Beer Backlog

I don't have a backlog... finally... feels like it's been 3 years in the making.

I got rid of a lot of them by bringing a case at a time to friend's parties and opening a bunch of stuff. You have too much beer? Adopt an 'everything must go' mentality. Don't worry, they'll brew more.

 

Get better friends.

 

Have a drink free beer event. Invite people over, crack open bottles and have a great time. You may bring a few new people into the craft beer community.

 

Honestly, there have been weeks where I had a backlog of stuff that needed to drink soon/fresh and I pretty much acknowledged my beer drinking will go up for a few weeks. I also try to buy small quantities of IPAs, and generally am after more cellarable stuff now (Imperial Stouts, Wild/Lambics, etc). Finding one good craft beer loving friend to open a bunch of stuff with each week will help incredibly too. You don't need an entire group.

 

Couldn't you just stop buying/trading beer for a while?

Use the money you would've spent on beer to buy drugs.

 

I was in this situation a while back (and still am, kind of) after a series of trades and a few pretty massive beer runs, like you wanting to try everything. Frankly, I just drank a lot for a while. Since June 20, 2011, I've reviewed 341 beers (1.17 beers per day), and several of those reviews represent a 6-pack or 12-pack actually consumed. So yeah.

I've finally got my cellar somewhat under control (still almost 300 beers, but most of those are barleywines, quads and imperial stouts). I only buy IPAs fresh and drink them ASAP. And I've been more or less on a trading hiatus for several months. I'm trying to be a lot more selective about what I pick up, and buying less when I do.

It's hard, but so is watching a lot of beer you've already paid for slowly decline because you can't get to it. Don't worry - they'll make more.

 

Double your intake. Take a week off work and drown in pure alcoholism.

 

That would seem to be the best option.

Beer is for drinking, not collecting.

 

This is absolutely true. But with all the limited, seasonal, and one-off releases it's easy to build up a collection, which you will eventually drink. Now collecting for collecting's sake... that's a whole 'nother matter.

 

Step ya game up and drink more.

Cheers!

 

What is this "beer backlog" you speak of? The whole concept is foreign to me.

 

Drink up! I moved countries twice in 18 months and decided to drink my cellar each time instead of moving it. It was tough, but I lived to tell the tale.

 

Man up! You need to start doing some serious drinking.

Seriously though, when i do get a bit of a baclkog, which is unusal, I just start by drinking what i know has a shorter shelf life, such as IPAs, and save the stuff which i know can sit longer, such as stouts and porters. And yes, resist the urge to buy until you've caught up on your drinking.

Either that, or i will gladly take some off your hands if it's really becoming a problem...

 

I've been in the OP situation many times and and it got to the point where I accidently let the wife fall into the 'Look at all the beer you have!! Drink up! trap a couple of weekends ago. Now I'm in the driving seat and have my own personal beerfest about to kick off. Rough times, rough times.

 

My wife has seen how much beer I have, but somehow she continues to see it as a problem of procurement rather than one of consumption...

 

I do the same thing but as the backlog grows I get more selective and buy Stouts, Barleywines, and Porters that I can keep around for a few months. Being relatively new it is hard for me to pass on a highly rated beer when I see it but I know there is always next year for the IPA's that I missed out on this year.

 

I've always said, I don't have a beer drinking problem, but I do have a beer buying problem... I probably have about a 14 week stash of bombers (28 = 2 per weekend) and probably about a 7 week stash of regular cans / bottles (40 = 1 per day on weekdays)...

 

Force yourself to stop buying and trading. Drink down what you have. Resume buying/trading afterwards but only do a couple trades a month at the most and when you buy, be selective.

I currently have 11 large format bottles and about 25 small format bottles/cans in my fridge and will be receiving a few more from a recent trade. When I get to this kind of capacity I stop going to beer stores and I stop trading until I actually drink what I've been spending money on.