Cardinal rules of beer

Go for Quality over Quantity....although on certain occasions Quantity over Quality is acceptable.

 

well, when it's mixed with food and seasoning, its character changes a lot. I wouldn't cook with something that has an odd and strong flavor (ex. fruit), though.

 

This is code for "Don't shop at Total Wine."

 

I liked the guidelines except the not supporting places that "hide the good stuff". It's not that it's being hidden. It's to let everyone have a chance to have some and not let one person come in and buy it all.

 

funny, all my rules about drinking beer (and other alcohol) got re-written this past week. I took a week off from drinking after not having any off days in 3 years. While I was drying out I came to some conclusions about beer:

1. drink beer because you want to drink beer, not just because you're thirsty or bored or can't think of anything else to drink. I mowed the lawn Saturday afternoon in 80 degree heat and opted for a big glass of ice water afterward instead of my usual 'Gansett, Genny or Bud and that water was way more refreshing than beer. Find some other (non-alcoholic) beverages you can drink regularly. For me that means Diet Pepsi, flavored sparkling waters or just plain ice water. When you routinely drink other beverages then you will opt for beer because it is the right time for a beer.
2. don't make beer drinking a daily activity. That gets expensive, leads to alcohol dependence and puts you at risk for so many potentially negative family, social and legal consequences. After years of drinking a 6 pack minimum a day my plan is now a 6 pack per week, to be consumed only on weekends. This past weekend I had 2 on Friday evening and 3 on Saturday afternoon (none on Sunday). It is very easy to subscribe to the fallacy that because for centuries Europeans drank beer every day you can too. Life is just too complicated now to sit around drinking every day.
3. think of beer as a food, not a drug. Savor the flavor of a good beer instead of pounding can after can of tasteless (or bad tasting) crap. Mass produced light lagers have only one purpose; to get you buzzed cheaply and easily. if you are drinking less, you can buy the beer you want, not just what is cheap. I regularly have spent $ 40-60/ week on beer per week because I was going through 2 cases a week. I was always trying to figure out how to maximize my beer purchasing power. I even created an excel spreadsheet listing beer prices at various locations with formulas to calculate tax and deposit. If I can stick to my plan I can buy one 6 pack a week (or a couple of bombers) of good stuff so a $ 15 6 pack won't faze me because that's my only expenditure for the week (Hello Sculpin).
4. have other hobbies and interests so your whole life doesn't revolve around beer. Beer is awesome, one of life's great experiences but keep it in perspective. I rarely eat sweets but look forward to a nice dessert on Sunday. I am now trying to think of beer similarly; a special treat to look forward to and really enjoy, not just a daily fix.

 

From what I've seen this isn't always the case. If you want to make sure that everyone gets some, put a limit on how much any one person can buy. Too many places hide stuff in the back room for their "best" customers

Rule #1 - spread the beer around.

 

I have to throw my two cents in here as a retailer on rule #3...
Beer shops are not necessarily keeping the "good stuff" in the back for any reason other than to make sure as many people as possible get a chance to enjoy these rare/allocated goodies. If we put it all out on the shelf, it only takes one greedy wanker and an inattentive register clerk to prevent everyone else from getting a taste. Putting these beers in the back allows us to parse out what stock we do get of these lovelies. I'm sure some bad apples abuse this, but I like to think that most shops don't.

Your rules are great overall, not picking on you.

 

Speaking as someone who's been in more than one Total Wine while traveling in several states I think your restatement needs to be more focused and specific to just the Total Wine where you used to shop.

The Total Wine stores I've visited have a range of ages on some of their beers but very little out of code beer on the shelf. And they are definitely better at having fresh stock than some of the stores I've visited.

 

Excellent rule.

 

Here in NM and in Arizona, an overwhelming number of the beers in the store sit on shelves rather than in coolers. This is most disturbing when this includes large numbers of IPAs. Worse, I regularly find, in both states, beers well beyond their ideal date to drink by. If it's different in PA, consider yourself fortunate.

 

Always carry a towel.

 

Ready for haters....

....no fruit

 

Sorry to hear that. We actually don't have a Total Wine in PA since wine and spirits are sold through a state store system only. But I travel to several states where there are Total Wines. There are no coolers for beer there either, but that's true for a large number of largish bottle shops in several states so they could be better there, however, for the states I visit the Total Wine is a reliable stop with most beer on the shelf being within code and I've often had the opportunity to ask about an empty shelf and wait a bit as the stock person unpacks a fresh case of something I'm interested in buying. Ideal places, not as good as some, but on the whole better than many others.

 

Anything you want has a price.

 

I must say fx20736, this is quite the departure from your normal posts about drinking. Why the change?

 

Just because it is hyped, rare, limited release, hard to obtain or expensive doesn't necessarily make it "good".

 

Do they taste any good when you resort to this method (any beer, including the CL?)

 

Never take your significant other with you when you go to the bottle shop. Or be prepared for lots of nagging. Unless your significantt other likes craft beer too.

 

When a restaurant only has BMC to just order a coke or a whiskey and ill end up much happier