Anybody trade for these recently? If so, thoughts on the beer and what did you trade? Cost looks high for the bottles, so I kind want to get an idea of what I'm potentially getting into. Thanks, Aaron
I don't have specific trade details but I can give you some general ideas. La Tache & Sahalie are readily available on the shelf in Portland, Eugene, Bend, etc. You shouldn't have to part with anything super rare - $4$ should be fine. Sahati is rarer but was on shelves, so limited release beers would be appropriate. El Cuatro was even more limited ... IMHO, it's better than it's current rating. Spencer and Sahalian (the sour that was just released today) went to club members only of which there are around 200 (?). Each got 2 bottles and there were some left over for sale (with first dibs going to club members). You'll have to part with something a little more special to get these. (Some of the details above may be slightly off, but they're ballpark.) Since the hype isn't as great for these as for comparable beers, you'll probably be able to make a favorable trade. As for the high cost, it's a really small operation, incredibly hands on, that strives to be sustainable. They really don't want to get big. I mean, they name and brand every barrel! You pay a bit more for this "hand crafted' element. Some people may find that "artisanal" (horribly overused word) element a bit precious / pretentious, but if you meet the folks behind it, you see that it isn't. Not to put words in anyone's mouth, but it seems to stem from desire to really be connected to ones craft and place. I find it admirable and I'm happy to pay for it ... particularly when I consider that, random example, Goose Island charges just as much for their "sisters".
Just to point out, Ale Club Members do get 2 Spencers (only released once a year), but are only getting ONE bottle of Sahalien on the upcoming Ale Club allocation. Spencer doesn't go on sale to the general public and the 'extra' Sahalien (which was released today) WASN'T offered to Ale Club members first. Paul released the extra bottles of Sahalien (the ones not in the Ale Clubs' allocation) to the general public at an event in Bend, today. No word on whether there is any left and what will happen with the 'extra'. El Cuatro has been released once in the last year and a half and Sahati, twice. La Tache and Sahalie are definitely the most often available.
I managed to pick up three of these today. According to the man himself 275 were bottled. About half went to ale club members. Leaving about 100-150 available to the general public. So I got 2-3% of the supply...
The Bend event was open to the general public? My understanding was that it was an Ale Club event and, thus, Sahalien "extras" over the 1 bottle allocation were preferentially released to Ale Club members. Guess I was wrong. Did you, ArdyExfor, to the blacksmithing? I really wished I could have been at the event ... Any reports on how the Sahalien tastes? Hair splitting aside, basic gist is that Spencer and Sahalien are rarer than La Tache / Sahalie / Sahati and more likely to be obtained through Ale Club members. From the above, it sounds like that's even more true of Spencer since I don't think much, if any, of that was released to the public. I'm thankful to be an Ale Cub member so I don't have to stress over getting my fix. ;-)
Didnt really pay much attention to the blacksmithing. One bottle went to ea. ale club member. The rest was available for sale to the public, approx 100-150 bottles with a three bottle limit.
