When do you drink that "Special" beer?

I have an expedition stout set aside for my kids birthdays when they turn 21. I have a couple ecliptic brewing barrel aged beers space themed that i will be drinking all day leading up to eclipse. Other then that i have no problem opening a special one with friend whenever. I have a surly and deschutes horizontal going. Only reason they aren't gone is i can't get enough people together with our schedules. Saving a 2008 through 2016 expedition vertical for when this year's gets released

 

I am beer poor (like being house poor, but with beer). As a result, i save something that I consider special for an occasion that I feel warrants something special.

Prior to getting into "real" craft and spending more money on beer, a special occasion was a Rochefort 10, or a Harveystoun Reserve 18. Now, if I want one of those I just open them. That said, I still don't have the money or the # of livers required to just drinking them everyday, or multiples a day.

Now, special beers are true limited beers that I only have a few - or only one. Those special occasions are birthdays and such.

I have a couple saved for our anniversary in several months, and I am starting to gather beers for 9-12 months from now. I am about to start my PHD program, and at the end of the 9-12 months of the first year, I have to pass a qualifying exam. I will be doing less drinking during this next year, and passing that exam will be the culminating experience. I want something special to celebrate the past 10 years of my life leading up to this.

 

I used to save more beers for special occasions-then when I had collected about 50 bottles and counting, realized I would never get to really enjoy them all because there were not enough "special" days. Thus, like many above-I have been making consuming said beer the special occasion more frequently. The exceptions to this:

1. I started buying prairie birthday bomb! and then saving them for future birthdays. The age actually helped, and it is fun drinking the themed beer on my birthday. I will continue this. I still have 2 from the original batch and then this years batch also. I also do this with Christmas bomb!

2. I plan on saving big beers for my big wedding anniversaries (5, 10, 15 etc). I have a 2015 BCBB saving for my 5 year already.

3. I would also like to save a beer for my children at birth (and bottle of wine). Not sure what to save (more on what actually might save...a 20+% bruery stout could work, also thought about a high ABV English style barleywine too like a JWL or something).

 

I tried this a couple times and it didn't work. Most recently on my birthday a couple weeks ago. I thought it would be a perfect time for my first 2016 BCBS. I pussed out for some reason, I had some good beers, but it didn't seem like the right time for the BCBS. I'm saving an ABYSS brandy, a 2015 and 2016 ABYSS for a tasting...I just don't know if I have enough friends to help me!

 

Maybe some bottles in november when our second boy is born.
At the moment most of my bottles arent old enough to crack anyway (don't like young oude geuzes or quads/strong dark ales etc...).

 

I have no rhyme or reason. I cracked open a utopias to celebrate the birth of my daughter. I had my fremont rusty nail because it sounded good that night.

 

When I feel great

 

I drink whatever beer someone identifies as one they want to drink...found after saving beers for 'special occasions' they rarely got consumed. Would much rather just drink a beer with someone who wants it!

 

I'm now at a point that I'm wanting to drink whatever I want. I've spent so much money on trying to build a cellar, that I than engulfed my beer world. Living in Kansas and having a cellar of 250+ beers, I'm just wasting my time and money. I've to conclusion over the last month now, sell it off or drink it.

I'm now drinking fire dog, IGCCS, IGCCCS and BCBS to drink it up. I'm going to dwindle my cellar down by drinking or selling my beers. I want to get down to 50 beers within the next 6 months. Other than a few beers I'm doing a vertical on, or knowing it ages well, I want to start killing her off.

So to answer your initial question, you get to a point when you realize you need to just drink it. Regardless of how "rare" or special it is; it's just beer!

 

I usually save my special stuff for when friends are over. This happens a lot during hunting season. I sponsor a Dove Hunt, in the old Southern tradition and will have friends here for several days. The same thing happens during Duck season, when out of state friends start showing up. Other than that, I'll open that special bottle if the right friend just shows up to visit. By "right friend" I mean one with the taste to appreciate said beer. That is special occasion enough!

 

At one timte I put aside beers for a special occasion but no longer. Another day of living is enough for me to drink any beer if the mood strikes me. I still have too much beer cellared but anything is fair game at any spontaneous moment.

 

For people that say this - I just don't understand how you don't ultimately drink the best first 100% of the time. I feel like this statement can't be true 100% - much like the idea of "pure altruism" not existing.

 

I'm not terribly sentimental. I saved my small stash of Bourbon County Stout and drank one about every 4-5 months. The longest I've had a beer is about 18 months, and the primary reason is that it's a big bottle and I don't want to open it all by myself.

 

I don't see there being one ultimate beer(s). The "best" for me depends on the moment and situation. FWIW the beers I usually drink are the best for my taste and the ranking and perceived rarity by beer fans don't matter to me. It did at one time but no longer.
Cheers

 

I just meant that for me, every beer in my cellar has a ranking based on how much I like it, or how much I want to try it. These beers I would love to drink tonight, and tomorrow, but I try to space them out. If I didn't then I would have nothing left in my cellar that I really wanted to look forward to.

That is what I really meant.

I do appreciate yours and everyone else's feedback. I like hearing how everyone makes these choices.