Beer Trading

I've never had the chance to try Pliny the Elder, just saying....hint hint, wink wink

Woah -realized i went rogue on the thread i started. I've started trading a bit, it can be a pain in the ass, but works to get access to things in areas you cant. What questions you got about trading?

Beer trading started out as a way to try beer and styles of beer not available in your distribution map. Beer forums got the buzz going and the madness quickly commenced. Specifically Dark Lord and the subsequent imperial stout race between Darkness, Kate the Great, and their imitators fueled the trading frenzy. A few specific items would be agreed upon i.e. Dark Lord and Dreadnaught for Russian River Temptation and Pliny. The rest of the box would be filled out with "extras" which were usually locals. That's the first time I tried Alpha King and Gumballhead, as extras. There's so many big stouts on the market these days it's more likely you can find a close approximation in your local bottle shop. Big IPA's were also part of that early wave with Pliny the Elder being the first widely renowned and well known. Now you can find great IPA's everywhere. No kidding, there's at least 10 high quality DIPA's on draft here in Portland on a regular basis from local breweries that I consider as enjoyable as PtE, and Hop Stoopid is $4 a bomber and distributed all over the US. Couple that with questionable package handling and variable temperature swings when shipped and I have zero interest in trading for something as temperamental as a delicately hopped IPA.

The scene the past few years is mostly limited new releases with tons of hype (to increase "value") and rare lambic. Everybody is seemingly trying to win the trade and the community aspect is mostly gone. If you're in the game for a while you'll likely gain contacts around the country but initially it's a bit more of a mine field.
Aside from that there's sites like mybeercellar where you can sell the dusty bottles from your local corner store to noobs who don't know any better.

Multi-bottle wine shoppers make shipping easier and a FedEx account allows you to set the weight of the package to whatever you like and save some dough if you don't mind fudging some numbers. Shipping alcohol across state lines is a federal crime without a license so you'll have to lie about what's in the box. There was a prevailing mindset that USPS might file charges if caught while FedEx and UPS would simply return to sender. Don't know if that's actually true, but the threat of prosecution was enough for me to avoid using the post office.

Anymore there's so much beer available it's hard to justify trading. Just 5-6 years ago Portsmouth and Upright were the only two breweries in America brewing Gose and they were only available on site at their brewery. Now Sierra Nevada and Anderson Valley package Gose in six packs and ship it virtually everywhere. For that matter, real authentic German Gose is still available at most decently stocked bottle shops. Give trading a try if you like, but anything you get from the other side of the country will probably be no better than what you have locally. Also, so many of the American versions of European classics aren't any better. Rochefort, Duvel, Weihenstephaner, Ayinger, Orval, Andechs, Fantome...those are readily available. Stay on your toes and you can find good lambic like Tilquin, Drie Fonteinen, or even Cantillon if you're vigilant and form a relationship with a bottle shop. Those were the first "sours" and are in my opinion the best barometer to gauge an American sour beer by. So many of the American versions are barely a few years removed from concept while the Belgian masters grew up helping their dads and grandpas make the stuff. That authenticity isn't there when a young entrepreneur who just quit his/her corporate job a couple years ago after home brewing for a year opens their own brewery.

I've rambled a bit here, hope some of it is useful. Now I need a breakfast beer!

Beer isn't that hard to make. With the more sophisticated brewing equipment and information available in the 21st century it's become increasingly easier to simply setup shop and brew a bunch of beer based on well known recipes that are big sellers like IPA, stout, and newly popular Berliner weisse. It's increasingly a copycat market and Berliners are a prime example. A few breweries were on the cutting edge in developing the American version of this German classic and within a couple years it was everywhere. Better yet, it was cheap to produce. One brewery here even went as far as to call it "Cha-Ching" since it was such a cash cow. Not necessarily a bad thing though, since the beer produced is generally quite good. It's become a lot easier to drink local and not be underwhelmed. Even when I visit my parents in a relative beer wasteland like Tennessee. I'm constantly surprised how much better their beer has become.

100% agree here - I find myself just trading cost for cost - solely to try things I cant get in my distribution. I've lined up solid trading partners to help with this. We basically just send things we can't get, at random times. 

Northeast style IPAs (hazy, juicy and citrusy) are the hot new thing among craft breweries here in the Twin Cities.  I quite like them.  Kind of a nice departure from the more piney, resiny West Coast IPA style.  What other styles are folks seeing around?  Any thoughts on what the next craft brew trend will be?

The proliferation of Gose style beers is surprising to me.  It's definitely something different, I just didn't think there would be much of a demand for a salted sour beer.  

Last week I had a smoked sour from a local brewery.  It was interesting.  My wife said it tasted like Chloroseptic.  I liked it, but I'm not sure I'd want to drink a six pack of it. 

EDIT:
I should clarify.  NE IPAs have been around these parts for awhile.  It just seems like every brewery is making one now.  They are pricy though.  They don't give them hops away!

Funny, I've been drinking a lot of Gose recently. But I like the contrast of super low hops and the sourness. I also like most sour Trappists and worked in Germany for a handful of years, so I'm probably outside of the normal Dallas beer drinker. But nice to have the choice. Now if someone would make a decent Kölsch...

Good effing luck with that.

I have been bemoaning the lack of quality Kolsch here in the states for the 15+ years I was fortunate enough to spend some time in Cologne. 

The bar we were drinking in was right across the street from the club we were going to and it was packed (in downtown Cologne, KOMPAKT sponsored the show).  Anyways, the most prominent drinks being served were Caihprina's and Kolsch.  The wait staff got no rest that evening.  Muddle muddle muddle, pour pour pour.

Sounds wonderful.  Never been outside of the Outer Banks.

Proper glassware as well I presume?

Always proper glassware.


www.oldemeckbrew.com/brauhaus/

The Kolsch isn't currently on their website for some reason. (not just because of season, just not on there at all)

You chose...wisely. Tickers gonna tick but that case of EC is the gift that keeps on giving! Invited to a holiday party? Bring bourbon, you’ll (literally) be the toast of the party.

Beer is like training wheels for bourbon, once you get a taste for it, there’s no turning back. For some reason I’ve never considered getting a whole case of bourbon I really liked. Moving back to Tennessee and already looking forward to a trip up north for the bourbon trail. Might just nab a case of something cask strength. Admittedly I’m not a high roller, but a truly great $50 bottle is a thing of beauty.

Best experience I’ve had with bourbon was at a holiday party for my wife’s work. The open bar had a single barrel Knob Creek that was absolutely nuts! An ass of myself was made and words were slurred beyond comprehension. I’ve had single barrel KC multiple times since, doesn’t live up to the memory though.

And to keep this on track with the beer thread, I’ve sampled Utopias. It wasn’t even top 50 beers I’ve ever had, don’t remember it all that well tbh. Would happily use it as trade bait for tasty bourbon if I had my own bottle.