Last week I puffed out my chest and crowed about how I received a box of free beer from Schalfly. Among those bottles was one of my favorites: their amazing Reserve 2008 Imperial Stout. I can get the 2010 around here, but the 2008 is all gone. Or so I thought.
I have a buddy who likes to text me when he’s in the beer aisle, asking what I think of certain brews. This Friday he inquired about Schlafly 2008 Imperial Stout and Dragon’s Milk, my two favorite beers, and both hard to find in these parts (probably because I drank them all!). I told him they were awesome and quickly asked where he was shopping – I wanted to check the place out.
Turns out it’s a little hole-in-the wall that happens to be owned by a beer geek. By the time I got there, the Dragon’s Milk was gone, but there were nine (!) bottles of the 2008 Imperial Reserve just sitting there, waiting for a good home. Not wanting to be a douche, I purchased four and left the rest for the next guy.
Of course, I’m hoping that I’m the next guy, as I plan to go back next weekend and snap up a few more. I figure give the others a week and then pounce – that’s fair enough!
It’s been a while since I found a dusty cache of goodies and thought I’d share with you guys and gals (the story, NOT the beer!). I love it when this happens!
What’s the best dusty gem you’ve come across in a strange place?
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Beer & Whiskey Brothers 
I want some of that stout…bad…I have been all about the IPAs for quite some time…but my new mistress is imperial stout…and if you want some DFH 120…a trade could be arranged…and I am a very reasonable man…also…I’d love to see glassware and serving temperatures addressed on your blog…so many people just don’t have a clue what they’re missing.
Temp: warmer is better. Glassware: something fluted.
There – addressed! 🙂
Agreed…but specifics and why would be a great topic…every somebody pours a great beer into a frosted pint glass…I die a little inside…save me.
*every TIME
Okay – you’ve given me a post idea…
Yeah, what’s up with frosted mugs?
Oh…and…found a bottle of Bitches Brew in Boothbay, ME…best day ever.
Nice! Thought it was good. Recall it being smooth and honeyed on the finish.
I have still yet to taste it…cannot wait.
I found 4 bottles of Bitches Brew in a little gas station/beer shop in Waterbury, MA last Christmas. I went in a Walgreens and asked an older lady where I could get beer, she pointed the the gas station. I kinda laughed and said, “no like local beer”, she pointed again. She was right.
That’s awesome!
That reminds me of the BP station in Yellow Springs, OH. I don’t know whether or not this still holds true, but they used to have the best craft beer selection in those parts.
I found a bottle of Ninkasi Total Domination at a C-Store in Wilder, ID. We’re talking tiny town of about 500 people! You never know where craft beer is going to pop up!
How wud u compare it to other Imperial Stouts Jim? Or to something like Flying Dog’s Gonzo Imperial Porter or New Belgium’s 1554 Black Ale (both of which I like– a lot!)
Big whiskey notes on the Schlafly – lots of rich barrely goodness.
Hmmm … this seems to happen to you frequently. I always hear about these great beer finds from craft beer geeks. Still waiting for it to happen to me. Problem for me is that there are about 4 places in town to get good craft beer. And while they do a good job of providing it. They all know their stuff. I highly doubt I’ll find an aged Alaskan Baltic Porter or rows of STBC Creme Brulee just getting dusty somewhere on shelf. I always check little whole in the wall stores and gas stations. Have yet to hit one of those veins of craft beer gold.
Yes, in New Jersey, you’ll often find great craft beers when tilling the garden. They are everywhere. 😉
I did have fun hitting a big beer/wine mart in Fort Collins, Co. this summer. Rows and rows of DFH, Russian River, Victory, etc. Felt like I’d hit craft beer gold. But they likely had healthy selections of those ungettable-to-me beers all the time.
Yes, strolling into a beer Mecca for the the first time is the best. It was like when I was a kid in Iowa and we’d hit a big record store (remember those?) in Chicago – I didn’t know where to start!
I find places when I travel all the time, but I’m never sure if it’s considered a find for locals.
That said, just this morning, while the rest of the world was freaking out over Founder’s CBS, I wandered over to the grocery store around the corner and purchased the first bottle they unpacked. It’s a regional chain, but every major release over the last six months has inconspicuously appeared at said grocery store. It’s been such a goldmine that I won’t even name it here.
Also, I don’t like to be a douche either and just purchased one bottle.
Nice find, smart to not share, and good for your to not be a douche.
I’d have been a half-douche and gotten at least two. 🙂
You could argue (and you know I love to do that with you, Zac) that the fact you won’t mention the store’s name puts you into genus Beerdouchecus. 😉
Or just a crafty Craftus Erectus…
Make it Geeko…whateverus. Who came up with that annoying infographic and why are we quoting it?
🙂
Jim.
Way to read into his sarcasm, Don. 😦
Way to not read into mine. :]
Nice one, Don.
I might be a douche of another sort, but I don’t think I’m a Beerdouchecus. I only purchased one CBS, although I could have easily taken all the store had to offer. Also, I’m a know-it-all about a lot of things, but I rarely pretend to be a know-it-all when it comes to beer. That said, I do like sours, especially La Folie, bitches!
That’s ok Zac, you can have mine and Jim’s bottles of La Folie
Cool. How many bottles do you have left? Maybe I can send you some home brew in exchange. 😉
It’s Schnucks. Now, all of you go drive there right now and buy what’s left of the CBS.
I had a buddy take off work yesterday and went to every store in search of CBS….we ended up getting two a piece, but stores had a one bottle limit.
Nice. I just work from home most days, allowing me to step out for a few minutes for a beer run now and again.
I liken the discovery of a craft-beer mecca to the feeling I always got when entering one of Chicago’s used book stores–always filled with treasures! (Each such foray of course, was followed by consumption of a Vienna Chicago-style Dog, or a wet Italian Beef sandwich (mmmmm!))
Yup – hidden gems are hidden gems!