Anyone reach "the point?"

Ha ha... no. Definitely not. There's just too much out there right now! Percentage wise, it'd have to be 75/25 new beers to previously tried ones. The Vermont Top Shelf guys are always welcome but we have so many breweries here that I can drink local most days and still have something new in my glass.

 

New beers 2 to 1.

 

I'm sorta done trying new breweries, until they build a rep. I hate being a guinea pig knowing full well they are charging the same price as the ones who built that rep. Those other guys deserve my money more imho. I'll help fund La Cumbre's expansion one pint at a time. No offense to the new guys. I tend to give them one try. But I feel guilty when nothing seems to come close to the price and value of what LC can provide.. Call me a loyalist .


I'd say I am about 2/3rds same ol, 1/3rd brand new package or draft

 

Always looking for the next beer epiphany. Try to make educated choices but always willing to take a chance. There will always be Celebration (I hope) and a few here and there that are reminders of special events, etc. but I would say that is about 10% of the time for me.

 

Yes, quite a few years ago.

Well, close to as you describe - I try very, very few new beers now. It's just not worth it any longer as most new ones are quite mediocre and my market is saturated with best of the best for many styles from breweries coming in from other states.

 

Spoken like a true champion.

 

I have been there for a while, now. The idea of "being boring" with my choices hasn't bothered me, and there's been no "FOMO", or sense that I need to keep up to date by constantly ticking new beers -- that's been true since I hit age 40.

Percentage of new to familiar is probably close enough to 20% to +/- 80% that I don't need to bother checking my reviews vs. just going to take a look at the number of empty packages in my recycling bin, on the porch.

 

Reaching "the point" is also a beer epiphany.

 

I'd say 50/50, perhaps a touch more toward old favorites. I differentiate between 'new' as in new to me but an established classic that has hit distro in my area vs new as in 'new brewery / new release'. Based on that I am about 5% new releases, and the rest even between well regarded beers I just haven't had yet and things I just love and have regularly.

I am certainly past the 'point' as you put it, but that is driven a lot by the stupid pricing of bombers from new breweries. I saw a 16.9 oz bottle of regular beer (so I guess 500ml) from a newer brewery in Chicago and they wanted $9.50. NINE FUCKING FIFTY FOR A PINT OF FUCKING PALE ALE WITH SOME FUCKING SHITTY SPICES IN IT.

Ahem, sorry. I have certainly reached my "point" when it comes to new beers.

 

Within the last two years I've significantly cut back on trading and have focused much more on classic, easily accessible beers I enjoy. I still get the itch to try new things, but I'm very much focus on things I know I will like as opposed to trying anything I haven't had just to try it.

 

To add, I am also finding less time to go to breweries etc. If I have just one stop in me for the week, I have come to realize that I like to go where its familiar and results pretty much guaranteed to hit where I expect. It's sorta what breeds the BMC crowd into becoming loyal to one of their beer brands. Being content is really not such a bad thing. With that one brewery trip available weekly, I tend to find a new seasonal worth ordering a pint of at said established "favorite" brewery. So it sorta does seem "new". I don't feel the world around me evolving at too great of a rate while I stay the same.

It's that "rat race" effect. People get tired of stuff constantly. Hobbies come and go. I think most of us have seen a phase where its okay to drink the same ol. But then the itch comes back just weeks later.. And unless you are drinking or giving away your entire "cellar" of goods, being away from beer and back again can be a healthy choice for sure

 

there are so many beers to try, and only so much liver function to kill. I don't like to waste my liver on stuff I have already had unless I really, really enjoy it.

 

I'm not at the point where I don't seek out new beers. I've got some great bars around that afford me the chance to try something new just about any time I go out. I do find myself disappointed with a new beer once in a while when I pass up a few standby classics on the menu.

I am about at the point where I'm done seeking out the latest and greatest, hyped-up, barrel-aged, spiced, aged-on Angels wings stout. It seems there are so many brews out like this now, that these types of beers have kinda lost their mystique for me. With the over-saturation of these types, I've found myself craving simpler stuff, and less popular styles.

 

No! I'm still at the Anti-Point, where all i want to try is new beer. Once I reach my 1,000th review this summer, I'm going to go back to the point and just drink what I like -- maybe!. But for now, new beer is good beer, and it's hitting the shelves every 3-4 days. I can't keep up .. almost.

 

I feel like I'm kind of over the beer thing altogether. Red wine is now my drink of choice.

 

Definitely not at "the point" and I hope I never am. Only been drinking beer since October 2013 and I'm coming up on my 1000th beer. That was while being a broke college student and now a broke college graduate. I always say drinking craft is a hobby, not a habit. Some people play video games, some buy CDs, I try new beers.

 

What's the old saying? So many beers, so little time......

 

I've been trying to go out to breweries and great craft beer bars more often to try new things, while at the same time focusing more on stuff I know I like or am pretty sure I'll like at home.

 

Yeah... I've only been drinking beer since August/September of last year, so I'm trying new beers pretty much every chance I can get as long as money allows it. Nowhere near "that point" yet. XD

That said, if I'm at a restaurant, there's a good chance I'll order something I've had and liked before rather than trying a new one, especially if the place doesn't have a big selection of new beers on the menu, or if I'm unsure of the new beers on the menu or think they sound like something that might not go so well with my food. And there is a slowly growing list of beers in the "I'm going to have to get this again sometime" category now.