Decisive Beer Purchases...

That is why i buy mix sixers, to many good brews on the shelf to buy sixers

 

I walked into Total Wine today with 3 dollars in my wallet. Looked around, left with a 25 dollar stout. Wife is gonna kill me.

Cheers!

 

All the time. I take way too long when picking out what I'm going to buy. I keep a list of what I want to have/buy on my phone. And while the bottle shops don't always stock what's on the list, I usually have it open while I'm walking around. However, I often run into the problem mentioned in the OP and I wander in circles

 

This happens almost every time I go to the liquor store.

Although, one time I went to pick up some Sixpoint Resin, just grabbed it, and paid. The cashier actually said something like, "You know, it's customary to spend at least 35 minutes selecting a beer. Then when you remember you were supposed to pick up a bottle of wine for the wife/girlfriend, to grab the nearest bottle."

 

Good God i think you're going to get a lot of "this happens to me exactly" responses with this one. I think that's why we're all on a beer website in the middle of the day (3:30 here in the West).

That being said, I go in with a plan. If I know what I want (e.g. a case of Firestone California Pale 31, my go-to crowd-pleasing beer) and it's available at the supermarket I go there. I can get in and out without being suckered into buying/trying new beers that look interesting. If I know what I want and it's a rare-ish bottle (e.g. Firestone's Sucaba) I go to my local bottle shop with a good selection that keeps them refrigerated (I love that place). I buy that one bottle and get out as quick as I can! It's only very rarely that I have expendable cash to throw around on beer, but my God when I do it takes me a solid 45 minutes to make it out of the beer aisle.

 

I generally go in with an idea of exactly what I'm looking for, but then if I see something else that looks interesting I'll usually pick that up too—especially if I've never seen it before and think I may never see it again. Sometimes instead of what I was planning on buying, sometimes in addition to it. Sometimes I walk out empty-handed. At the end of the day I think it all kind of evens out.

 

Yeah I'm pretty much the same way. I'll take more time deciding which beers to buy then deciding which car to buy.

 

Plastic is a beautiful thing sometimes.

 

Yeah this is exactly what I do. Takes me way too long, im very indecisive. Last time I went to the counter the women ringing me up told me, "Sometimes I forget your back there your in here so long".

 

Usually on Friday afternoons after work I spend about 30 minutes to an hour just standing around in my local store looking at beer. I go in with no particular beer in mind and just explore the selection to see if something jumps out that day. It kind of gets me hyped up for the weekend and puts the work week behind me.

 

Yes it is, but I have found it a slippery slope, plus we have a baby coming so.... Was trying to be good.

Cheers!

 

I usually check to see if there's anything new that might pique my interest on BeerMenus. If there is and I want it enough, I make the trek out to wherever it is. If it's a far enough hike, I'll usually spend about half an hour browsing around, just to make the trip worthwhile. More often than not, I end up coming home with more than I set out to get, which isn't good for the wallet.

 

I usually have some sort of plan in place, but not always. Just today I went in to grab a sixer of Schlafly American IPA since it just hit the shelves but I also walked out with a GI Juliet. Total impulse buy that I'm thinking I might regret. I had no idea that the base beer is a rye. Not a fan of rye beers whatsoever.

 

I have been primarily buying mixed sixes and bombers and 750s lately. as summer kicks in, probably will buy more 6ers and 4 packs of surly bitter brewer. and then back to the variety come fall.

 

I budget for a rotation of my staple beers, and leave some cash for new things I read about here. This way, I don't get too invested in the beer I don't know about and get to just try a six or four pack.

I don't do mixed sixers, as I have found the beer out for those is generally older.

 

Because I homebrew most of my beer and I know our very limited local selection so well it's never a problem here. I know what I want and buy it. But when I travel it's more complicated. Do I buy the beer I love but can't get at home, or try the one I've never seen or heard of before? I usually end up buying a few of my old standbys but a carload of stuff I've never tried.

 

That's why I replace those beers with ones from fresher six packs when they're not looking

a week ago I went to a store to buy a 6er of either old foghorn or bigfoot as an intro to barelywines and I almost left with a 3F kriek swarks(sp? something or other) for $35 even though I only had $20 for beer(other $20 was meant for lunch and dinner)

 

"What am I taking home tonight?" is one of the toughest parts of being a beer manager.

 

I too have commitment issues with what I am taking home, better than who im taking home...