What's wrong with Whale Hunting?

I usually look for beers that catch my eye, and then once I'm already considering purchasing them I might look them up, but usually only if I don't know the brewery. If it's a new beer, by a brewery I already know and trust, then I will buy it on looks/style/whatever alone. I'm not usually disappointed that way.

 

Ask all the people who sat in a torrential rainstorm to get a 2 bottles of Churchills Finest Hour last year. They might tell you.

 

No problem here. Been known to do it myself on occasion. If its something I really want to try I will go for it but I will draw the line. Like above, standing in a downpour for 2 hours. Too many good brews too easily available for that. But to each their own. I am not going to say who is right or wrong. Its beer, enjoy it!

 

I don't have any problem with people searching out for the highest rated beers. What bothers me is when people talk about how many high rated beers they have tried.
I enjoy beer, whether it's a rare beer or a beer I can find almost anywhere. Beer preferences are really subjective and it's hard to push our preferences on others. They way I look at it is that I can only introduce another BA to a beer I like and if they like great, if not, well it doesn't effect my preference for the beer.

 

I have no problem with it. Anyone can spend their time and money as they wish.

 

I have no problem with people searching out high rated beers.

But if you do things like cheat bottle limits or follow trucks to stores to make sure nobody except you can ever have a chance to taste a rare beer, that's when I have a problem.

I shouldn't have to check my mail every 5 minutes for all of April to have a mathematical chance at a KBS.

 

I feel like "searching out the highest rated beers" and "whale hunting" are two different things.

In my mind, the former reads like this: keeping tabs on which breweries distribute in your area, having your local haunts that you shop at on a regular basis, and checking in with them to see if they'll be getting a limited release that you're interested in trying. If it's a beer that's not sold near you, you might ask a friend in the area if they can pick up a bottle if they happen to stumble across it, but not to go out of their way to look for it.

The latter reads like this: OMG that beer is super hyped up I have to have it so I'm going to bug the distributor and take time off from work so I can follow the truck on release day and make sure I get my hands on this beer.

Again, that's just how I read that. Now, do I have a problem with people doing that? Eh, it's their time and money. Personally, I won't really go much beyond a phone call for something unless I'm already in the area and can casually pop in to check stock. I don't have enough time or money to seek out the rarest and highest rated of them all, which is what I would consider to be whales. There are so many world class options sitting on the shelf at any given point - all that time spent hunting down something that the internet told me would be better could be spent doing more productive or rewarding things.

Long story short: Ratings help me find interesting beers, but they don't dictate the lengths I'll go to get them.

 

Nothing wrong with it in my opinion! Much like you said, to paraphrase, a million BA's can't be wrong! I'm definitely more inclined to pick up something that I find out of town, or trade for something, that is either highly regarded in reviews or that is heralded in the forums here.

I think that the general type of 'whale hunters' that are looked down upon are those that, through whatever means, muling or otherwise, gather up huge amounts of extremely limited beer and then either a) post pictures of their HUGE HAUL and then sit on it rather than drink it, or b) extort others out of other said extremely limited beers by trade because so few got them, yet so many want to and didn't have the chance to try them.

Do your thing man, so long as you're enjoying it for the real reason...great beer is great!

 

Of recent I've actually started traded more often for beers I've already had (traded many times now for FW Sucaba--not sure if that qualifies as "whale"--I live in FL, so definitely does for me). Not saying I'd turn down a whale, I usually only have local "whales" (CCB) to trade in turn.

 

"searching out the highest rated beers" is a bit vague here imo. Does "searching out" mean muling or hoarding at very limited releases to get an excessive amount of said bottles so they in turn can be flipped/traded to obtain these highest rated beers? If yes, I do have a problem with it. If "searching out" means looking over a store's shelf to see if one of these highest rated beers is there or going to a release of one of these highest rated beers to get a bottle for yourself to try, no, nothing wrong with that imo.

 

I don't call them out, there's nothing wrong with it. When I first discovered the world of craft beer, and especially this site, I really wanted to try all these beers I kept hearing about. BCBS, KBS, Heady, Pliny, etc..
They're all everyone talks about, and then half of those same people turn around and judge the 'n00bs' who want to try them? Gee, I wonder why they'd want to try the beers all the veterans keep talking about!
You hit the nail on the head though on the reason for it; there are those who get into beer, hear about all the "whales" and then think they're the only good beers and go after them while ignoring anything else.
But since you don't do that, there's nothing wrong with wanting to try them. I've managed to try many of them, and I'm still looking for a few. But as long as it doesn't keep you from other beers, it's fine.

 

That would depend on how much time and money said "top 250" beer costs. For the price of a single bottle of some of the more rarefied beers, I can drink highly rated beers from a number of breweries for a week, or in some cases, a month. If you have that kind of money to spend for a single bottle, more power to you. I don't.

And while I am willing to sink some time into this hobby to seek out the good and interesting, I personally do not have the time or inclination to spend hours in a line to buy my 2-bottle allotment of such-and-such rare beer. Again, if you do, more power to you.

Meanwhile, I am quite happy to drink what I find. And while that means I skip most Whales, I still manage to grab some stellar brews. I'm not hurting for good options - and I've never spent more than $25 on a bottle, and usually far less.

 

I've learned to pay attention to my own taste, not ratings or the "whale scale." I never make an effort just to get a beer based on rarity or rating, but for my own personal enjoyment. If I get an extra to trade or send a friend then all the better

 

I don't understand the lengths some people would go to for a particular beer, but I don't have a problem with it. If you think it's worth the time/money/effort, then go for it.

I only have a problem if you think drinking whales makes you better than people who drink shelf beers.

 

I don't have a problem with anything other people do, if it doesn't hurt anyone. I try to get the best beer I can find, but I don't whale hunt, because there are a few things in life more important than hyped beers.

 

the only problem with "whales" that i have is that there are too many pedants here that argue the only real whale is one that a couple guys got together and put on a specific list....instead of the Melville metaphor of something you seek out for a while in hopes of getting. some beers are whales to me...but not others. no reason to waste posts on a thread about whales just to correct people what a whale really is....we all know what the OP meant in those threads...carry on.