Beer envy

Same here although now that I live out west I have so much more access to some really great breweries I have loved for years but not been able to get to. Just got back from Stone yesterday. Had a great time and also stopped by Lost Abbey and Green Flash which are both in the same neighborhood. Picked up some great beers and had some other wonderful brews on tap not to mention one awesome lunch at Stone. A great day all around.

 

Sorry but you can't make me feel good about living in Indiana. All the Zombie Dust, Dark Lord, Hopslam, Double Trouble, BCBS, KBS, etc in the world doesn't drown out the fact that I would rather be living out west. My envy of where some of you live is much greater than your envy of whatever beer I can acquire.

6 more years.

 

those are some pretty killer beers though, i'm sure you don't have a problem acquiring stuff from the west coast if you can offer up anything along the lines of what you listed. but i do see your point, while i think to myself "i wish we got some better distribution in jersey, it sucks compared to other states....." then i just look at grumpy's post (hes from jersey too) and i just stop right there lol

 

1st I think it depends on where you live, if you live close to a brewery that produces whales you have a shot. From there it starts with trading which some make it out to be like work, and it costs money to build a cellar. Me, I cap it at about 30 bottles or so of stuff that ages and it's not readily available here. Some guys have a thousand + bottles lying around and thousands of dollars worth of beers, I can't do that, but it does give you the ability to get stuff I'll never see. I have to say I've got my hands on every IPA/DIPA I've wanted to try except fresh Double Sunshine. I paid a lot of money and beer for those great CA IPA's.

 

I understand where the OP is coming from. I rarely look at the "What Beer are you Drinking Now" thread, but when I do, there are always many brews I've never heard of that do look terrific. I'm assuming that a lot of them have very limited (if any) distro, so I don't get worked up about it.

I'm lucky...I just got back from Wegmans--a grocery store--and picked some great brews from Victory, Great Lakes, and Sierra Nevada (all of which were priced the same as or cheaper than Total Wine). Now none of them are rare, but I realize there are probably many people who don't have easy access to all of these. Because there's so much great beer around (again, even if they're not rare), my motivation to trade is practically non-existent.

Also when I travel (rarely, and is limited to Maryland, PA, Delware, & southern NJ), I try to check out a local shop. I'm almost always pleasantly surprised to find at least one beer I can't easily get at home. This helps to scratch the "I want to try something new & different" itch.

This is just a guess, but I think that everyone has at least some great brews distributed to them. Enjoy! This seemingly endless supply of relatively inexpensive good beer cannot exapnd forever.

 

When I see a "Latest Haul" post with 100 750mls shipped by some guy's friend in Belgium I'm usually pretty jealous. Same goes for a certain post of 15 cases of ZD...

 

Never jealous, those guys invested a ton of money for and in their hobby which is collecting and drinking beer. I'd have to forgo vacations to afford that kinda stuff and I won't do that.

 

The only person's "Hauls" and "What are you drinking now" posts that I'm healous of are GrumpyOldTroll's. That he shares everything he posts with me helps ease that pain though .

 

I also live near Capone's and swing by when I'm in the area. I felt the same as you a couple years ago. I made a few trades from the left coast and I determined it wasn't worth my time and money. If you search locally you will find beers that are very close to and in some cases even better than the coveted beers people rave about. The grass is not greener, or in the rare cases that it is, it's probably not worth the trouble/cost of getting over the fence (IMHO). I might sing a different tune if I lived in a poor beer distrubution state, but we both live in SEPA, which has a phenomenal beer selection! More varieties of craft beer are distributed to SEPA than any other area of the country. It's not just a coincidence that Russian River and Hill Farmstead send kegs of their most sought after beer to SEPA. And we've got a number of local breweries making some excellent [and fresh] beer too. Enjoy it!

Would you rather drive around in your vette, or be emailing/packaging/mailing beer for trades?

 

I feel the exact same way.

I tell myself it'll be a while until I consider beer trading, but I guess I'll have to if I want to be one of those I envy.

 

Part of this is cause we live in PA. Several different distributors have told me that they can't sell beers the PLCB hasn't approved.

 

I don't view the "latest haul" thread at all. No offense, but it seemed somewhat of a brag-fest the few times I did check in, but it's cool - I don't enjoy that particular thread so I don't go there. Others do enjoy it, equally cool.

On the other hand, I thoroughly enjoy the former LNBA thread. I love seeing the pictures of what folks are drinking, what they are listening to/watching and I enjoy some of the great photography like pics from HotMetal. I don't feel any jealousy whatsoever. To me it is just fun seeing what everybody else is enjoying. I know and accept the fact that I will probably never get to try some of the outstanding beverages pictured and talked about, but I am good with that. Hell, I haven't even worked my way through a fraction of New England yet! I enjoy my locals along with whatever else wanders into town that strikes my fancy. I usually enjoy my home brew unless I screw it up. When I travel for work, it;s bonus time and I can explore what some place else has to offer - sometimes great, sometimes not so much.

I'm not much of a "gotta have it" guy, so seeing what's out there is fun. But I don't feel jealous at all - how can you envy somebody enjoying a great beer? And just because I haven't had a brew yet doesn't mean I never will. Just doesn't seem anything worth getting wound up about.

 

That's why I don't look at the What Beer Are You Drinking Now? thread anymore.

 

I am just excited that there are so many options out there, and so many things I can look forward to trying some day. Adds another dimension to travel.

 

I know there are immense numbers of beers that I'll never get my hands on , some of which are sure to be monumentally good.I can't even get through the ones appearing locally! But as long as I get plenty of truly enjoyable beers I'll settle for that.

 

I'm jealous of those who have access to Three Floyd's, especially since I hear Zombie Dust is a pretty good pale ale.

 

Sometimes I start to feel this way as well, but then I remember that I live walking distance from one of the best beer bars around.

The tap list from yesterday

http://www.brouwerscafe.com/draught.pdf

Just a usual Sunday down at my local watering hole.

 

I hear ya, at least you have a lot more options in PA then I do here in AZ. I was just comping my distro list to your state and I hardly get anything decent that you don't ( I do get Odell which is awesome) but you get a lot of stuff I've always wanted to try that isn't sold here ( like Smuttynose, Terrapin, Troegs, Victory, etc etc).

 

ISO your KBS =)

 

I'm in the uk and am gutted I can't get Russian river, founders or heady topper
I feel so jealous when I see some of the wonderful beers and those new style dogfish sierra ipa glasses
Oh and seeing the sun in nearly every outdoor pic is also a killer
However I love Friday and Saturday to see what others are drinking and talking about
I love this website