Finding sources for "impossible" beers

It's not what you know. It's who you know.

 

I've found networking to be the key. Trading can be cumbersome sometimes, but this site is full of generous souls who will help you get what you want if you make friends. I never thought I'd be able to get my hands on a bottle of Proprietor's and through a great guy in Chicago I had one in my hands just a couple of weeks after the release. To echo the post above, it's all about who you know.

You could just go the buying route on places like *.com, but you won't find it nearly as rewarding as you would if you were to find some good trading partners.

In regarding to finding ammo to trade.. Come on, man. You live in California! You live in one of if not the best states in the country to get your hands on things that people want. When a limited release pops up in my area I stock up and flip them for everything that I can. You could do the same and much more easily in California.

 

Get in good with someone that works in distribution. I'm amazed at some of the gems that have fallen from the sky.

 

The problem with this is, if someone lives in an area where he or she can't get access to rare/hyped beer (ie. Pirate Bomb, Heady Topper, BA Mexican Cake), then they're screwed. This is why I sympathize (somewhat) with the aforementioned poor souls who spent $180 for 2 bottles of Hommage - if all they can normally get within a 50 mile radius is stuff from DFH, Rogue, Sam Adams, New Belgium, and Lagunitas, how in God's name are they going to get the ammo necessary for Westy 12 or Cantillon Fou' Foune?

Of course, they still could have done it more cheaply by visiting belgiuminabox.com, but that's another story for another day.

 

It depends on who they are trading with. Getting Westy 12 for someone in Belgium is somewhat of a pain, however it is possible. Getting good American beer over here however is fairly difficult. So make a comparible trade. Fou Foune can be a pain to get here as well. I live 45 minutes from Cantillon and didn't get any this year as it sold out quickly. However, there are other just as good Cantillon that people are willing to trade. 1 of the biggest problems with the trading is people not knowing what to ask for and not offering much in return. I spend a lot of time in the BeNeLux forum and people love to ask for crazy things such as Blabaer (which isn't sold here, and nearly impossible to get here) in trade for a beer that is fairly easy to get in the States.

 

Being from the UK I have to depend on my trading partners to get most of the most exciting beers, and through trading I honestly feel I have made some friends for life

Trading my maybe time consuming but it is also more rewarding, the people you will meet and make happy in the process

If you have $$$ and don't mind paying tenfold for what a beer cost the week prior go ahead but be smart drum up some friendships and help each other out.

 

This is kinda the way I'm leaning as well: stock up on limited releases for later trading. I have not yet made the leap into trading but as I accumulate my "wants/FT" lists, I will start looking for the impossible-to-find-in-my-area bottles to swap. I just discovered a distributor who sells only cases (better prices than smaller quantities). For example, he had a case of Stone Woot Stout which has been very hard to find. I'd invest in that case for later trading.

 

I'm in the boat where I would like to start trading, but since I haven't completed one most of mine get igrnored. This could also be since I have just started I don't really know the proper value to exchange in return for what I want.

That being said, I have found this site http://www.craftbeerkings.com/ though the "rare" beers seem to always be sold out.

 

Craftbeerkings.com gets some great stuff, but sometimes you have to be lucky and get on their at the right time to get any of the more rare stuff.

LetsPour.com gets some more limited releases. They currently have two of the Eclipse variants (Evan Williams and Highwest) but they're too expensive for me to justify purchasing them with the shipping.

 

Agreed. Luckily I have a beer friend or 3 in the states that understand how much the bottles cost to go and get, buy, and ship. I might not get the most rare American bottles, But then again I am not overly picky. A good beer is a good beer and as long as the financial part of our trades are equal. Both sides are happy. The benefit to this is, every once in a while a "whale" will get tossed into the shipping box.

Also, once you get a good trading part or 2. More then likely you can just ask them to pick some random stuff up and send it to you. This past summer I had a good friend send me some fresh IPA's and I just paid all the cost.

So my biggest suggestion to the OP is to start small. Say local for local. You can get some amazing beers this way and also build up your trading credibility.

 

I used to buy mail order some 3Floyds I wanted to try. If they will ship to your state there is not an issue. Except money, that shipping was more than the beer costs. I used to mail order Westvleteren also. This was back when it was still cheap. Then I realized the monks did not like it, and besides by that time we could afford to go over.

 

I have found that there are BA members who are willing to be "mules" after you have established a repoire with them. This is generally done though after a few trades but it can be worth it, especially with brewery only releases. Good luck

 

If you happen to see such beers on the shelf when you are shopping, grab one. If you don't ever run into such beers, you should just stop considering them as options. You won't suffer with this approach. I am not kidding.

 

Letspour.com has interestingstuff pop up when you sign on for emails

 

That's where I am too...relatively new and haven't tried to trade yet.

 

The best way to try these beers is make friends with others in your local beer community. The best stuff usually shows up at bottle shares anyway.

And to echo Zid above, if you can't get it don't sweat it. Nothing, and I repeat, Nothing is so good that you HAVE to have it. For example, Three Floyds makes a ton of amazing great beers but very few (including most of the BA stuff) are not so good to go out of my way to get. I am sure your local market is soaked with enough great options you can try all that stuff that isn't "Rare" and find something that is as good or close to what you are after.

Now this could be just the ramblings of a jaded BA "old timer"....

 

You're in PA, right? Distributors are only allowed to sell cases, no 6/12 packs.

 

There are Americans over here, who want quality American craft beer. Take the time to find us, research what you want and what you have to offer. We don't want to rip anyone off, just as we don't want to be ripped off. If you start off asking for Framboos, Armand and Tommy, or other super hard to get/ impossible to get ( Blabaer) beers, you will not be taken seriously. You ask about Westy 12 and mention simple things such as Sierra Nevada Celebration, Narwhal; Lagunitas Sucks, Brown Shugga; And I will trade. I don't consider those too hard to get beers, but it takes a little effort. If someone is asking for whales, I will usually ignore them. If they mention a trade and ask for something reasonable, if I can help and they have something I want or something one of my buddies would want I trade. You want Belgian sours or any other beer from get into the BeNeLux forum and ask questions. Trevorjk and myself are in there a lot and there are others who are glad to help.