Beer Trading; It's all the same

I for one do most of these trades with existing trade partners. One guy I first traded Dinner for Zombie Dust. We recently swapped local shelf beers, and I think we were both happy with the results. But the more readily available stuff allows me more options of who I ask to get it for me. And therefore, I'm relying on existing relationships, rather than posting an ISO.

 

There would be if more BA's just wanted to try new beers out of their distro area vs whale hunting. Ohio IPA's are tremendous, offer up some Head Hunter or JuJu, and share it around. But I'm thinking local distros are getting to be so vast that most locals for locals aren't even a thought because there's already a glut. IMO there's 3-4 Ohio IPA's that are world class your very fortunate there.

 

There doesn't need to be a common trade forum, if you browse long enough you will see that there are a bunch of local for local trades. Not all trading has to be done for "rare" beers.

 

I agree. Seems to me that it's all rarities. For me, I've traded only for stuff like Daisy Cutter and Revolution Brewing. Jack's Abby (from MA) is making world-class stuff. I always offer a sixer of that for something commonly distributed. I've accepted that I may never have some beers. That's cool with me.

Just find something you want to drink & make an offer with something you have. Worst case is that no one bites.

I love when I offer something and I get a response of "Do you have Heady Topper?" No, I don't. Otherwise I would have said so.

 

I've been pretty successful trading Bodhi, Headhunter, White Raja, Jackie O's specialties and other Ohio breweries. I get the biggest hits on Jackie O's and Bodhi though.

 

Those frequently traded beers (Heady, Pliny specifically) are in fact "common releases" for people who are local to them. You're in Ohio, as @gregcordle said, plenty people trade for the common releases there.

Trading is expensive and time consuming, what makes it more worth it is to get beers that are not so common and are known to be good. That said, plenty of shelf beers are traded all the time. Many people, myself included, base their trades around one or a few harder to get bottles and expand for interesting "more common releases". That is usually discussed in private messages.

 

Echo everything so far. If you don't see many "common" beers trading, try to post one yourself!

 

Shipping is expensive. In my opinion local shelf beers are better used for extras

 

I see what the OP is talking about because you don't see many of the local for local threads, but they are there.

Like what @mythaeus said, if you are gonna go through the trouble of packing securely and paying for shipping then typically you want it to be worth it. I can't speak for everyone but I know that Austin gets crazy good distro. So do several other cities. If we want something new, we can usually just go out and buy it. I also send a ton of local, fresh and great beers out just for folks to try. I think that once you have a couple folks you trade with regularly, sending locals becomes more of a pickitupformebro than a trade so you stop seeing local for local trades.

 

@Testosterownd I started a thread on this a few weeks ago. Just post an ISO shelf for shelf thread and specify what shelf you are looking for or at least the region. It is expensive so don't get too carried away but if you know of what locals you are looking for it might make things easier. Also you can search the forums for what beer you are looking for and if you see folks talking about that beer and they're from that region you can reach out to see if they want to trade. That's what I did with @wcu80 when I was looking for Creature Comforts

 

If you want to trade locals for locals or see more threads for them, make a thread/threads. From my experience and what I've read here most traders have established partners that they can go to for out of distro shelf beers so most deals are made in private messages, texts, emails, etc. There's some great beers in Ohio so you should have no problem getting your needs met if you make a thread and potentially come away with a steady trade partner. I would post a thread with what out of distro shelf beers you are interested in and a list of what you can get locally to trade for them. I don't think you should have a problem finding someone to help you out.

 

I myself post for shelf stuff from time to time with overwhelming success.

It's really difficult to get a bead on a lot of local brews, since a new beer from a small brewery has 7 local ratings and are suspect of being by super-homers or brewery employees. I have no interest on trading for mediocre when I have world class on the shelf and on tap around every corner.

You need to create a package of what you consider the best available locals and put it out there. When you do your list tell the world why they want to trade/try those beers.

Good Luck

 

Also check out seekabrew, it's very helpful to know who gets what where.

 

I find myself trading less as there are now great local beers in New York that I have easy access to, that could be happening around country too disminishing need for people to trade the non-whales. Also, influx of new generation of people searching for gold is resulting in a lot more whale like trades.

 

While I agree with this, I'm finding that it isn't very up to date. A few times now that I have sent a beer that wasn't supposed to be distributed in a specific area and it was, and vice versa. I feel as if they aren't able to keep up with such swift changes.

 

I don't think the hoppy local stuff is very deep here in NC, but I do agree that I have long time trade guys around the country that I deal with. Not much need for me for a locals for locals for the most part.

No idea how often seekabrew brew updates, but distro is blowing up.

 

Are people letting seekabrew know about changes and they just aren't updating it quickly? If nobody is letting them know we can't really complain about it not being accurate.

 

Not really complaining, just stating that its not always accurate. Its better to ask your trade partner if they get certain distro and specifically certain beers.

 

Hit me up in the spring. I love doing locals for locals - I just enjoy trying new things I can't get access to. Cheers.