The latest incarnation of Goose Island Brewing Company's delectable Bourbon County Brand Stout is now making it's way to distribution. According to the brewery this is just the first of two batches (source), though of course people will still go bonkers trying to lay their hands on some.

“A liquid as dark and dense as a black hole with thick foam the color of a bourbon barrel. One sip has more flavor than your average case of beer.”

Notably, this year's offering clocks in at 14.5% ABV, a slight uptick from the past few years, which may help justify the $6-$10 retail price tag people have reported for a single 12oz bottle.

Of course if you're willing to shell out the big bucks, one eBayer has a 4-pack listed right now... for a whopping $129.99 $99.99.

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Bourbon County, Dark Lord, Eclipse, Tactical Nuclear Penguin, Sink The Bismarck  » US $600.00

Goose Island Bourbon County Bramble Rye Stout » US $29.95

2 Bottles Goose Island Bourbon County COFFEE - 2011 Stout Beer - Very Rare!  » US $89.99

2 Founders KBS stouts 2011 and 2 Bourbon County stouts - 1 coffee, 1 bramble rye » US $102.50

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On 11/11/11, Stone Brewing Co. released the latest ale in their “Vertical Epic” series (see yearly breakdown). Stone launched the series on 02/02/02 and releases a new one annually one month and one day from the previous year.

“As with any good epic, herein lies the promise of larger-than-life experiences, heroics and twists & turns as the adventure unfolds”

The series will end on 12/12/12, the date each beer in the series is intended to be aged until — no doubt a date that will see many an epic vertical consumed.

Today, the first complete (so far) Vertical Epic series beer auction appeared on eBay, with a starting bid of $799.99. Considering the inaugural 2002 release goes for about $300 on occasion, it'll be interesting to see if this one gets any takers.

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Stone Vertical Epic 07.07.07 » US $49.99

2007 Stone Brewing Co. VERTICAL EPIC 07.07.07 Rare Beer 07/07/07 VE » US $50.00

2008 STONE VERTICAL EPIC, VE, 08.08.08, STONE BREWING COLLECTORS » US $50.00

STONE BREWING - EPIC VERTICAL - 1 BOTTLE EACH OF 10.10.10 and 11.11.11 - SEALED! » US $33.99

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Stone Vertical Epic Year-by-Year Breakdown

• 02.02.02 Witbier (7.50% ABV)
• 03.03.03 Belgian Strong Dark Ale (8.50% ABV)
• 04.04.04 Belgian Strong Pale Ale (8.50% ABV)
• 05.05.05 Belgian Strong Dark Ale (8.50% ABV)
• 06.06.06 Belgian Strong Dark Ale (8.66% ABV)
• 07.07.07 Belgian Strong Pale Ale (8.40% ABV)
• 08.08.08 Belgian IPA (8.60% ABV)
• 09.09.09 Belgian Strong Dark Ale (8.60% ABV)
• 10.10.10 Belgian Strong Pale Ale (9.50% ABV)
• 11.11.11 Chile Beer (9.40% ABV)
• 12.12.12 ???

Just like Three Floyds, Firestone Walker is celebrating their 15th anniversary with a blended beer. The new Firestone Walker Fifteen, or XV, is a blend of eight (yes, 8) Firestone Walker beers with 76% barleywine, 19% stout and 5% Imperial IPA — including Parabola. More XV blending details here.

“As a finished beer, XV is alive with amazing complexity and yet it is quite possibly the most integrated and seamless blend yet.”

Below is the first XV to make its way to eBay, which as of this writing has only one bid for $10. As with past FW Anniversary beers, you'll likely see plenty on eBay in the future despite “very limited” availability.

Update : Nov 16, 2011 :: The first auction ended on November 14th at $45.44 with 21 bids, which is about the average per-bottle price on the four auctions so far.

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Firestone Walker - SUCABA, PARABOLA, & XV Anniversary barrel aged beers » US $100.00

Firestone Walker 12th Anniversary - Very Rare! » US $149.99

Firestone Walker 14th Anniversary - Barrel Aged Rare! » US $79.99

Firestone Walker 15 - Anniversary Ale & 2011 Abacus » US $75.00

The Lost Abbey hosted their 5th Annual Barrel Party last night, where each of the 125 guests enjoyed an “intimate evening of rare beers paired with hors d’ oeuvres” — and also received a bottle of “extremely limited” Veritas 010.

“Join us as we once again delve into our legendary barrel archives for a one-of-a-kind exploration into the mysteries of The Oak.”

It's nice to see a few of those guests have already taken the time to write favorable reviews of Thomme's peach-infused wild ale on BeerAdvocate.

One Lost Abbey Barrel Party guest, on the other hand, has already listed his (or her, of course) coveted bottle on eBay...

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Lost Abbey Veritas 007  » US $200.00

Seen here: the columns in front of supreme court.

Please note: I'm not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice.

First off, legal or not, let's take a look at some key parts of the eBay Alcohol policy before you go a set up your first beer auction.

Here's the first sentence…

eBay doesn't allow the sale of alcoholic beverages on its U.S. website, except for pre-approved sales of wine.

Ouch, sucks to be a beer drinker. Yet they go on to say…

We also allow the sale of some collectible containers.

It's this caveat, "collectible containers," that leaves the door open for the massive number of beer auctions appearing on eBay every day.

So what's behind that door? It's a multi-part disclaimer that you'll want to familiarize yourself with. Doing so will help keep you on the right side of the law (or at least eBay policy).

The following disclaimer must be posted word for word in your item description. It must be in the same font size as the rest of the description. Each of the following conditions must be met in order to list alcohol-related collectibles on our website:

1. The value of the item is in the collectible container, not its contents.
2. The container has not been opened and any incidental contents are not intended for consumption.
3. The item is not available at any retail outlet.
4. The seller will take all appropriate steps to ensure that the buyer is of lawful age in the buyer’s and seller's jurisdiction. In general, this is 21 years of age.
5. Both the buyers and sellers ensure that the sale complies with all applicable laws and shipping regulations.

Basically, by putting this disclaimer into your auction description when you sell beer on eBay, what you're "technically" doing (or at least claiming to do) is selling the bottle. And the valuable bottle just happens to have some (potentially delicious) beer inside per the first condition.

The second condition is a mix of objective fact ("the container has not been opened") and subjective perception ("contents are not intended for consumption"). I'm not sure how you're supposed to know what your buyer intends to do with their purchase, but as a seller it must be your position that the contents (i.e. the beer) aren't intended to be used as they were originally intended.

The third condition ("the item is not available at any retail outlet") seems easy enough to prove, but it doesn't seem to be well policed. There are dozens of auctions from breweries like Goose Island, Founders, and Stone for beers that are still available at retail — at least in some markets.

As for the fourth condition ("seller will take all appropriate steps to ensure that the buyer is of lawful age"), I'm not really sure how sellers are supposed to do this, especially considering most sellers don't just happen to be age-verification experts. But alas, that's what you're promising to do when you paste the disclaimer into your beer auction description.

The fifth condition ("the sale complies with all applicable laws and shipping regulations") is the crux of the matter as far as legality is concerned, and basically eBay is passing the buck to you, the buyer or seller, to keep it kosher.

So what's it all mean when you put it together? Two things. First, provided you agree to the "collectible containers" conditions, you can sell beer on eBay without violating their poilicy. Second, and most importantly, at the end of the day it's up to you to determine if it's legal to auction your rare beer (er, collectible containers) on eBay.

Newly Listed Beer Auctions :: more »

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2 Bottles Goose Island Bourbon County COFFEE - 2011 Stout Beer - Very Rare!  » US $89.99

RARE Pre Pro KING'S PUREMALT Quack Beer Tonic » US $24.95

Dogfish Head Epic Porta Marillo rare collaboration beer  » US $39.99

Duff Beer can * homer * the simpsons * RARE collectors item  » US $7.89

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