As a relative newcomer to the craft beer scene, I have been introduced to an incredible variety of beer that is available in a variety of quantities. My question is, for every batch of every beer produced, how much of it remains in the hands of owners before it is consumed? I know that this differs from style to style and release to release, but nonetheless, I feel that a lot of beers get hoarded for cellaring or trading or both. To create a basic example, how many of the BCBS bottles from 2012 are still in existence today as opposed to being consumed since their launch? I know it may seem like an odd question, but it no longer becomes odd when you examine how certain beers value in a trade setting. There are obviously many limited releases that have limited bottle counts (BA Huna/DDG/anything HF status)and will often have a high retention in terms of not being consumed, but what about beers that will be produced every year and are (kind of) common like BCBS, like the example above? Furthermore, what about limited, one-off releases like BCBS variants? (Just to keep the thought consistent) other limited releases that are highly sought after also come into question considering their trade value and 'wale' factor. There is no definite answer, but I'm curious to see what the BA community thinks about how much beer is kept in cellars for trading or aging as opposed to consumption upon or near purchase date. Is there 50% BCBS 2012 remaining or is it more like 10%? For DDG B2, is there 75% remaining for trade bait or is there only 25% left? I haven't seen any posts pertaining to this otherwise but flame away if there is. Cheers.
