I Heart Barley Wine

I love barley wine.

I miss Old Ruffian barley wine.  It disappeared from my local bottle shop a year ago, and I've not seen it anywhere else.

I've been able survive with Real Ale Sisyphus at my local, but it comes in 12 ounce bottles, not bombers like Old Ruffian. (Real Ale self distributes to our town, and keeps us pretty well supplied with barley wine. Naturally, Austin and San Antonio get the first annual release of Sisyphus. Normally, The Great Texas Beer Desert™ lags about a year behind. For example, up until about May or June, I was buying 2009 Sisyphus here in Paradise, up until about may. In Austin, they were only selling 2010 Sisyphus.

I'm not complaining!  I know I will get aged Sisyphus in a few months after all the Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston beer geeks get it.  And I will be able to buy it longer than they will.  I can live with that.

Bu-uutt, last week, I visited Kerrville and San Antonio (both on I-10), and discovered Bigfoot 2011.  Still not here in Paradise.  In fact my local bottle shop tells me Bigfoot doesn't get released until February.

At least, that's what the distributors tell her. And distributors wouldn't lie. . .

How Is This Different than eBay Sales?

Every year, Surly Brewing Company in Minnesota releases Darkness Imperial Stout.  They brewed almost 20,000 bottles this year. Except for one liquor store, the beer retails for less than $20.  Surdyk's, a giant liquor chain in Minneapolis, sold out if it's allocation for $39.99 a bottle, prompting cries of a boycott. I want to know why people are outraged. Go on eBay! I'm sure you can find a bottle for $150!

Seriously, why are people upset about this?  We buy beer from people on eBay at hugely inflated prices without a second thought. Where's the outrage about that?