Addicted to buying

Being a "shopaholic" seems to be a pretty common problem that expands well beyond the beer world. Shiny new stuff is exciting. That's just how it works.

 

At one time, my inventory of beer looked like this...

144 Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 12oz bottles -------------------------------------1728oz
24 Samuel Adams Winter Lager 12oz bottles ------------------------------------288oz
24 New Belgium Abbey style Ale 12oz bottles ----------------------------------288oz
24 New Belgium Porch Swing Ale 12oz bottles ----------------------------------288oz
24 Beck’s Lager 12oz bottles -------------------------------------------------288oz
24 Guinness Harp from Canada 12oz bottles-------------------------------------288oz
24 Grolsch Lager 12oz bottles ------------------------------------------------288oz
24 Grolsch Amber 12oz bottles-------------------------------------------------288oz
16 Bass Ale 1pt 3.25oz (19.25oz) bottles--------------------------------------269.5oz
12 Heineken 12oz bottles-------------------------------------------------------144oz
12 Guinness extra stout from Canada 1pt 6oz (22oz) bottles--------------------264oz
12 New Belgium Biere de Mars Ale 12oz bottles---------------------------------144oz
12 New Belgium 1554 Brussels Style Black Ale 12oz bottles---------------------144oz
6 Fuller’s London Porter 1 pt 2.6oz (18.6oz) bottles---------------------------111.6oz
6 Leinenkugel Big Butt Double Bock 12oz bottles--------------------------------72oz
6 St Pauli Girl dark 12oz bottles----------------------------------------------72oz
6 Breckenridge Christmas Ale 2002 12oz bottles---------------------------------72oz
6 Boulevard Irish Ale 12oz bottles---------------------------------------------72oz
6 New Belgium Tripple Belgium Ale 12oz bottles---------------------------------72oz
6 Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome 2002 2003 550ml (18.6oz) bottles--------------111.6oz
6 Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout 1pt 2.7oz (18.7oz) bottles---------------------112.2oz
6 Young’s Special London Ale Millennium Edition 1pt .09oz (16.09oz) bottles-----96.54oz
4 Young’s Old Nick 1pt 0.9oz (16.9oz) bottles-----------------------------------67.6oz
4 Murphy’s Irish Stout 14.9oz cans----------------------------------------------59.6oz
2 Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale 1 pt 2.7oz (18.7oz) bottles----------------------37.4oz
2 Samuel Smith’s Organically Produced Ale 1 pt 2.7oz (18.7oz) bottles-----------37.4oz
2 Guinness extra stout from St James's Gate brewery 1pt 0.9oz (16.9oz) bottles-38.8oz
1 Samuel Smith Winter Welcome 2002 2003 12oz bottle----------------------------12oz
1 Rogue Yellow Snow Ale 2002 22oz bottle---------------------------------------22oz
1 Rouge Shakespeare Stout 22oz bottle------------------------------------------22oz
1 McEwan’s IPA 12oz bottle-----------------------------------------------------12oz
1 Samuel Smith Taddy Porter 12oz bottle----------------------------------------12oz
1 Mackeson Triple Stout 12oz bottle--------------------------------------------12oz
1 Rouge Dead Guy Ale 12oz bottle-----------------------------------------------12oz
1 Pinkus Alt 500ml (16.91oz) bottle--------------------------------------------16.9oz
1 Miller Lite 24oz can---------------------------------------------------------24oz
1 Camo High Gravity Lager 24oz can---------------------------------------------24oz
1 Camo Genuine ALE 24oz can----------------------------------------------------24 oz
1 Camo Silver ICE 24oz can-----------------------------------------------------24 oz
1 Beamish Irish Stout 16oz nitro can-------------------------------------------16oz

5997.14oz of beer as of 8/2/2003

46.852 gallons of beer

434 bottles

You are not alone my brother!

 

No, I don't think anyone on BA feels this way

 

i buy 3x what i drink every week. i think i have 200 bottles currently.

 

We're all that way it is fun to hunt new beers. I'm lucky and have a store by me that sells singles so I can buy a case of all new beers for $50 or less so it doesn't hurt my wallet as bad as it could.

 

That deserves a wow. Or were you bulking up for a party of 50 people?

 

I used to be in the same boat, less somewhat these days (although I did spend $60 on beer today ). Now that I've reviewed 1,000+ beers, I've become more selective about what to pick up and it takes more to get me out to the bottle shop. I still currently have 300+ bottles in the beer fridge/cellar, had gotten it down to 285 but then a bunch of new beers came out that I wanted to try, and Whole Foods also recently had a one-day 20% off sale so I figured I might as well stock up on some old favorites. And a lot of what I have is 10%+ ABV bombers/750s, and there just aren't all that many nights when I feel like tackling a big beer like that. So they sit, waiting for me to get to them. I find that the lower ABV beers and IPAs go very quickly, so I buy only a few of those at a time. Overall though, the thrill of buying new beer has started to fade after almost 5 years.

 

No party. Was hooked more on buying than drinking as the OP eluted to in the post.

Cheers!

 

Got into this during SF Beer Week in February. Did the calculation last week - I've dropped $3400 on beer, shipping, and tastings since starting. Constantly find myself on beermenus looking for the next snag. So I guess you could technically call me an addict.

 

Yep. Same. Have tons of beer in my cellar. I'm a relative noob and think it's really fun trying to hunt down beers. And I have trouble saying no to something I've been looking for. Plus, I've been trading a lot and often getting more bottles than i send out.

Everything I have stored is somewhat age-able and I drink anything not right away. I figure worst that happens is that I'll end up drinking some beers aged without knowing how they should taste fresh, because of buying more than drinking. But, whatever. I don't take it that seriously that that will stop me from my addictive behavior.

 

I've kind of had this same conversation with myself. I don't make a special shopping trip or anything, but if I'm at the supermarket or close to one of my favorite bottle shops I usually go browsing for a little while. My wife is used to it and tells me she will meet me in 15 minutes at the fresh produce section. I do like to look and see if there's anything I've been wanting to try or if they have a hard to find old favorite. I frequently find something and have it in hand when I hear a little voice saying "Ya know... I already have a fridge full of beer... and I'm working out again because I really need to lose some of the gut... and I really should just save the money... and..." That's when I walk back to the cooler and put it back.

 

Nope. Have around 30 or 40 bottles in my fridge right now, and plan on knocking that down considerably with BBQ and bonfires in the next couple days. I'll replenish the fridge shortly thereafter, but I wont get crazy with it.

Beer is for drinking.

 

I posted this same thing the other night. Over 30 beers in the fridge, a hundred in the cellar, bought à 6-er of Gumballhead today.

 

I definitely have this problem. I'm not much for cellaring (don't have much space for that) but I do buy way too much beer. I'll have around 10 great beers in my fridge, but I still find myself browsing the nearest bottle shop/total wine after work. Browsing and buying new beers is amazing. It gets my endorphins firing (do they fire?).

 

Definitely!

I'm "lucky" though, as I only really have enough space to store about 30-40 bottles max, so that helps me limit my purchasing.

 

Once I develop an understanding on some of these age, I'll condense my cellar so that I have 1-2 beers max per style.

24 Rochefort 10
6 Rochefort 8
12 Tripel Karmeliet
12 Westmalle Dubbel
8 Westvleteren 12
9 Orval
8 St. Bernardus Abt 12 750mL
6 Chimay Blue
5 Achel Bruin
1 Gulden Draak
3 Abbaye Des Rocs Grand Cru
2 Het Anker Keizer Blauw 750mL
1 Armand and Tomme 750 mL
1 3F Golden Blend
2 Fuller's Vintage Ale
2 Aventinus Eis-Bock
5 Expedition Stout
1 Black Chocolate Stout
1 Black Albert
5 Rodenbach Vintage 750mL
3 Liefmans Goudenband 750mL
1 Deus 750 mL
1 J.W. Lees Harvest Ale 08
1 4D Barrel Aged
1 Ten Fidy
2 Peche Mortel
4 Schlenkerla Fastenbier
1 Schlenkerla Marzen
1 Schlenkerla Urbock
1 Weihenstepaner Korbinian
1 Uerige Sticke
1 Smuttynose RIS bomber
1 Smuttynose Baltic Porter
1 Anchor Porter
16 Old Flame 568mL (assorted)
10 Cuvee des Jacobins
2 Duchess des Bourgogne
1 Backwoods Bastard
1 Great Lakes Blackout Stout
1 Bigfoot 2013
1 Wooly Bugger Barleywine
1 Hr. Fredrickson RIS
1 Samiclaus Classic 14%
+ a couple dozen more

 

Hi, my name is Keith and I am addicted to buying beer. My living room is full of beer, my fridge is full of beer (no room for food, hence why I order pizza so much) and my bedroom has a bunch of bottles. Today I made 2 beer runs which happens time to time.

 

I love your devotion to European beers. 8 Westy 12s..I'm jealous.

 

Oh for sure. I think it's like any hobby. The fun part is the shopping. I also collect action figures and though I love the ones I have my favorite part of collecting is walking into one of my favorite stores. I feel the same way now about beer shopping. I have to be careful though because if too much beer starts taking up the pantry and the fridge my wife lets me have it.