Remember when a 6-pack of beer was $1.79?

You can find some incredible, unexpected things at estate sales: books signed by the author... valuable retro kitchenware... or a completely unopened 6-pack of Billy Beer in a cold, dank basement.

That's exactly what I found recently in Whitesboro... and I just had to have it. It even had the original price tag... only $1.79! 

Of course, I paid a little more than that. Twelve bucks, which I still thought was a bargain. You often see cans of Billy Beer at flea markets and antique shops, but they're usually empty. To have a complete, unopened 6-pack with the plastic rings and the original price tag... there's no way it wasn't coming home with me.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF BILLY BEER

Billy Beer was a fixture in the beer aisles in the late 1970s. Billy Carter -- President Jimmy's black sheep brother and a man who spent much of his adult life sloshed -- proudly lent his name to the brand.

The beer itself was brewed by four different breweries during its brief run, one of which was Utica's own F.X. Matt Brewing Company, formerly known as West End Brewing Company. But Billy's name recognition dwindled with every bender and by 1979 his beer all but disappeared from the shelves.

SO... WOULD YOU DRINK IT?

I'm considering cracking these babies open during my bachelor party next year. Because believe it or not... it's not the first time I've consumed a 40+ year-old Billy Beer. I found a lone one at the Bouckville Antique Show in 2022, and you better believe I drank that s&%$.

Believe it or not, it wasn't as bad as you'd think! But by the same token... it definitely wasn't good.

Remember: you never know what you're gonna find at an estate sale!