what's your cellar's history?

PA used to only allow beer to be purchased by a full case. Back in 2012-2013 whenever I would try I new beer I had to commit to buying an entire case.

I would always save 2-4 before venturing onto the next beer to try. Over a few years I had a few cases full of random shelfy beers that I would randomly revisit.

I had no idea that beer was even cellar-able or what types were best. I had many IPA's in the mix for instance.

These days PA's laws are somewhat more lax. Most of my cellar is excessive multiples of beers I really enjoy and overzealously bought. I probably have 250 or so beers. Probably only 100 unique though.

 

The place where I first started buying craft beer from told me that Old Stock Ale aged really well so I started storing them down in the basement. Then someone, surely here, told me about Patrick Dawson's Vintage Beer, which opened up a huge can of knowledge about what beers age well and which not to even bother with. So I started adding Old Rasputin, Third Coast Old Ale, Backwoods Bastard, Bigfoot, Expedition Stout and others. During this some dog walking and beer drinking friends relocated to San Diego and gave me a beer fridge which hold about 50 bottles and cans along with some vintage bottles they'd accumulated through the years.

I keep track of my inventory (kind of because I recently discovered a KBS surprise) with The Beer Cellar. I currently have 90 bottles and cans which has gotten to that level due to drinking down my cellar with little replacement. That will turn around shortly. This forum has been very helpful.

 

I started cellaring in 2008. The genesis of this was my love for The Abyss, a beer that I found in those days to be really solid fresh & insanely good after 1-2 years.

Being young & ignorant, I started throwing all sorts of things into the cellar. I'd say 1/3 of them actually became worse, 1/3 stayed roughly the same, & 1/3 actually improved. Over the next few years I started weeding out the first two categories & concentrating on the beers that really get better, & their close relatives that seemed like they'd reach similar outcomes. Nowadays my cellar is mostly made of Surly Darkness, Central Waters BA Barleywine, Deschutes The Abyss, & various Bruery beers, along with a smattering of other specific brewery offerings.

My cellar is down below 300 bottles for the first time in several years & while that may seem insane, my wife likes beer even more than I do, so it's a cellar for two (yes, I'm sticking to that rationalization). It's down over 30 bottles since the beginning of the current madness.

 

In 2006, I started copy-catting my favorite beer bar "Bierhuis Kulminator" in Antwerp fearing that one day the beerhouse will disappear (not yet, guys!) and fearing that I then would miss aged beer a lot.
So, I started modestly in 2006 by buying one crate of beer (33 cl) or +/- 10-12 75 cl bottles every two months. Now, 14 yrs later my cellar is approx. 1250 bottles ranging from trappists, geuzes, blond, brown, black, red-brown, barley wines, stouts. Some beers are no longer brewed, some changed recipes and/or breweries, some are unique and special brews.
Oldest crate is one from 1960 containing beer from 1970 or 1971: Gordon Xmas. It is undrinkeable because of improper aging conditions resulting in cardboard flavors. But the crate itself, including the bottles, are true gems. Bottles have crown cork (so, truely cork topped with a crown).
Drinkeable beers: Rodenbach Vin de Céréale 2004, 3 Fonteinen Vintage 2005, Pannepot Grand Reserva 2005, Westmalle Tripel 2006, Val Dieu Grand Cru 2006, Mort Subite Oude Kriek Limited Edition 2006, ...
Unique bottle of Belgor lambiek from Brussegem (no label) from before 1971 (already tasted one and it had to breath a lot, +2 hours, before consumption); soft and smooth dry white wine/sherry.