addicted to buying beer...

True words. Yes, that was part of my problem as well. At one point, buying beer became a religious experience in, and of, itself. Visiting the stores - 15 miles one way, chatting up my beer store buddies, looking up and down the beer aisle - 10 times over...you know the drill. I logged over 300 miles chasing the delivery trucks from store-to-store to land my first case of Stone IRS. I've bought cases of beer for all possible reasons:
1. The beer guy is my buddy, and since I've stopped by the store, I need to buy something.
2. The beer is a limited release one, and I need to stock up as much as my beer store will allow me
3. Oh, that's a rare one - get as many as you can
4. Damn, I love this beer. Let me buy as many as I can, since I know I WILL enjoy them.....at some point in the future.
5. This beer's on sale at a fantastic price, how can I let this go?
6. I'd love to try this beer...but a 6-pack? Why the hell not - and after the first bottle, the remaining 5 sit in the cellar for lack of interest.
7. I really love this beer - let me buy as many as I can, AND age them...since aging will only make them better.
8. It's a 10% ABV stout, sure it'll keep for a while...buy 'em.
9. I've heard good reviews about this one, so ...

Now, I've whittled down my 170+ bottle cellar into a more manageable 60+. Most are beer that I know will keep well for another 2-3 years, even as I continue drinking them up and depleting that list further. Coming to think of it - all the beers I've enjoyed, I've enjoyed them the most when they were fresh. There are a select few, that I've actually thought tasted better, or held up well, with some age.

 

This is a great point, aging beers seems to have gotten out of hand. Many beers are flash pasteurized to prevent infection, which severely limits any aging potential. Others just don't have aging potential.
Strong sours do seem to age well, two that I have aged and love include:
- Abbey St. Bon Chien (2007)
- The Dissident, in fact the 2012 version has quite rough at first and needed at least 6months to come into its own.

Many RIS stouts have gotten better with age as well.

 

I used to do this until my method of buying beer went from "I can only get 1 bottle, guess it's going in the cellar" to "I can only get 1 bottle, guess it's going in my tummy"

 

Yes, I have this problem too. I keep telling myself, okay, no more buying anything for a few more weeks. Then I check Twitter and something else pops up and I want to get it. I should have never created this list - https://twitter.com/maxcoinage/chibrew

 

I am ROTFL...

There was a poll a while back, over 50% of Beer Advocate have never purchased an entire case of beer.

Looking at responses from this thread everyone has too much beer.. My point.

Drink your beer. Nuff' said.

 

i think 50 bottles or less is reasonable

 

Yeah totally. I have a problem where I feel the need to buy at least 2 of every bottle (of beers I want to test). One to drink fresh and one to age. The problem lies in that when I buy, it's in shopping sprees and I'll get a crapload of beer all at once and only choose to drink one of them. Since I don't drink a lot, they end up getting stored in the cellar.

I'm over 1200 bottles now...

 

Every damn one of us.

 

Not me...I rarely drink at home and I still have 20 bombers and at least 70-80 12oz bottles at home. Tonight I am drinking an accidentally aged Kentucky Bourbon Barrel ale from 2 years ago! Just to thin out my hoard I am drinking a different beer every night in October...I won't make a dent!

 

PA on BA skews case purchase numbers imo.

 

in the guitar world there is a word for that, we call it GAS for Guitar Acquisition Syndrome, guitars are much more expensive than beer, and a case of GAS can ruin your finances or your marriage. beer is much more affordable though not without its own consequences if you drink too much. I love shopping for beer and go beer shopping four or five times a week, always looking for something new. I tend to drink them right away and am aging some that seem like they might do well with some time.

 

Not a problem here I run of funds far sooner than beer I would like to drink.

 

time for a party and a refrigerator cleanse

 

What the f**k is wrong with you people. Go read a book or something.

 

I don't know if I would say I'm addicted to buying beer...but I can say that I spend more on beer than I do my lady. Righteous.

 

Fighting the addiciton for sure. Between "drink fresh" and on-deck beers already in the fridge I don't get past 20 to 30 in hand at any time. Self control on my weekly beer store visits is a must.

 

I do everything in my power to influence my customers to buy less (not the best business model I know). But I meet so many people that have this problem. I encourage them to purchase one or two bottles instead of the whole 6 pack. And who really needs six bombers of anything? Let's realize that it will be brewed again next year!. And next week there will be another beer released that is a must try. Coming from experience (it has taken about a year to drink down/drain pour my beer fridge), if we all purchase less qty of each beer then you wont have this problem and more people will have the opportunity to try the products. A lot of customers have told me that they enjoy the buying experience more knowing the beers they were purchasing at the time were for immediate consumption and couldn't wait to come back to get the newest release tomorrow. Instead of feeling the pressure of drinking the same beer over and over again to get through the whole 6,12, or 24 pack. I do get a lot of crap because I will only sell Short's specialty releases as singles with a limit of 3. But this allows 8 people per case to get some instead of 4, and in about 3 days Short's will have another release that everyone is dying to get. So is 3 six packs really necessary?