So I've been out of the trade game for 1.5 years or so (my wallet needed a break). It used to be that I could post DeGarde for trade and be inundated with messages. Have things changed and DeGarde is no longer the trade bait that it used to be?
Not sure how it used to be since I've only been trading for a year, but my guess is yes. I know some old Broken Truck batches were hype with high secondary value, but the new batches can be had at a little over cost. I'm guessing you're saying this cause you got no bites on DDH Pliny. Would probably say it's cause deGarde gets a lot of distribution out here, so it's easy to get. If you had more of the limited stuff, might get more interest (Anniversary, EoC, Nectarine stuff, BT, etc.). But even stuff like Nectarine Premiere saw distribution out here. Still think deGarde is awesome though, especially for the price.
I used to trade for de Garde a few times a year, but this past year I made it into Keepers. Add increased distro in the equation and I just don’t find myself trading for it. I imagine quite a few others are in a similar boat. This is not to say de Garde isn’t still amazing; on the contrary, this year they’ve been putting out some of the best beers I’ve ever had from them. For example, this year’s batch of The Lily.....oh baby that was good.
As I've been reminded on several occasions, quality by itself does not equate to desirability when it comes to trade value. As others have also noted, "rareness" has a special flavor all its own, when it comes to a beer's trade value. I think that's the case with de Garde. Quality is as good as ever, but now that so many of their beers are no longer rare and/or hard to come by, trade value for dG stuff has dropped like a rock.
I like that rare flavor I get from walking down to the store and knowing that I can pick up a bottle of maisson for $20 (less as the owner is selling everything at a discount while it is all curbside)
Thanks for all the thoughtful replies. It is pretty incredible to be able to go into the local super-mart type store and find a bottle. No complaining from me, really have just been out the the trading/ beer nerd game and wasn't up-to-date. Will be happy to go to Tillamook this weekend and buy for one!
DeGarde is consistently great (especially lately), PNW traders in general are a pretty reasonable and generous bunch, and demand isn't anywhere near as high as it used to be (in part of the ease of obtaining dG), so I definitely make a point to trade for dG once or twice a year. I'm sorry for the PNW traders that it's no longer "trade bait," but the rest of the country are the winners in this situation.
I rarely trade (and then when I do it's always $4$), so this doesn't bother me a bit. Fremont brewing also makes some great BA beers that have little trade value. Some years ago, Rusty Nail had fairly significant trade value, but no longer. The beer is as good as ever, but Matt makes enough of it that it's even distributed in California now, and I never have any problem finding it in PDX. I'm completely happy with this eventuality.
Absolutely. I'd put Fremont among the best barrel programs in the country, which is insane given the quantities they're making. I need to make it back out to the source someday, you PNW-ers have the best balance of quality/accessibility in the country in my opinion.
Well SEPA is no slouch IMHO, but I agree with you. After living here for a while now, it's easy to take it for granted.
This reminds me of the early years of The Bruery Reserve Society and Hoarders Society. Many of those bottles traded highly for a few years but as supply increased, demand decreased. The quality mostly stayed consistent but the novelty wore off and many newer breweries began to produce the same style brews just as good or better. Seems like the same thing is happening to Bottle Logic right now.
