Epic Beer Haul!

Yesterday I went to Philly with the purpose of buying beer. I didn't mean to have the most insane weekend in personal beer history, but sometimes you have to make the investment if for the long haul, and when scarcity is a problem. It usually takes two, maybe three set-aside cases to convince me to drive down. It only took two big ones this time, and they were both beers that I specifically wanted from the West Coast but were procured in Philly, how's that for distribution? Papier with its fairly small production (4777) seemed like a long shot, but Bella Vista beer distributors had it (by the case of course) and with a seemingly low price tag. Now $12 a bottle isn't cheap. But we are talking about a beautiful wax dipped, individually numbered and foil embossed label. A beer that is 14.5%, aged in a variety of different barrels and will supposedly "age for decades." To put this in perspective, the 500ml North Coast Old Rasputin cost $23 vs. the 750ml $12 Papier. Ah, beer pricing. Not that either one is a particularly better brew (haven't had the Papier yet), just find it kind of odd. The other big gun, well that of course had to be the Ballast Point Sculpin, and talk about living up to the hype. Like Nugget Nectar times 20 is my best descriptor. So crisp and fruity, such beautiful fruit flavors, best IPA ever?
And then bonus cases!
You go with the intention of picking up two, while you are there already, might as well pick up some more? Saw an interesting case at the Beer Yard, where I picked up the Sculpin. Founder's variety pack case: 6x Imperial Stout, 6x Double Trouble, 6x Curmudgeon, and what? 6x KBS? like real KBS? Had to make sure... "is that the real KBS in there?" "yup," immediately.. "I'm getting that." Uh yea, hadn't had KBS, another quintessential beer to pick up, seemingly way past its release date. Lastly, A mix pack of Pretty Things beers from MA rounded out the haul, providing a nice balancing effect to the already explosive selections. Epic...