Getting real tired of whales.

As soon as I can find the Dutch to my Dillon I'm coming for ya

 

ISO: yr whales FT: yr favorite shelf beers

 

Umm, yes please? I see from your profile picture that you fancy Heady Topper. I happen to have about 2 cases of it...

 

I don't mind seeking them out. The hunt is part of the fun.

What I hate is when the prices are jacked up. Thankfully here in the Boston area, we don't get a lot of that. Prices only tend to differ by a buck or two and the stores I frequent generally limit the sales of rares/whales to 1 per customer. I know of 2 stores that even broke out 4 packs of BCBS into singles to make sure more people got to try it, which still cracks me up as 3 years ago it used to sit on the shelf.

 

I just got back from Vermont last weekend and I have about a case left but I'll share the Cherry Rye just the same. I don't need anything in return; I'm not gonna be able to drink it myself in one go anyway and I'd rather share it with someone who would appreciate it.

 

So, what you're saying is that you fell asleep next to a Grey Monday and woke up next to a Bud Platinum?

 

More like I went to bed with a PBR and woke up with a Steel Reserve.

 

I don't chase whales but I do get to taste them often because of my wonderful beer buddies.

 

They sound like amazingly progressive people to accommodate you like that.

 

I've stopped buying shelf beers/going to hyped releases/etc., to strictly spend all my money on lambic. It's going swimmingly.

 

Oh man, thanks for the laugh

 

I find that I'm enjoying whales as much as ever (and I'm not talking about anything super rare or coveted, just the typical beer that comes out on Tuesday and may be gone almost everywhere by Friday). But now that I've managed to pick up most of the big ones on my personal "must try" list and gotten a pretty good feel for the lay of the land, I care considerably less about chasing them down.

If I get it, great; if not, no biggie. If it's really good, they'll make more next time. If not, no huge loss.

Also, I've basically stopped trading. So I limit myself to what can be acquired in my distribution area, plus the occasional online order. That helps keep me both sane and in the black.

 

I'll come at it from a bit of a different angle. Here in the Twin Cities, our biggest beer fest each year is Autumn Beer Review.

Last year I made a point of not standing in the huge lines that formed for the special releases from Surly and Founders and probably a few others. Instead I hit up breweries like Jolly Pumpkin, Fitger's, Dubrue, Alaskan, Central Waters, etc, I could go on and on. Little to no lines for these breweries, so I got to try a lot more beers, and while I'm sure the one's that people were waiting 30 minutes for were great beers, I doubt they were 15-30 times better, which is how much more time they had to invest to get a taste.

Same thing with hunting whales. I'll do it once in a while, but I'd usually rather spend half as much for twice as much beer that's probably just as good

 

mother of god. where can one purchase this extraordinary koozie?

 

My problem is that I'm incredibly competitive and if I can't find something I try that much harder and wind up driving myself absolutely nuts. The hunt drives me mad, but there's a sick satisfaction after finding something that I thought I never would (ie Cherry Rye).

 

I got tired off it in about 3 months of being on BA, ha ha ha. I dabbled and got some interesting stuff. However, I found that it was costly endeavor and it never ended in a "HOLY SHIT THIS WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT" type moment. Some may say that was problem, my expectations were too high. But how can one not get high expectations when they spend time looking for a trading partner, then dump $16 into two bombers the other guy wants and $20 into shipping the darn things. It's hard to spend time and resources hunting down a beer that is only slightly better than what is available at multiple bottle shops near me. I'd rather take that aforementioned $36 and spend it on a sixer of Flower Power, a sixer of Noble Pils and a sixer of Long Trail Double Bag.

 

To me, it's all a matter of geography. I do loathe my chances of getting good beer in town, such as black note, KBS, etc. but I always find it fun and challenging if I have the time (and money) to find something that you just can't always get your hands on. Black Ops was probably my best score so far this year, but I even get excited about scoring something like Backwoods Bastard.

What's interesting is each brewery's release schedule versus actual distribution versus product actually showing up on shelves. It seems straight forward, yet an elusive process. Why are some beers harder to get than others? Why do some rare beers show up in hot spots while others are found in random nooks and crannies in town?

As they say, the fun is always in the chase. My wallet however, is not thanking me. The limited release craft beer thing is simple economics at its best.