Which whales do you know are completely gone?

Wow have had more of those than I would have imagined. Not sure I agree with White Whale status of some, but who the fuck am I?

 

I am literally drinking my 2013 bottle as I type this.

 

Not to take this too off topic, but is there any way to actually determine what classifies as a whale/white whale? I did a cursory search of the forums. I ask because I just saw a post claiming that Mocha Wednesday and Vanilla Rye were whales. I am sure subjectivity is a huge part of it, but wow! I would imagine bottle counts, taste, how often it was brewed all counts etc...

It would be a fun forum to post a beer and vote, whale or not.

 

PS I love looking at that White Whale list, while I'm sure it could be nitpicked and probably has been, but overall it looks really solid.

 

Side Project - The Origin?

 

No way are these whales. Both great beers, but the whole concept of 'whales' is the Moby Dick reference, and these beers are not elusive enough. Go to a few bottle shares or show up at a store at the right time...

 

Hate to burst your bubble but I have a bottle of Brett Apiary left

 

Had one of those a few months back at a staff party. The oxidation is getting pretty bad at this point, so anyone who's still holding bottles should probably drink them ASAP.

 

Word is that had a massive infection problem but I have always wanted one. I have never seen one for trade though.

 

M

 

the ones probably closest:

'99 framboos
cantillon mozart
yellow bus
'05 blabaer
fantome pissenlit strong / special

 

Ha, white whale, really? I found one of these in Seaside, Oregon and just drank it randomly one night. Did some research on the bottle count/wax color and determined it was Old Fitzgerald. No idea I was drinking a "white whale."

 

^ yea there are a good few questionable inclusions

 

There are a couple on MBC, and you only have to pay $750!

 

Moby Dick...

 

Nope, had one a couple months ago

 

Hair of the Dog Dave? That thing must be gone by now

 

I know of at least one in a cellar, and I wouldn't be surprised if Alan Sprints still had a couple bottles at the brewery.

 

where did you find them in Seaside? That bottle shop at the outlets?

 

Obviously it is an impossible question as there is no definitive way to know a beer is "extinct" however I seriously doubt any reasonably well know beers are gone but they may be very rare. Things such as Strawberry Fields, Veritas 5, Earthmallet (this one may be actually gone unless Urbain has one) ect. There may be small esoteric older beers that no one is looking for that could be extinct but we will never know as no one is looking. The beers on the white whale list mentioned above are all certainly still around but getting harder to find. The real "ghost whales" are the ones mentioned in @forgetfu lambic site where there are old beer labels shown but no actual bottles have been found at least recently or have been put out there to view. That being said there could be old caches in Belgian basements that are just waiting to be found.