Still grieving

Discussion in 'Cellaring / Aging Beer' started by FrndthDuvel, May 11, 2013.

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  1. FrndthDuvel

    FrndthDuvel Initiate (0) Jan 1, 2009 California

    On a freezing San Diego County smokey Jan 2nd morning, my cellar went up in flames as my garage burned down. Some bottles exploded, many simply boiled out leaving perfectly empty bottles,caps and corks in place. Most were partially empty or just smoked and heated to who knows what temp. Some entombed in plastic from the fridge.
    17 bottles of FW from 12 to the present. Mocking me in their tease at having escaped the fire with only smoke damaged boxes and melted wax. Only one has been sampled of the few kept so far, it was not bad, great barrel indeed. Hmm or was it smoke? Or perhaps I had drank enough already that I tried the sooty thing. The Stone Vertical 04 to 12 was a big loss. Never having tried the 04 ,05 and 06 was tough. Glad I had tasted so many of the numerous 07-12 Verts that were lost. Olah Dubh 30's. Alesmith BA offerings from 2007 to 09. 08.09 Stone RIS's gone. Double bastards years old. Glad I had a big tasting last year. The 07 ALesmith BA Speedway was excellent as was the Stone 08 RIS. 4 remaining Westy's and the list goes on. Well at least in my nightmares. LOL Years of Consecrations,Temptations and other ION's from 2008 to 2010. Abyss 08 to 11,minus the off year, previously drank. Alpines a plenty. Stone 12 oz RIS returned from Japan. Oh the pain. Excuse me while I tear up.
    It should be interesting how insurance handles it. I had recent photos showing the most recent FW Anni,so that dates the cellar for them. I have replacement value but not sure I want to be chasing around on Ebay to replace beers one at a time. Does anybody know of any new places that sell vintage beer? I found one place with FW Anniversary from 12 for over 300 bucks ,and submitted that to insurance. Hopefully I get at least what I paid. Not sure they can depreciate beer, but not so sure they will see it like vintage wine either.
    So the lesson is go hug your cellar. Visit it more often and enjoy the drinking of it above the collecting. YMMV
    Oh,and good inventory practices and photos. Like many need an excuse to take photos of their cellar.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/71168495@N06/8726809889/in/photostream

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/71168495@N06/8726809215/in/photostream

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/71168495@N06/8726809123/in/photostream

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/71168495@N06/8726809007/in/photostream
     
    #1 FrndthDuvel, May 11, 2013
  2. podunkparte

    podunkparte Initiate (0) Nov 14, 2009 Washington

    Ouch. Condolences on your loss. Could have been worse though. It's just beer.
     
    #2 podunkparte, May 11, 2013
  3. Roman5150

    Roman5150 Initiate (0) Mar 29, 2013 Spain

    On a more positive note, your cellar just gained a few more smoked beers.
     
    #3 Roman5150, May 11, 2013
    RCL, TeaForOne, yamar68 and 2 others like this.
  4. KevSal

    KevSal Pooh-Bah (2,940) Oct 17, 2010 California
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Brings me meaning to firestone

    Sucks about the losses, it may only be beer but it sucks nonetheless
     
    #4 KevSal, May 11, 2013
  5. traPISSED

    traPISSED Initiate (0) Apr 18, 2013 Brazil

    That sucks! It's not so much the loss of beer but the loss of time and effort in acquiring and aging the beers!
     
    #5 traPISSED, May 11, 2013
    FrndthDuvel, mikecharley and BeerKangaroo like this.
  6. beercanman

    beercanman Initiate (0) Dec 17, 2012 Ohio

    Damn man that is horrible, sorry to hear
     
    #6 beercanman, May 11, 2013
  7. beerjerk666

    beerjerk666 Grand Pooh-Bah (5,155) Aug 22, 2010 Florida
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Hold shnikies! That sucks dude. Good luck in replacing them! No one was hurt, right?
     
    #7 beerjerk666, May 11, 2013
  8. Rutager

    Rutager Initiate (0) Oct 18, 2010 Canada (BC)

    This thread is going to give me nightmares and make me drink more good beer. Complete bummer for the OP but with a disaster like this it's a good thing it was only beer and things that you lost. Hope the insurance comes through for you.
     
    #8 Rutager, May 12, 2013
    franklinn likes this.
  9. Squiggy

    Squiggy Initiate (0) Feb 18, 2013 Michigan

    Same sort of thing happened to me. Except the fire took place at my house.
    My beer was on shelves in my basement. Whatever may have survived the fire was destroyed when the floor caved into my basement.
     
    #9 Squiggy, May 12, 2013
  10. strohme2

    strohme2 Pooh-Bah (2,001) Nov 3, 2007 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    This reminded me of a similar incident. My in-laws had 6 bottles of CBS waiting for me at their house...until the house burned to the ground and that floor fell into the basement.

    Sorry to the OP.
     
    #10 strohme2, May 12, 2013
  11. jmw

    jmw Initiate (0) Feb 4, 2009 North Carolina

    This is why I keep my approximately 300 bottles in 300 different bank safe deposit boxes placed strategically around the country.
     
    #11 jmw, May 13, 2013
    Brehnert and wittyname like this.
  12. davey101

    davey101 Pooh-Bah (2,360) Apr 14, 2009 Connecticut
    Pooh-Bah

    I would honestly just let it go. Its just beer. Be happy you have your life.
     
    #12 davey101, May 13, 2013
    Thickfreakness, tut2528, Hugonaut13 and 8 others like this.
  13. mjohnson17

    mjohnson17 Initiate (0) Apr 29, 2012 Illinois

    This.

    FYI: I did a FW 12-16 vertical at the end of February and it's not worth $300. 12 is WAY over the hill, 13 was surprising good, 14 was blah, 15 was tasty, and 16 was good. But as a group not worth $300.
     
    #13 mjohnson17, May 13, 2013
    BobZ likes this.
  14. Eriktheipaman

    Eriktheipaman Pooh-Bah (2,303) Sep 4, 2010 California
    Pooh-Bah

    I wouldn't pay that much and you wouldn't either. BUT if the OP wanted to replace all his bottles it could easily cost that much.
     
    #14 Eriktheipaman, May 13, 2013
  15. Ahappyhiker2

    Ahappyhiker2 Initiate (0) Mar 27, 2013 New Jersey

    That's really unfortunate, but it could have been worse! Good luck
     
    #15 Ahappyhiker2, May 14, 2013
  16. FrndthDuvel

    FrndthDuvel Initiate (0) Jan 1, 2009 California

    Thanks for the positive feedback. And like most have said, it could have been worse. especially when a few have popped up about losing their homes. And like another said,the true loss was the time in gathering the beers and all thsoe nights where I resisted hittign the cellar just so it could "age" a bit longer. Hug your cellar everyday!
     
    #16 FrndthDuvel, May 14, 2013
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