Beer Advocate Newbie

Welcome to the site!
Your post will hopefully get some responses from some locals to get in touch with.
As far as trading, don't sweat it, there are lots of people who will trade your locals for their locals. Try posting an ISO (in search of) just saying what you are looking to do. If you can trade with someone with lots of trading under their belt, they can help you along with how it works. Don't use USPS!
Good luck

 

Stop by Blanchards during the work week in the daytime (except Mondays); I take any excuse I can get to pretend to work by talking to someone about beer.

As for trading, I got the bug a while back and I was able to successfully complete a couple trades by finding some "rare" locals that we get and trading for other locals. Stuff like Maine Beer Co., Jack's Abby, Mystic, Slumbrew, etc. Small, local breweries with good reviews generally can land you some similar stuff from other places. Also Nugget Nectar is still around a bit (and a new shipment is coming soon), and that can land you some harder to come by non-off-the-shelf stuff.

*edit* You can also to look to participate in a Noob BIF (Beer It Forward), which will allow you to get some experience in a controlled environment. You probably won't get any crazy things in return, but you'll definitely get new things to try.

 

that was a very helpful post!

 

If you have access to any other store, do swing by that one.. Blanchard's & Marty's tend to charge more for a lot of craft brews and carry a lot of old stock (might be good for some brews like high ABV barley wines & imperial stouts but certainly not good for IPAs).. I see many a bottles collecting dust on their shelves..

There are tasting groups being formed for pretty much every area in boston and surroundings lately. check the recent threads on this board to know about them. I'm pretty sure I saw one thread about Brighton / Allston BAs getting together..

 

I second pratyk's recomendation of finding a tasting group. I am also a BA noob and was lucky to find a tasting group in my area. It was awesome to try beers you can't get in the Boston market and hear their thoughts on the industry and how to trade. I am also trying to break into trading and the advice someone gave me in my group is to see if anyone will trade you their local beers for yours. He said "Chicago, Portland, OR, Atlanta and California are four areas where you can trade for awesome locals and then move up to the big boys."

 

If you're shopping for beers in the Allston area definitely check out Marty's Big Buys as well as Brookline Liquor Mart. Both have pretty good inventories and carry different beers from one another.

 

I know trading seems like the raison d'etre for some BAs, but as a newbie, I can't imagine it's worth the time or money. Heck, I usually run out of time to drink MA-available beers before they disappear, and I've tried most of the usual suspects. We get excellent distribution here in MA, and it'll take a long time for you to try the many excellent beers we have ready access to.

Find a store that will let you buy singles/build a mixed 6pk, and one that will give you a discount if you buy 6+ bombers. Buy a range of stuff from different breweries, and don't spend too much.

 

That is true, trading can get expensive for someone on a college budget and there is a lot of New England stuff to take advantage of. Again, that is the benefit of joining a tasting group because the veterans will bring the stuff you can't get in the area and from there you can see what you like so that in the future you'll know what you want.