasses of Prop over the course of the evening. More cofffee than I knew I could drink. And the hottest waitresses in town.

Gawd Damn.

Did you want to play with them?

 

[user 306237]

Reading about how easy it was to get BCBS this year, I am, naturally, kicking myself for not even making an effort.

Damn you, hindsight... DAMN YOU!!

 

[gtx281]

Had a few regulars on tap at Nellie's with a Reuben. Got there at opening to a line of about 20 people. They had bottles of all variants and they were gone in five minutes. I guess they were selling them to go as I saw the majority of people clutching (and then leaving with) multiple unopened bottles as if they were newborns. Apparently people don't drink beer at bars anymore, either?

Met up with gtx281 who sucks at beer since he actually opened and shared his Rare there. Chris, you're doing it wrong.

Pretty sure that guy with his own Rare at the next table was in complete shock that we were actually drinking it. Caught him staring like 5 times.

 

[trickytunadicky]

Regular wasn't all that hard to get. Regal Rye seems to have been the hardest to snag overall based on haul photos, and I didn't even bother to try it at FoBAB. Whoops.

 

[Ckozl]

Timmy o toole's downtown still has Regal, BW, BCBCS '14 and a 12-15 vert of regular on tap.

 

[tinypyramids1]

2015 regular bcbs is the best fresh vintage since 2011. like drinking delicious brownie batter.

 

[Scalzo]

I wasnt so big on Regal or any of the varients at Fobab.... but wow, if this isnt perfection in a glass. Then IDK

Not sure if reg is this way but I am picking up some amazing notes of fudge that I havent experienced in a couple years with bcbs... looking forward to trying the others. Thinking ill pop a prop tonight with family.
Bfriday wasnt bad this year as far as allocations were concerned, but **** that rain... ughhh

 

[afternoondelight]

2015 regular bcbs is the best fresh vintage since 2011. like drinking delicious brownie batter.

I haven't had '11 but '15 is certainly better than both '13 and '14.

Edit: Conversely Barleywine is worse than previous years.