Is rare beer really that much better?

Probably not, but the rarer the beer the cooler it is to drink! /sarcasm

Quality control is pretty much the only thing rare beer has over the not-so-rare.

 

Apparently there are people whose palates can taste how much of a given beer was produced. Mine cannot.

Try this for size. Buy a big bottle of Stone Ruination. Pour 5 ounces into one glass. Pour 16 ounces into a similar, but separate glass. Can you taste the rarity in the 5 ounce sample?

 

yes. it's a mental thing but don't tell anyone.

 

OP, do you really not know the answer to this question?

 

Come to NYC where drinking BCBS every day isn't a dream. It's reality.

As for truly rare beer tasting better. Of course it does. If you gave up several hundred dollars worth of beer for one bottle, or travelled an inordinate distance to get hold of something, you bet that shits got to taste good.

 

As beer, probably not. As experience, maybe so.

 

Yes, but only because BCBS really is that good IMO. The rarity has nothing to do with it.

It's all about taste for me (and most, probably). There are rare beers I'll pass up because I found them dissapointing (hopslam, KBS), not that they're bad beers, I'd just prefer cheeper, easier to get selections over some of the rare ones.

BCBS and FSW Sucaba are 2 major exceptions to that rule tho (haven't found a better beer in those styles).

 

I've always said the rarity of a beer adds a false sense of heightened enjoyment.

One example of many for me personally; I would have a Ruination over Heady Topper any day. If Heady was as widely available as Ruination people would find another hard to find DIPA to cream their jeans over

 

Some yes, some no. Going on the example of bourbon county, it's an amazing stout but is it better than remy's pappy? Not to me. But you also have bcbcs (a little rarer than bcs) and if you compare it to assassin, then bcbcs has the win in my book.

Taste is all subjective. It just depends on what beer and who's tasting it. I do think that the harder to find sours from the lost abbey (ddg and cable car) are better than any eaiser to get sours.

 

I'll let you know after I stand in line for 3 hours waiting for BCBS......

 

BCBS is my favorite if not top 3 beers ever and I don't consider it rare. It's plentiful in NY so I usually snag a case come January.

Better than BVDL. Better than KBS. Better than almost every one of those stupid hard to get beers everyone goes nuts over. I've had plenty of hype beers. Rarity does nothing for me. BVDL was a huge let down.

 

Rare filet is way better than rare beer.

 

I find that most people tend to hype up rare beers and trick themselves into thinking they are amazing. Whether they are actually better is subjective to the individual's palate and their cognitive state. I'd say a blind taste test would be you're best bet if you really wanted to know which beers are worth seeking. I've had shelf turds that are amazing and have had people snoff at me for thinking so. Tackling down rare beers is just a fun added bonus to the craft beer hobby IMO. If you want to invest your time and money into accessing them, then cheers!

 

Really? I hear a LOT more complaints about small batch beers than year round beers.

 

I prefer medium rare.

 

People like to make fun of rare beer mania, and yet it motivates many of the threads on this site. It is, among other things, a way of gaining status among your peers.