Highly sought after beers from our region?

First off, if you're just getting into things and are trying to snag whales, I think you need to just slow down a bit. You'll get there. Here's a list of the top beers in the region: http://beeradvocate.com/lists/mid-atlantic. I don't trade much, but I'd imagine that the problem with most of that list is that outside of the region, they're probably not all that well known.

Now, I don't know what kind of stuff you're trying to land, but it seems like you're missing the point. If you're trying to land whales and are only willing to ship easily attainable stuff, well, uh, that's just not how it works. If you're just trying to get your feet wet, (and I dk where in PA you are - if you're close to Philly your options are much larger) things like Flower Power, the hoppy Maine Beer Co stuff, and Troegs Nugget Nectar will land you some quality beers.

Ultimately, if you're serious about trading, you need to start putting in more work acquiring beers. Year round beers available on the shelf are not going to land you anything crazy. Depending on where in PA you are, get yourself to a Tired Hands or Voodoo release. Put in some work to grab some BCBS or Russian River stuff in Philly. Take a trip up to VT for Hill Farmstead/Heady/Lawsons, Chicago for FFF/Pipeworks, or even lower New England for NEBC, Jacks Abby, and Tree House. It's these kind of guys that will potentially land you some big guns.

 

Use the search function in the ISO:FT forum. Nugget Nectar won't be out for another month or so, but here's a bunch from last year: http://beeradvocate.com/community/search/29084074/?q=nugget nectar&o=date&c[title_only]=1&c[node]=25

Here's some Flower Power: http://beeradvocate.com/community/search/29084084/?q=flower power&o=date&c[title_only]=1&c[node]=25

It's pretty daunting if you just look through the newest threads b/c it's all big beers you won't ever have, but the trades are definitely there for what you have available. You might not land any Black Tuesday or anything, but you'll get solid beers.

 

Voodoo usually does 2 BA releases a year. You can snag some great trade bait for there BA stuff. I traded some BA Bruery and AleSmith stouts to nab the whole black magick set last year.

 

I used DC Brau Wings. I am seeing Maine Beer Co. flooding the the Balt/ DC metro area. I don't know if their distro has gone national, but you may be able to secure some of that here and trade.

None of these are over 95 on this site except Williamsburg AleWerks, but some beers out of this area that could use some more hyping up: I am seeing improvement in the quality coming out of Port City (alexandria, VA). Port City Porter is their highest rated. Stillwater Artisanal Cellar Door. Williamsburg AleWerks (Cafe Royale, Bitter Valentine). Heavy Seas Siren Noire, Loose Cannon. Blue Mountain Barrel House Dark Hollow. DuClaw Retribution. Sixpoint Resin. Brooklyn Black Ops. Flying Fish Exit 16. Captain Lawrence is very good. Evolution Craft Lot #6 or Rise Up Stout.

I didn't mention Dogfish because that tends to be easy to find except for the 90 Minute IPA. Troegs/ Victory too except the Nugget Nectar, which is absolutely phenomenal.

 

There are tons of beers from PA that are sought after. Troegs Splinter stuff / Nugget Nectar (and good Scratch beers), Gratitude, Voodoo specials, growlers from Tired Hands / Selinsgrove / Pizza Boy, etc etc etc....and that isn't even including the amazing distribution the state gets. Decent Breury stuff, Russian River sours, Bourbon Coutnies, Eclipses, Terrapin offerings, Hopslam in a month or two, Jai Alai, FW stuff, better Founders beers, Maine BC...the list goes on and on.

You have to put things into perspective. If you are gonna want something that is fairly expensive, that someone might have had to put in some work to obtain, or isn't a beer they can just pick up off the shelf any day of the week, you are gonna have to find and offer similar stuff. Sometimes that requires some extra money, or doing some driving.

If you literally just want to try new beers not available to you, you can easily off up fresh (thats key) ipas and other popular styles, that you can pull off the shelf, for those types of beers around the country. There are lots of people interested in doing just the same - its not all about chasing the newest and rarest, and certainly not when you are just getting into trading.

Good luck!

 

You are contradicting yourself when you are seeking highly sought after beers (you mention whales as well) then request beers to trade which are available year round or are widely available.
Rarity begets rarity. No shortcuts. Unless you make it up to greensboro, vt.

 

It really comes down to: 1) money (this shit is not cheap plus expenses such as gas and fedex costs) and also factor in 2)time- time away from everything else you could be doing, time driving to releases, time in line etc. and effort- who wants to wait in line early in the cold, or deal with shitty websites for online releases?