When do you have "too much" beer?

I think 50 is the right number for me. Much more than that and I feel I’ll be drinking more beer than I would like that has passed interest prime.

 

The point where beers important enough fo you to collect get old and go out of date sitting on your shelf. I can see a few stouts or sours that age well, but there’s plenty that don’t.

 

You have too much when you can't store it all out of the way of everyday life.

 

It depends on the individual and their preferences, but I personally have downsized. I don't like my "cellar" anymore. I only want as many beers as I can fit in my mini-fridge, maybe a few more for special occasions. I'm sick of clutter and I'm tired of beers piling up that I'm never going to drink or will take years to polish off.
Then again, a big part of my new position on this is that I'm interested in moving to another state soon, and I really don't want to take all my beer with me. I now only buy beer for immediate or near-immediate consumption.

 

I have a hard time putting a definition to how much is too much, but I have a friend who needs two locations (his own house and his mom's house) to store all the beers he has hoar..., err, collected. I don't believe he knows how many he has, but I would guess it is in the two to three thousand bottle range. He is young, so I guess it is possible he could drink them all before he dies, but it doesn't seem likely.

 

While I will still hoard BCBS variants, OB Bamburana, and Prairie Pirate Bomb - I believe I've broken the habit of buying so much of the other beers that I like but are easy to get when they come around in rotation. For example - Central Waters BA Stouts/Quads/Porters/Scotch Ales. While I love them, one 4-pack of each will suffice when they come around. Often all of them are on the shelf somewhere in town, so I don't need to buy several 4-packs of each.

 

I think you hit it on the head. I bought a case of KBS 2017 in a frenzy as it was the first time ever here when we weren’t constrained to one bottle. One year later, it tastes essentially like a fresh regular Founders breakfast stout. DFH World Wide Stout, on the other hand, is too hot fresh but was amazing at 7 years in. Try it fresh, then put some on a shelf if you think it’ll morph well. Otherwise, just drink some beer.

 

So I think problem is not to much beer, but the lack of volunteers to help us reduce our inventory.

Come people, step up.

 

As of 5/21/19 I have too much beer.

 

I only buy what I'm going to drink over the next month or so. When that's gone, I buy more. I have a few beers down in the cellar but I've pretty much stopped aging beer. I have cellared plenty of beer in the past and have come to the conclusion that an aged beer is rarely better than that same beer fresh.

 

I'll be right over.

 

I know I have too much because I have too many things I want to drink “fresh”, and I never get around to them in time because there is so much other shit in there.

If only there was an easy way to post a photo in here, I could show you the extent of the problem...

 

Last fall, I decided to focus on enjoying my cellar beers. So, I scaled back on new purchases and made it a point to always have 3-5 beers from the cellar in my 'fridge.

From October until April, I have reduced my cellar from ~110 beers to ~30 beers. So, time to start re-stocking, I think.

My palate memory is not good enough to say for certain how they compare with fresh, but only one had degraded into a regrettable condition. (Added that knowledge to my education in future choices.)

In the vast majority of examples, it was very enjoyable to have the ability to revisit old friends. The oldest were two 2014 beers and neither had diminished and both were quite enjoyable over this past winter. And I still have 1 remaining of each of the 2014 beers in my cellar. I'm in no hurry to consume the remaining 2. Next winter, perhaps.

The key to cellaring is to start with learning and curating your selections for the cellar. Next, is a cool, dark place for storage. Last, sit back and enjoy at regular intervals.

I've greatly enjoyed my experience with cellaring.

 

I'm maltlife and I have a problem. I have approximately 50 bottles of whiskey and around 14 cases of various beers.

 

Too much beer is right up there with too much sex.
Everything in moderation.
Your moderation or mine.

 

Everything in moderation,,,,,,including moderation.

Famous quote from someone.

 

The last looks like an upscale bar. In that case, I wouldn't consider it excessive at all.

 

Yeah, but beer is more likely to go bad.

 

And you live in Florida where you have less than ideal storage conditions. Sounds like you should ship that stuff to me for storage in my cool basement.

 

Exactly. Well said.

It has gone too far (you have too much beer) IMHO when supply grows faster than consumption. Of course, BA beers are a special case but you can still have too much BA beers too.

There comes a time when you just need to stop and take a breather for a month or two and get your cellar under control.