This. You do need a sponsor based on your lack of trade/BIF experience; if you need help finding one let me know, but preferably it's someone you already know.
@Yourahoser, have you had either of the Barrel Aged Raspberry Stouts from Hardywood in Richmond, Va? That's my hometown brewery so I always rep it hard. If you want to do a side by side with the Lindley Park let me know your address and I'll get you a bottle.
This would be a cool side-by-side, I've had both but not at the same time; even without doing them at the same time though I know which one would win. Another side-by-side idea you could do is the BA vs non-BA of the Hardywood, that I did do and it was fun to see how the barrel changed the beer.
Maybe a new thread should be started for the CIF- with some back story. And this thread can be kept alive for round 2+
I think the CIF should be kept alive within this thread - it's a Newbie BIF traveling box! On the other hand, after Round 2 I'm not sure how many "Newbies" will be left... everyone will have done a couple BIF's!
Personally I'd be in favor of keeping both within this thread. I think it's evident from comments made here (and more to me privately) that this group wants to stay together going forward, I'm going to take this assumption as fact when I present these two scenarios: Stout BIF: Working on Round 5, new thread every time. A decent number of people return each time, some fall off and a few new ones come in. The Locals: Working on Round 8 (plus 3 traveling boxes similar to CIF) in half the time that Stout BIF has taken to get to 5. As a group there have been a handful of bottle shares coordinated, countless handshakes, and hundreds of boxes LIF'd/traded/ninja'd for no reason. There's nothing at all wrong with Stout BIF the way it is, it works well for that format. But if the goal is for a group to stay together as a unit and grow and foster deeper relationships, the format of The Locals takes the cake by a mile. Chalk that up to lack of foresight/creativity by me in naming the BIF. I've been kicking around the idea of renaming the thread to give the group a more indelible identity but I have yet to come up with anything great.
PSA: The trick is to not get in over your head. Please everyone be mindful of the commitments you're making. Even more so than getting into trading in the first place, and especially for those of you new to both, it is EXTREMELY easy to go all kid-in-a-candy store, with the exception that shipping boxes full of beer costs a lot more than $0.69 at a time.
THIS. I speak from experience, it's very easy to over-extend yourself. I entered several BIF's this fall for football, expecting to have to ship once every couple weeks. Bingo bango, I get knocked out of the Survivor Pool, turn in a horrible Pick 'Em week, and the Newbie BIF shipping date comes around. Plus a LIF box I needed to ship, and a couple #Pickitupformebro boxes. Sent something stupid like 8 boxes in a 2-3 week period. Luckily I could pull bottles from my existing cellar, and had sufficient wiggle room on the credit card to keep my head above water, but it's a perfect example as to how quickly things can snowball on you.
Also, for the uninitiated, it's just good manners to conduct & ship your own LIF before entering someone else's contest. For a group like this where a good chunk of you were new to the BIF scene, that may not always be possible, but if there are more "Newbies" that latch on for Round 2 and beyond, keep this in mind. A good rule of thumb is to try and ship more than you receive. If you find yourself winning multiple LIF's, consider forwarding the box to someone else - maybe a participant who hasn't won one, but dropped a killer box on their target (you or someone else) the last round. Create good beer karma for yourself, show everyone that you're a good guy (or gal) and the returns will come around sooner or later.
Well put. The unreliable nature of Sports BIFs can definitely compound the issue, but even if those aren't your cup of tea it isn't hard to over-extend. For example, from June to August you chat about a couple trade ideas, offer up a LIF in August, sign up for #CIF in September, and do Round 2 in October. None of that sounds like too much, until three of those trades all get finalized during the same week you're due to send out that LIF, during same week as you end up unexpectedly receiving #CIF, which all happens to be during the Round 2 shipping window, and now you've got 6 boxes to put together in a week. I'm not trying to scare anyone off, just help you all learn from the collective wisdom of a ton of people who have been in your position.
Also this. Beer Karma is a VERY real thing, and as long as you take care to keep yours positive, you will at some point be very thankful for it.
I too vote for keeping it here! I'd like to stick with everyone who participated in round 1 and all the LIF's so far. Along with chatting on Untappd, I'd like to keep building my community with great BA's. Obviously, we can allow others to join, with the same requirements of being new. Keeps the main theme/message of @LehighAce06 in starting this, to give back, help newbies learn the ropes and build a community.
Speaking of Untappd, we should have a directory of people, similar to Locals thread, with contact info.
