Is rare beer really that much better?

Rarity shouldnt make a difference, but it does. If you spent all weekend tracking down a rare beer and finally get to taste it and it is pretty good, it is going to be much more satisfying than a random beer you picked up at any random package store and tried without thinking about it.

 

Yes. The beer gods give equal deliciousness to each beer. The more it is brewed, the more the deliciousness gets spread out and diluted. Reference: Bud, Coors. The less it is brewed, the more concentrated the deliciousness is. Ref: BA whales

 

No, rare beer does not taste better. I'd much rather have a couple bottles of Bomb!, Bible Belt or even Old Rasputin than try and hunt down KBS because that beer is WAY over-hyped and not worth the money they want for it.

 

I guess rare means only something you don't have. Some htf beers have been amazing, others were not worth the trouble.

 

Off topic, but I love that I can come to this forum and run across a Madeleine L'Engle quote. Nice! A Wrinkle In Time remains an all-time favorite for me, and I just bought a copy for my 8 year old in the hopes she loves it as much as I did as a kid. Anyway, back to the beer discussion...

 

Or some of the rarer beers just happen to be considered the best

 

Yeah and so were beers like Oberon and Bells Best Brown. Good call.

 

Sometimes. I don't find many rare sours better than non-rare. Fou and CC disappointed for the effort it took to get them. Got the tick and wouldn't repeat. I would have rather had RR, WW, or even Rodenbach. Stouts are a bit different because most of the BA, chocolate, coffee infused stouts are in shorter supply and is harder to find with FBS, FIS, Stone RIS being the exceptions (although the last two are straight forward). IMHO ET stouts are almost as good as any at the top.

 

Base kills it for me. Dark Lord isn't a very good stout.

 

No it's not. And it also depends on what style of this "rare" beer you're talking about. For some reason a lot of sours are "rare" and the cool thing to drink. I personally find them disgusting. If I wanted to drink vinegar/salad dressing I would reach into the pantry.

If you like stouts then you may enjoy them much but are they really that much better than a world class BA stout that can be easily found on the shelf? If you factor in the hassle and paying a ridiculous amount of money for one. If you come across one it's worth a try but it's surely not worth the effort to trade and bust your balls in getting one. Just my opinion.

 

Exactly. And HT isn't rare. It's all over the place in VT. If it became widely available like Sierra Nevada it would probably collect dust on shelves. Probably the reason the brewer isn't in a rush to expand and make a ton of it.

 

OR, if it doesn't, the bitter disappointment stings all that much more. It can go both ways. The $300 could become the worst beer you have ever had just because you paid so damn much. And yeah, I think it's funny how freaking common BCBS is in NYC. When they're serving it in Washington Heights, you know there's plenty to go around.

Agreed, sadly. That's really what it is. Drinking rare beers seems to be more of a status thing than an enjoyment thing...or the enjoyment is in the elevated status one feels rather than the taste of the beer.

Aaaah. So umami and hype are the same, indescribable, rich, and pleasing.

Just as an example, there are beers in Ohio that people are pawning of their children to get a hold of, that you probably have easier access to. It can work both ways. It's called first world problems, mane.

 

Best Brown out of a can is the dog's bollocks!

 

I hate this thread

 

Are the beers people covet better than the ones they don't? If the answer is no, might as well not covet them. There's plenty of bad/mediocre/underwhelming/not worth it rare beer out there (e.g., MMM). Then there's also the stuff that there's a reason it trades so high (e.g., KBBS, SHRBL, Fou Foune).

Venn diagram, blah blah blah.

 

Bcbs isnt rare.

Popular / in demand beer is generally better. Ymmv sure, but in general ppl want it bc its good, not because of how much of it exists

 

Idk if that means you like it or not, hell I'm confused??

 

"Limit 1 per? Oh, you know this HAS to be good."

 

Kinda makes you wonder how things would turn out in a blind taste test. Palates are like *********s

 

'Tis a 'British-ism.' It means it's very, very good!