Here's the story. I posted an ISO a few weeks back for a fresh growler of Alpine Bad Boy. I got a couple of responses and fortunately was able to work out a deal with @akang (Albert). We both agreed to send our boxes a few days later and include some extras. Both boxes arrived as expected and intact. Bad Boy has been on my Wants list for some time now and I was super excited to finally get to try it. So I decided to bring it to a family Christmas party and share it with my dad and anyone else who wanted to try it. My wife and I were loading up the car and she happened to pick up the growler. (I'm sure you can tell where this is going.) All of a sudden I heard a loud crash, followed by the sound of beer fizzing and flowing all over the concrete. I didn't see what had broken at first, and I was silently praying that it wasn't the growler. But as soon as I smelled the delicious hops (before I even saw the broken glass everywhere) I knew right then what it was. Bad Boy. Gone. I thought to myself, this is exactly how the old man in A Christmas Story must have felt after Ralphie's mom knocked his prized leg lamp over. I was seriously tempted to get on all fours and start lapping up the beer. Subsequently, I sent Albert a follow up BM to let him know that his box arrived safely (at least through delivery) and thank him for the trade and great extras. I also had to tell him the devastating news and I mentioned that perhaps we could set up another trade the next time Bad Boy became available. So now we finally arrive at the point of my post. The next day he responded with this: "I saw your BM this morning and felt really bad. I'm glad you like the extras, but they're definitely not the main attraction. This batch of Bad Boy was phenomenal so I ended up actually getting another growler fill on Tuesday (12/17) before they ran out. I was planning on opening it over the holidays, but I've had more than my fair share of it over the last couple batches. As such, I just packed it up and shipped it off to you." I must say, I've been very lucky to have met and traded with many amazing and generous BAs, but never have I encountered such unsolicited generosity as I did with Albert. His new shipment arrived promptly and extremely well packed (like the first box), and the man even sent me ANOTHER amazing extra along with the second growler. Needless to say, Bad Boy was PHENOMENAL and I couldn't be more thankful. He will be receiving a thank you box of some nice bottles from my cellar. Albert - you are the man, and deserving of infinite beer karma in my eyes. Cheers to you!
Wow! What a story! You da man Albert. This batch of Bad Boy is BAD ASS! amazing beer and my favorite Alpine so far (out of Duet, Nelson, and PH). Thanks for sharing the story. Seems like a lot of bad traders are popping up so it's nice to hear a great story once in a while. Cheers!
These kinds of things used to be posted fairly often & they've almost disappeared from the boards. Tip o' the hat to both OP & his excellent trading partner for bringing some sunshine back.
This is what trading is all about, the joy of sharing beer with fellow BAs and the relationships that ensue.
It's a shame that people in general seem to feed off of and focus more on negativity these days. I'm sure there are just as many, if not more (at least I'd like to think so), positive experiences that just don't get shared with the BA community. Cheers!
Jay, thank you for the kind words. I was just happy I could help make the situation right and you got to try the Bad Boy. One thing Jay neglected to mention is that he is among the most generous traders I've had the pleasure of working with during my short time on BA. It was a joy to unpack his box and see the surprises he had included. Anyways, I also agree that there are likely many more positive interactions than not in the community. Here's to a happy 2014! Cheers all!
Albert is in my bottleshare group & acts of kindness like this are just normal everyday life for him. I'm lucky to call him a friend.
