Every year on Black Friday one of the most anticipated beers in the country is released, Goose Island’s Bourbon County Brand Stout, or simply BCBS. Most die-hard beer geeks know of the release and discussion forums are pretty much taken over by BCBS searches, sightings, and trade requests for a week or so around the release. The beer comes in many variants as well; including the base BCBS stout, Coffee, Regal Rye, Proprietor’s (Chicago area only), and Rare – even though Goose Island’s Brewmaster said just last year they wouldn’t release a beer called Rare again. Pricing ranges from about $9.99 for BCBS up to a whopping $59.99 for Rare, with some people paying as much as $89.99 for that variant.

Very few beers create more buzz in the industry. Some fans camp out overnight (or longer) for the chance to get some and several shops limit the purchase to one bottle per customer. To add to the drama this year there was a mix-up in the version of the beer sent to Georgia. We have a 14% ABV cap here and Goose Island blended two versions of the stout, one coming in at 14.3% (which is too much for us delicate Georgians to handle) and another at 13.7% that goes to states like ours. Apparently Goose Island accidentally sent Georgia the higher ABV version and just days before the release announced it all had to be returned to the brewery. Beer geeks went crazy, stores and bars had to cancel or revamp release events, distributors scrambled and apologized, and we damn near had another Civil War over this snafu. However the beer gods were watching over us and some of the 13.7% version was “found” and shipped to us in time for everyone to totally lose their shit on Friday morning. Whew. So is the beer worth the hype? Doubtful, but it is an amazing beer and few barrel-aged stout fans would disagree. It’s earned a 100 rating on BeerAdvocate.com and even our weak 13.7% version is rated a 4.67/5 by Untappd users.

The real rub with this beer is many people believe you’re hurting craft beer by purchasing it. Goose Island was acquired by Big Beer powerhouse AB InBev in 2011 so the profits from the sale of BCBS go to a huge corporate entity as opposed to a local craft brewery. There have been several discussion and debates about whether or not this is bad for craft beer. On one side fans of the beer say it’s a great beer and you shouldn’t avoid something you enjoy simply because the parent company is a huge corporation; on the other side of the argument many people mention that AB InBev is bad for craft brewers whether through their aggressive acquisition of breweries, their anti-craft beer marketing campaigns, or even through the control they (or their distributors) hold over some politicians due to their huge lobbying budget – something we saw first hand in Georgia this year with SB63.

Several of Goose Island’s employees have mentioned in interviews that the purchase by AB InBev has been good for them. They say AB InBev has been very hands-off since the acquisition, but available for consultation when they are needed. It’s also reported that wages are better, there is more money to support local community festivals and fundraisers, and they have more access to hops and malts than ever before. Brewing of some of their standard offerings like Goose IPA and Honker’s Ale has moved to AB InBev breweries, allowing Goose Island’s Chicago brewery to focus on beers like BCBS, Sofie (Farmhouse Ale), and Matilda (Belgian Strong Pale). By all internal accounts they are operating much the same way they did before the acquisition, with the bulk of the money going back into the brewery and local community.

So therein lies the dilemma. Goose Island is still operating as a local craft brewery and creating jobs in their local community, as well as brewing more of the beers like BCBS that people want. However the profits from the brewery do line the huge coffers of AB InBev, giving them more power and control over the industry. There’s also the fact that the hype this beer creates exposes more people to craft beer. If someone sees all the buzz created by BCBS they may choose to try some, and if they like it that could lead them to trying other craft/local beers. Whether this whole mess is good or bad for craft beer depends on how you look at it.

Personally I decided to avoid the madness this year and not even look for BCBS, but I did get a pour of the coffee stout and barleywine when I met some friends at a local bar. Several Georgia breweries are releasing beers this week (list below) and I’ve decided to hit them up instead. I’m still firmly on the fence as to whether supporting breweries like Goose Island is bad for craft beer, it’s really not a cut-and-dry situation, I think I’ll have another pint while I ponder this some more.

Get your fix with these Georgia beers releasing soon: