addicted to buying beer...

LoL! I really don't want to drink that much...well I mean I do, but I don't

 

Same same here. Fridays are my beer buying days (grocery day).

 

In due time. When you've had enough beers and feel very familiar with the different flavor and aromatic profiles, you will come to the realization that there are some brews that you would like to always have, and others that you would like to have occasionally. Cellaring, beer geekdom/advocacy etc is a journey - enjoy the ride and don't worry too much so long as you're not breaking the bank to fund your hobby. As with all things in life, while there isn't always a guarantee of fulfillment, there is always a guarantee of experience.

 

An actual valid point if you're buying more than you're willing /able to drink trade away the excess

 

I'm not counting the beers I buy just to try different styles revisit styles or just to try a different beer

 

Well then you should invite me over and hire me as your official beer manager

 

This is where the compulsion comes in I want to go to the store and see whats new then I buy way too much when I'm there

 

This.

I made a resolution this year to nearly slash my beer budget to $0 and start enjoying what I have. I used to have a nice tidy cellar of 20-30 very fine brews for special occasions. Then I started working from home and getting those limited releases was easier and I got to know the owners of my bottle shops well, yea then my cellar bloomed to over 200 bottles in less than a year. So now I am going to get my beer fix from a 6 or 12 back of something run of the mill to have occasionally and my home brew. I am spending my money to setup a kegging system and only buy singles of some releases. Unless it's a nice vertical I want to keep going with multiples of (Bigfoot for example, got a 6 year vert with 2 from each year as of now and 4 years with 3 of each). Or just to damn good and cellars so damn well I'll buy a case (Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout... I love this beer so so much).

 

The only cure is to stop going to the store, at least for me. I can stop in with the best intentions....just that 4 pack of Ten Fidy if they have it, nothing else. Walk out 30 minutes later with 4 pack Ten Fidy, 6 pack Lil Sumpin, a mix sixer, and a bomber of Matts Burning Rosids. Then two days later a buddy calls from Wisconsin and says he's coming up and did I still want some New Glarus Serendipity, Belgian Red, and Moon Man.....yes of course I do.

On another note, how long do some of these Hoppy beers last? I got some Hopslam brewed 1/11/14 and have been drinking one a week, I've enjoyed the beer less every time. Is this typical?

 

When I first got into beer couple years ago I was buying anything and everything to try it all. I know what I like and I buy that now. I love Hopslam but I dont need a case of it, So I will buy 2 6 packs and that will last about a month.

 

I had Hopslam last year and really didn't like it. I chocked it up to maybe not being that fresh. This year I had a couple bottles that were a month old and a couple that were one week old. It turns out that I just don't like that beer. Too boozy, too sweet, too expensive.

 

honestly, for me, i just had to stop doing this. and it wasn't easy especially with all these mouth-watering WBAYDN threads i can't seem to stop reading through!! be strong man, be strong!

 

So often I see this kind of action taking place in which so-called beer geeks "buy, buy, buy" and hoard items, even within the industry when buying products from distributors. Never do I see somebody admit that they are wrong for doing so; they never address their problem, because they don't see anything wrong with it. I don't know the reason behind this compulsive urge- it may be for social status or it may be pure alcoholism. Addressing your source is probably the first step towards breaking the habit. It's cool to see somebody admit their faultiness and want to fix it. I've never had a compulsive buying problem. I see it all of the time working in the industry, however. I don't limit anybody, but I typically tell them that hoarding leads to problems down the road (just as you're saying you might have to drink heavily to deplete your hoard). You don't want to do that. The best bit of advice I can give you is stop chasing beer. Missing the Abraxas release doesn't mean anything. If it does, you're probably just an alcoholic. If you really want rare beer, brew for yourself. If for some reason you believe that buying beer that somebody else made makes you special, at least learn about what you're drinking and share it with others without being too aggressive. Chances are (but I may be wrong) that you have no idea what really goes into beer. You probably have great examples of all different barleys, hops, and yeasts. Try to understand what's what. Try to show it to others. The more you know about beer the less you'll drink, because you'll get more out of each sip. The more refined your palate is, the less you'll buy because you actually know what you want and why you want it. You won't need any special releases to find what you appreciate and with that you'll start looking at beers like Hopslam that garner lines out the door and laugh, because Union Jack is more readily available and more juicy and pleasant to the palate. Having two six packs of Hopslam basically means you have no self control and you're looking to impress somebody or brag about what you have somewhere. Once you get past the pissing contest you'll be in the clear. Go buy some silver bullion with the money you're wasting. You can't drink it, it's a wise investment, and you won't have to worry about how fresh it is. You're on the right path.

 

Maybe you can connect with some beer nerds on here and start a tasting group? May help whittle things down, and in the end you may be able to try more. I think there was a tasting group in Denmark (may have the wrong country) that got up to over 10,000 beers.

 

You need to quit, cold turkey, my friend. Find a reason you can hold onto. If money isn't an issue, do it for health reasons, or to make time for other things... family, friends, non-alcohol-related hobbies, etc.

Learn to be more critical of the beers you drink. Is a brewery inconsistent with their beers? Is a style too hoppy/funky/boozy? Stop buying them.

After doing this for awhile, you'll get to a point where you'll know what you actually prefer. Put your beer-blinders on and relax. At the end of the day, you're stocking up on cans and bottles that hold a perishable item. Its okay if you run out of something, they will always make more of it.

Good luck!

 

Solid advice here. Especially about the part about not drinking more.

 

A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind. This one a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away... to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing. Hmph. Adventure. Heh. Excitement. Heh. A Jedi craves not these things. You are reckless. Yoda

I think we all go through this phase to some extent. The light went off for me when I realized I had a bunch of outdated beers in my stash that were nowhere near what the reviews indicated they should be. I mean, I have tried beers and just not liked them, but these were morphed by age into something else entirely. When you start either choking down beer that has gone past prime just because you bought a pantload of it as a "gotta have it" impulse, or end up drain-pouring something expensive? Yeah - that makes it an unjustifiable hit on the wallet regardless of financial circumstances. In general, I now buy what I can drink (and I don't drink a lot) or what I know will hold up to the test of time, and supplement with one or two singles of things to try for the hell of it.

And this is heresy, but after a while? Personally I think a lot of these beers all taste similar, so as the journey continues that field of "gotta haves" narrows itself down pretty substantially. You figure out, eventually, what are your real "gotta haves".

Other than that? Relax. It's beer. They make more.

 

My biggest beer buying habit I need to break is the mix and match six pack, I cannot resist the urge to buy a single of a beer I've never tried that I've read or heard is good. I reason I'm only buying one so it's no big deal, but when I look in my beer fridge/cupboard and see 46 singles of different beers I realize too late that I've gone too I far. I stopped buying for one month and whittled it down to 14, but my next beer trip is Monday....we will see if my will power is still strong?

 

Lol I know the feeling lol but most of the time I'm just window shopping I would suggest buying less ipas as according to other BA's they are only good for at most a month after bottling and more of the stouts , porters, brown ales, and such

 

I'm with Spiral, this is solid. I have seen this taking place for myself. The more I get into the beer itself, the less I drink for the sake of doing it. It becomes more exciting to continually hone the palate as opposed to just drinking beer.