Aging vs Just having extra beer (seasonals)

Of my ~130 beers currently in the cellar or fridge or cabinet, I'd say about 50 are for the purpose of aging, the rest are just surplus!

For me it's a mixture of limited releases that I need to jump on if I want any at all, and stuff I've brought back from trips south of the border. And of course I like to have a few of each of my current favourites on hand. I actually want to buy more of the new local stuff and get more growler fills, but trying to keep up with the new imports has kept me from being able to!

 

In just a year of craft beer drinking
I have approx.300 beers. I am kind of a stout
Hoarder. I need to work on that.

 

You and I sound very similar. I'm up around ~380+. Mostly stouts and sours. I'm trying to dwindle down my cellar, but too many good things come out at once. Of the multiple bottles I have, I try to envision a huge tasting, but it never works out for some reason...lol.

 

You make it sound like cellaring beer is EASY!

 

Same boat except I always drink out of my cellar. Lately though, hop drop n roll has kept me out of there. Then again it was a crappy day at work and I think something good needs to emerge from the depths of my closet.

 

I've got 4 states for my beer: Cellaring, On Deck, In Fridge, In Mouth.

Right now I've got about 225 in Cellar, 10 On Deck, 10 In Fridge, and 1 In Mouth. Promised myself i'd keep my total cellar count under 200 consistently under this year (drink one/cellar one).

Whoops.

 

I like the system! Though I'd go with "in glass" for the last one to prevent choking

 

I find I can release more aroma by pouring the entire bottle into my mouth like a flesh chalice.

 

I have migrated to this approach. Fewer beers I am aging and a lot more beers that are available for a short time that I buy several of so I can enjoy them until the next release. My annual/ not very often release purchases that I can think of: abyss, parabola, sucaba, black butte anniversary, double bastard, arctic devil, stone ris, peche n brett, love buzz, la folie. I usually buy 4-8 of each for year round sipping. Beyond that I have a bunch of sours and random beers I've wanted to try. I used to buy with the intent of verticals and several years of aging. I found I don't do verticals and aging doesn't usually improve (for me) the experience. I no longer have any beers older then 3 years. I have 200 or so beers not because I am aging but because I overbuy at least once every couple weeks. I wish beer was health food. I would be so damn healthy.

 

This basically describes why I have plenty of aged beer. For me, while I like imperial stouts and barleywines and quads and old ales etc.,I cannot drink them as fast as I buy them (seasonal itch purchases). In some cases this has worked to my advantage and in other cases, I have ruined expensive beer.

This year, do to wanting to shed some weight, I was avoiding all 10%+ beers, and so the amount grew. Next year I plan to buy less and hopefully work through this beer beers (which I don't yearn for over the April-September months)