New to trading....and beer really

Welcome Andrew. You should start by filling out your wants, that helps a lot. People can look at your wants to get an idea of what you're looking for. As far as whats "fair" for Darkness there are soooooo many beers out there that I could rattle off but whats most important is whether or not you're happy with the trade.

Have any specific ideas? You should be able to get most other somewhat limited and/or brewery only release bottles with similiar bottle numbers as Darkness.

Also use these

http://alewatcher.blogspot.com/2010/11/new-trader-tips.html?m=1

http://seekabrew.com/distro/index.html (to help figure out extras when trading)

 

Listen to this man - he knows what he's talking about, even if he keeps failing to recognize me at bottle shares.

 

Lol, I felt really bad today. I saw you in line from a distance and figured I would catch up with you later which obviously got fouled up. My apologies good buddy.

 

Hold onto your darkness and try smaller, trade local shelf beers for other local shelf beer until you get a handle in the trade forum and most importantly on how to ship and hold concise conversations.

 

Surly Shelf beers trade great. Abrasive will be out in a few weeks which will be highly saught after as well. Like others said, darkness is always saught after so get the hang of it then start trading for some bigger beers. As far as acronyms go, read, read, read forums then you'll catch on, its an addicting site. Hopefully my bosses never check my history...

 

To get an idea for what people are offering and looking for using Darkness, you can search for "ISO Darkness": http://beeradvocate.com/community/search/28817996/?q=iso+darkness&o=date . Good luck with it and welcome to your new soon-to-be addiction.

 

I don't really trade much these days but as someone above suggested, try to drink locals first and appreciate the selection available to you. I'm sure more folks who actually live in Minnesota can chime in, but after having checked seekabrew, it looks like you shouldn't have any difficulty finding great beer, from various parts of the country, on the shelf.

A bit of advice I'd like to give is to resist the temptation to focus on acquiring the rarest beers around. Too many people, especially newcomers, get caught up hunting whales for no reason other than bragging rights. Focus on building your palate by trying new styles. Each time you hit your favorite store, be sure to pick at least one bottle from a style you've never had before--there are plenty out there so you shouldn't run out of new things to try for quite some time.

Also don't be afraid to revisit a style you've had in the past. There are many factors that can contribute to an unpleasant first experience, from bottle variation to an untrained palate, so something like that sour that everyone's busting a nut over that you try early on and dislike may end up being life-changing later on when you're ready for it.

Apologies if all this is known to you already, but enjoy the ride either way.

 

Before diving too deep into trading, I also suggest getting to know your local stock. Drink some local stuff and the shelf stock distributed in your area. You want to get an idea of what you like and don't like before trading. You may not need to do as much trading if you find some favorites you can pick up locally. Also you don't want to trade for "name" beers, giving up stuff you actually do like, and end up not liking the beer you traded for.