Anyone reach "the point?"

I'm sorry but this bothers me so much when people just walk in and ask "Do you have any 3 floyds" and they buy it no matter what it is. 3 floyds could come out with "Swamp ass lager" and people would buy it. 3 Floyds is about half as good as bells, and 1/4 as good as founders, but they make their shit really hard to get and people go nuts for it. I call bullshit on their part.

It's all a matter of opinion, and you like what you like, so i'm not knocking you. I'm just sayin' how i feel about it.

 

I drink regulars and save a special day to drink a New Beer. It's usually on a Sunday.

 

Great question. I was just thinking about this recently. At my rate, I'm not sure I'll reach "the point." But the journey there should be a good one!

 

Dude - redwineadvocate.com is down the hall to the right >>
To answer the question, prob 80% tried and true.

 

I have my regulars I rely on and usually buy/try new things from those go to breweries. That being said, if I am out at a bar, I will grab something I have not had.

 

Every time I buy new beer, I always buy a Sixer of an old favourite. A good beer is good beer regardless if you've had it or not.

 

One of the great joys in beer is discovering a fantastic brew no one else is talking about yet - or wouldn't think to buy because the brewery isn't that well respected or known. This is why for me, every beer gets a chance. Probably 95% of my purchases are beers I haven't tried yet.

 

so im going on 4+ years of delving into this wonderful world of craft beers, and what an amazing journey it has been. and to be honest, i wont lie, i do have my go-to's. but i still find myself wanting to try the next best thing, and expand my knowledge of the scene itself.

being that i work in a liquor store, i need to know "whats good", and give good suggestions to what the customer is looking for, its my job to drink nothing but new beers.

but as far as the go-to's, when im at a restaurant, i know what will be on the menu and what that is i need to stay away from.(ab products!)

 

90% new beer.

 

^ this

 

Not sure I'll ever reach that point, as lately I don't even care about getting my "old favorites" when they are released, especially if it means having to wait in line or call store after store trying to track it down. I think my "the point" is only buying beers with a 90+ rating. Snobby maybe, but I only have so much time and money to put towards beer these days, I want to drink the best that is available.

 

This. Much of the new beer (to me) on shelves is from recently opened breweries just starting to expand from their home market. The rest is primarily one offs from breweries seemingly uninterested in doing anything than putting yet another beer on the shelves. I have found most to be far inferior to offerings that are cheaper and have been around for some time. I would estimate 95% of the beer I purchase in cans/bottles is a repeat purchase. Most of the new beers I try are in flights from area breweries or at bottle shares.

 

I actually bypass a lot of my favorite beers in order to try new ones. I actually think the breweries have caught on to my approach and are constantly introducing new beers just to destroy my checking account. Damn them!

 

When I began my craft beer journey I tried as many different brews from as many different breweries as I could. Being 24 now, I have my favorites but I don't stick to anything religiously. The best part is seeing seasonal brews I love or things that I had early on and had forgotten about. Still a lot more to try!

 

I've been into nice beer for about 4 years now, and I'm definitely reaching this inflection point. I've slowed down the ticking and the random beer bar crawls. Sierra, Troegs, Founders, Stone, and a few others on their level have been really upping their game lately. I'll only take risks on high price stuff from a few folks like Avery, Clown Shoes, Dogfish, etc. I've killed at least a grand this year on random high price beer; time to rein it in.

 

I agree on the 3 Floyds point. First one I had was Gumballhead and was completely underwhelmed. Since then I have had Jinx Proof and Zombie Dust. Again very underwhelming for the hype and I wanted to like them so bad. Zombie Dust was a good beer, it just wasn't near as good as I had been told.

That said, what I have had of Bell's was also good but underwhelming. Founders though is as good as advertised.

Not like I could get any of those on a regular basis in LA anyway. I guess now I can get all the Bell's I since they are out here now.

But I love to try new beers so I would definitely drink beers from any brewery to give it a shot. It might be a hidden gem.

 

98% tried and true for a number of reasons beyond my control. First, location (check out seekabrew and you'll see what I mean). If I stay close to home, I'm limited to the offerings at the larger supermarkets, which means if you cut me I bleed SN Torpedo. Mix a six? That's where outdated beers crawl to and die a slow death at $9.99 a pop.

On the other hand, I have the option of driving half an hour south to Virginia (which I do about once a week) where the pickin's are decidedly better, again at the market. $9.99ish for fresh LooseCannon, Two Hearted, 60 minute is the norm.

Bottle shops? Uh huh. Two worth talking about (we're still in Va), both of which price their beers by the bottle, usually with a 10% discount if you buy by the 6 pack. $14.00 Racer 5 anyone? I actually mentally priced a $20.00 mix a six at one of these places.

Thus the reasons I drink what I drink. And before some wisenheimer says it, no, I'm not gonna move

 

I have never reached "the point" because I have never bought into the concept of "the only good beer is one I haven't tried". For me, trying new beers has always been an exploration of finding new beers and breweries to add to my revisit list. With that in my, I've run between 50/50 to 25/75 of new beers / revisited beers for the past 20 years.

I guess you could say I am always on the look out to improve the rotation of beers I revisit. So I never get tired of new beers or the ones I revisit.

 

For the last five years been making it my goal to try new beers are often as I can, in fact over the last two years I feel I have been focusing more on new beers instead of what I have tried before.