Weaning Myself Off Being a Ticker

It seems to be cyclical from what I've seen. A few beers grows to this mentality of "ticking", then you feel like your life is spinning out if control, then pretty soon your wife has left you and your kids think "Rick" is the coolest Dad ever, because douchebag "Rick" doesn't drink beer and spend their college money on new pilot beers shipped straight from the brewery in Belgium...

Sorry, right, cyclical. All will be fine man, this is totally normal. All you can do is make a conscious effort to tune out the BA white noise hype machine and review your old favorites. Drink wine and cocktails for a month and then come back to the classics is what I've tried to do, and you never appreciate a world class Classic Sierra Nevada pale ale more than when you drink poorly muddled old fashioneds for a few weeks.

 

I'm probably kind of guilty of this too. If it's not something limited then I'm like "eh.."

I don't drink super often though, probably only once a week normally. I guess in my mind I want to make sure I make the most out of each experience.

 

When I travel, I will wear the ticker moniker. Recent travels took me to Seattle and I wanted to try as much local brew as possible. When back home in PA, I drink my regulars unless something new or fun pops up on draft.

In my humble opinion it is OK to be a ticker, and use BA to do a little research. Be a good consumer. Take some chances but also do your own research. Many nights at my local, with a new draft on, I will return to a beer I know and love. Because I want the relaxing qualities, and the confidence that I will enjoy the beer and why I went out in the first place. I went out to have a nice time, enjoy a good brew and have a fun time.

Lastly, there is a reason SN, DFH, Stone and others have made their way to the top. Overall they brew GREAT representations of the styles of beer they produce. And this extends to our friends overseas. There is nothing wrong with brewing a perfect representation of a style of beer. We seek out extremes because we want the next great thing that someone else has not had. But SN Pale Ale, and DFH 60 Minute, and Rochefort 8/10, and St. Bernardus, and Aventinus and countless other perfect representations of the style are readily available and are affordable. That being said trying something new and exciting and rare is a wonderful experience as well.

In the end, IMHO, there is nothing wrong with beer ticking. Just don't forget to enjoy the ride, remember the beers that are always there, always great and will always provide you that satisfaction of a cold one at the end of a long day.

 

I do believe I am lucky to be in a place where we have some decent breweries/brewpubs, as well as a market to get some "imported" beers (crafts from other states/countries), especially on tap. I'd have to say my ratings (without looking) are 60/40 or higher on-tap/draught versus packaged, and the benefit of that is that at many of the craft beer places I can do "tastings". Perhaps there's a more common term for this, but I can satisfy my "ticker" nature with 4oz pours of x beers, and then grab a pint of something I like.

That being said, sometimes I do have to make a conscious decision to order a desirable beer that is usually available, reminding myself that usually is not always, and to enjoy it while I can.

 

I like the travel/trade ticker concept, but at home I enjoy NorCal beers and breweries that have world class beer no matter how many I have imbibed in the past. If I find something new that I enjoy, I will keep purchasing
that beer for a hot minute...ie Bitter Monk this year, could not get enough.

 

This is very true. Many of my unique beers have been in 4/5 ounces tasting sizes. This brings on a whole other debate of bars that allow flights. However I have been the benefactor of those that do as I get to try many beers for a lower volume commitment. Max's in Baltimore being a prime culprit :-).

 

No kidding. Which is why I basically said to stop worrying and to just drink what he wants.

 

I've been there for a while. Have knocked off over 1300 ratings/reviews in 2.5 years. I am slowing down...slowly. It has been tough.

The ONLY thing I have found that has slowed me down, well I might get some flack for. I don't allow myself to buy something if the ratings are even remotely low. This is a tough metric because certain styles garner different ratings. It's hard to find a Kolsch over a 4.0 rating (are there any?), but about 2/3rd of RISes are over 4.0.

If it's a beer I haven't had, I won't buy it unless:

Big, highly rated beers like IS/RIS, Barleywines, Quads and (D)IPAs have to be over 4.15ish

Pale ales, brown ales, witbiers, saisons, regular stouts, just about every other popular style have to be at least 4.0. Exceptions might be made for unique adjuncts, barrel aging, something I think I might enjoy.

Typically poorer rated styles like wheatwines, rye beers, chili beers, dubbels, etc are a little more subjective. Generally depends on how they're rated within their own styles. Or maybe something even a little more unique, such as a particular adjunct (as mentioned above)

Styles that I don't like (sours, smoked beers, etc) have to be extremely superlative for me to bother with them.

Some breweries I will pretty much buy anything from. Such as Founders and Jack's Abby. Even their worst beers are pretty good.

Finally, beers specifically recommended to me by a reputable source.

It has cut my beer buying by at least 50% and made it a lot more manageable. Truth is, I can go into any store and find 20 awesome IPAs so why am I wasting my money on middling stuff - even if it IS something I haven't had before? I've been disappointed by "meh" beers enough times that I'm finding this plan very beneficial.

One final exception, if I have no beers in the cellar and there's nothing awesome and new available, I may lower my standards...rarely though.

Dope

 

Trying new beers is so much fun though.

 

AleSmith, The Bruery, Port/Lost Abbey and Ballast Point are pretty good too.

 

I know that tickers have a bad reputation but you are talking as if you are trying to quit heroin.
Luckily for you this is not the case so relax. If you feel some kind of urge pick up another collecting hobby.
Otherwise pick a loyal brand which you always order with a secondary one in case that they are out of it.
Choose something that is easy to get & reasonably prized. Obviously it should be sufficiently good in order to be a satisfactory option. If you walk into a bar or store just pick up your brand, not having to choose etc. should quill your ticking habit. Someone above mentioned that the breweries Russian River, Firestone Walker, and Sierra Nevada. RR & FW are amongst the best breweries in the world, pick one of those. Sierra should be available everywhere, pick that one as option B.
I for one am a ticker, a way worse than most here (3000+ down), usually I just pick Orval. Pretty much everyone has it, pretty much always incredible. Used to pick Cantillon sometimes still do. Up until now been drinking one Fou’ Foune every week since the release. If I wanted to stop ticking, could just pick Orval as option A or prior Cantillon as option A. Something like Duvel as option B. Despite the idea that tickers don’t ever enjoy beers etc. I do drink Orval quite regularly & recently Fou’ Foune, every time everyone acts like it is the first time since I am ticker.

 

I don't see anything wrong with being a ticker. I still find time for my old standbys.

 

Some Kölsch with 4+ average ratings.
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/7678/13886
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/7631/13933
Personally I have found a good Kölsch to be an outstanding beer if drank in one of the bars in Cologne.
It is fresh, drinks well & some of those bars are quite lovely appearance-wise.
Than again I am probably overrating a wannabe pilsner style.
Some people struggle too much to like it out of respect & whatever which is silly since the modern-day version has nothing to do with what it used to be even 30 years ago.
That being said, some styles do tend to be rated to lowly.

I think that once we have tried most styles & 300+ beers, all of us have clear view of our preferences.
Like I am not a fan of Tripel even if it a high scoring one etc. No worries if I don’t try it. I have had about 10 good Tripel’s, I wouldn’t mind trying again. I have tried 120+ different ones. Most of those good ones were not within the accepted style definitions.

 

I love to try new beers, but I don't think I am a ticker, I am someone who is looking for the maximum experience, and loves to experience with better knowledge and growing skill to enjoy them.

Reviewing new beers helps me enjoy this hobby with increasing happiness. Perhaps ticking does that for you? If so, why stop?

 

I have a bit of OCD, and "ticking" comes and goes. I see it more as, try something new, see if I should change my old standbys, get more exposure. I think this time around it has pretty much run its course, or almost. One way you could help yourself is go to the store and buy something old and something new, and not go back until they are finished (with the exception of something for the cellar). That way you can try new stuff and still stick to your old standbys. If you're in the mood for a SNPA, pick that up, nobody is going to judge you just because you passed on (latest whale release).

Also, since it looks like you haven't reviewed a whole lot, start reviewing, and don't let yourself finish off the six pack without reviewing it. Make sure you review everything "new" and even try to review the "old", for some reason, the act of reviewing calms my OCD tendencies. And for me, it helps my memory so I know if I have had something or want to have it again.

 

It's so alluring . . . a new beer. There's a kind of urgency that comes with this hobby that's difficult to fight off sometimes. I have a cabinet full of beer and a refrigerator door full of beer too. I don't need any more beer but I want more beer. I may have the same problem as you do OP.

 

I resemble that statement.

 

Like heads of animals on the walls and their skins on the floor. In the 90s when lots of folks had more money than sense, wine geeks loaded up on the wine equivalent of modern beer "conquests", paid way too much, let bunches go bad, bragged and gloated, but they got over it, albeit a bit more poor. Aquisitional exuberance. It's an old human story.

 

I would probably tick much less these days if there were less new beers to find and try at my local shops. At some point in most everyone's BA journey, you'll get to sample most of the foreigns and locally distributed US craft beers, but the US craft brewers keep pumping out so many new beers on a very frequent basis, thus fueling the fire of continuing to try new beers (and ticking them). I guess a lot depends on your drinking habits as well. If you drink a lot, you'll be more apt to buy 6-12 packs of favorites to go along with ticking new ones and keeping up. I drink maybe a beer a day avg. so revisiting favorites is usually 1-2 out of a mixed 6 pack is a past favorite and the other 4-5 are new ones to try. This is 700+ beers into the journey for me as well.