Is Shipping Beer Worth It?

Short answer: Yes, if you are referring to trading

The risk is somewhat minimal, if you are packaging and preparing your shipment and negotiation properly. The opportunity to try beers outside of your own distro, while sharing your own shelf and rarity brews can be very rewarding.

Worst case scenarios: Your beer shipped, or received, breaks in transit, 9 times out of 10 because of improper packaging, not courier error. Another scenario: Your courier finds out it's beer, and they are mad at you. Another possibility, your trade flakes out somehow. Simple enough, these all can be protected against by packing securely, labeling properly, and negotiating the deal with a reputable trader.

Best case scenario: You get to try tons of awesome beer that you would never see or hear about, make some great buddies to continue trading with, and if you ever travel to their area, always have someone to go out and share a beer or ten with.

[EDIT] If you are referring to shipping beer between your two homes, then that's a no-brainer. If you're flying between locations, shipping the beer makes way more sense than packing it in your suitcase.

 

Well I am not sure what your asking but if the goal is to transport beer from point A to B, then yea its not going to walk there. Of course if you flying between two points allot, you just need to fly SWA, lol.

otherwise post in trade forum please.

 

It completely depends. If you're a $9 six pack kind of guy that isn't really comfortable paying more than $1-$2 more than that, it's not worth it. It can turn a $9 six pack into a $25 six pack. If you want to try beers outside your distro area and are willing to pay $15 for a six pack or $20 for a six pack of bombers (just for shipping), it's worth it.

 

As with any "worth" question, that varies from person to person. It is expensive, but if you have the spare cash and want to have beer that's not locally available to you, then yes it is. I'm not 100% clear on your situation, but if you're traveling back and forth, couldn't you check the beer on your flight or just drive it with you?

As far as damage, I would say growlers are really delicate, but regular bottles probably spend their share of warm truck time to getting to you, so they should be fine. I would always try to ship no later than Tuesday to avoid weekend layovers, though.

 

Beer trading is not a poor mans game, is it worth it? That depends. I think of it as a hobby, and I enjoy it a lot so to me it is worth it as a form of entertainment. As long as you pack your boxes like you have a brain you will be fine.

But if you enjoy trying beers you can't get locally, the surprise of unwrapping unknown extras and you aren't strapped for cash I say go for it.

 

I ask myself this same question every time I ship out to the West Coast... Trading is fun, but it hurts my wallet.

 

it's definitely not cost effective, but it can be worth it if you're looking for new, out of market beers to try. shipping beer really isn't too difficult, as long as you take the necessary precautions to pack things securely.

 

Short answer: No

Long answer: Hell no.

 

no. but sipping beer is.

 

What a coincidence, I had the exact same question. I am relocating from Houston to San Diego later this month. I was planning on doing a road trip to ensure my collection of bottles would be well cared for, during the long drive. Turns out there are complications when carrying some 140-odd bottles in one car - being charged with bootlegging being one. Does anyone have experience moving their collections that you'd like to share please? I greatly appreciate your inputs. Thanks in advance.

 

I'm a college student as well, and might be able to offer you some advice in regards to some of my trading experiences. I only do about a trade every month or two when I'm in school, but I try to make it as worthwhile as possible. I'm not looking to spend a ton of cash and score some whales, I'm more looking to go $4$ and get some beers that aren't available to me in my distro area. I started with a seasonal that I can get in my area and that people are usually looking for, Nugget Nectar in my case. I was able to trade for a whole host of stuff that I can't get. Basically, if you work out something $4$, you can get a box full of beer that isn't available to you, for whatever it cost to ship the box. Usually it costs me around $15 or so. Just my two cents, to me it's worth the price of shipping to get to try some cool, new beers that I can't get!

 

I don't think anyone is going to stop you for bootlegging if you are moving. This isn't the 1930s lol

 

I've had a great experience with shipping beer via trades. Just don't think about the cost and you'll be fine lol. But it is nice having a package of awesome brew arrive at your doorstep, and there are some great and generous and friendly traders on here. I keep in touch with some of my trading partners and it's a good way to "meet" people into the hobby.

 

I know people who have beer suitcases for this exact thing.

 

If you are worried about being charged with bootlegging for moving your personal beer from home to home then I'm not sure how you walk out of your house every day for fear of getting hit by lightning 5 times in a row on a sunny day.

 

I just replaced the locks on my biggest Samsonite hard plastic luggage, as I'm planning a trip to Belgium in May...

 

Make sure to have foam on either side to sandwich the bottles. Also pack something to keep them from banging together, and of course tape the caps.

 

Only thing that I'm packing in it on the way out is zip locks, garbage bags and old t-shirts and rags.