Who's stopped hunting

Editing timed out for post above so...
Replace "a 4-pack" with '1 bomber'.

 

A few weeks ago I found myself face to face with a four pack of KBS. I hadn't been waiting in line for it. I didn't call ahead to see if the liquor store had received any allocations of it. It was just there, furtively camouflaged between centennial and backwoods. 5 years ago I would have jumped on it, happily paid the $50 price tag for the 4 12oz bottles, and thanked the beer gods for their generosity and kindness with some sort of live animal sacrifice.

Over the past couple years I've had my fair share of "white whales." Sometimes these beers live up to the hype, but often they disappoint my expectations and I find myself feeling cheated. Regardless, they are expensive. We're really living through a golden age of beer right now and with so much excellent, local beer available I find it hard to justify the time and money I'd spend whale hunting.

Needless to say, the KBS stayed on the shelf. Instead, I spent $11 on a bottle of Hardywood Bourbon Barrell GBS, and $13 on a six pack of Manor Hill Grisette. Both beers are delicious. The Hardywood is incredible. I can drive less than an hour and stock up at either brewery or go for a long bike ride and reward myself with a pint. That is the value of drinking local.

 

No hunting here in Billings, MT. Only one beer and wine store and a couple grocery stores get anything worth a damn. Stop by once a week. Our yearly trip to Denver for GABF is an entirely different story...

 

I have only looked fruitlessly for a few packaged releases, much like @cavedave said,
so many wonderful releases. I will go to a few breweries for some unique pours but that's about it. Eventually those whalez surface at another time.
I also appreciate the cellar stocking and cellar exploring that has been mentioned.
Invariably (I do not trade) this is not currency we drink! I am off to the secret lair to open something.
Cheers all

 

I know the feeling. I took off to hunt BCBS the morning of black Friday - while we had company - and came home with a case. Then the next day my wife was with me at Costco which I ran across 3+ cases, no limit, at $8.86 each. At first I grabbed a partial box that had six, but got "the look" and just bought two bottles. On the way out I saw another guy leaving with two cases.

 

Don’t hunt at all anymore. Plenty of good beer on the shelves year round.

 

I don't hunt but I definitely gather.

 

I've occasionally hunted, but I'd hardly consider myself a serious hunter. My hunting days, as lackadaisical as they were, are over now. I might snap up hyped releases if I happen to find them, but I don't go out of my way.

I've noticed a trend in recent years where some stores that likely have little to no BCBS run great sales on other beer on Black Friday. I walked out of Whole Foods this past Black Friday with a nice selection of fantastic barrel aged stouts and quads, all 25% off. The store was quite empty and the beer section well stocked. It was a much more satisfying experience than battling crowds and bottle limits. My dollar went much further and my sanity remained intact. There's just not much need to hunt IMO, at least for BCBS, as long as I'm able to take advantage of deals like that.

 

Does going to one or two of your most visited bottle shops on the day you know something is being released count as hunting? If so, I only hunt occasionally and it is getting less and less common. I did for CBS and will plan to next year for Hopslam and KBS. None of these are that hard to get with minimal effort.

 

Same here. Way too much good beer to go around. Every time I go to the store I can get Carton, Kane, Magnify, Tonewood, Singlecut, Von Trapp (and much more but I'll stop there). If I find something casually then sure I'll grab it but I'll never go far out of my way or wait in big line for some beer (which is exactly why I haven't bothered with Tired Hands/Other Half).

I randomly stumbled upon CBS in 2011...it was a great beer, sure, but I'm not about to call a bunch of stores stores or drive all over the state in hopes of finding it again. If I find it next time I'm at the store, great; if not, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯