Beer Overload

I met a fellow BA for a road trip to Orlando to buy Belgians, he lied to his wife about how much he spent. I told him they ALWAYS find out. but he thought he had outsmarted her, until the credit card bill came in and he was not home. I think he almost got divorced over that 1. I know he spent a few days on couch.....lol.

He actually thought she was too dumb to know prices....he had 300 bucks worth.....

 

Been there done that. Now, I plan waaaaay ahead. For example, since I knew Celebration was being released end of Oct./beginning of Nov., I purposely didn't buy too much in October. I also made sure to drink some lower ABV beers from the fridge [to me, lower is under 8%] since Celebration would replace them. Then, I saw Brown Shugga and couldn't resist so I am a bit overloaded but if I have a little self control and don't buy anything this week, I'll be good. And I know Sucks is just around the corner so I'll watch what I buy until it comes out.

 

Yeah, I want to try Celebration, yet I still bought Brown Shugga. (LOVE IT!) Narwhal hit here as well. So I flipped a coin, ha ha, making a choice between that and FBS. Narwhal won. We'll see if I can hold to that. So it's looking like a SN/Lagunitas Christmas.

 

Same thing here. Especially if you follow BA threads it is easy to get hyped up about several releases and it is going to be more than you can drink.

I do think that you really should not cellar something you have never had before. With the exception of really rare brews you want to save for a special occasion. But when you buy too many special beers, you end up with a fridge full of barrel aged stouts that you are never going to drink anytime soon.

As others have said there is ALWAYS another special release that sounds good just around the corner. If you missed out on such and such double IPA or random BA Stout with vanilla beans there is another limited barleywine, stout, or seasonal IPA , or sour just around the corner.

I would say focus on buying a few of your favorites that you don't want to miss, and then just try new things when you are actually in the mood to drink something right away. Don't try to hit every single beer festival or release event, just pick a few to go to a year and then if a situation comes up where friends are going to some event tag along, but don't schedule your life around beer events and releases, it will quickly lose its charm.

 

I took a break from beer once. It was the longest Tuesday in recent memory.

 

You just described my life in a nutshell. But I've been into craft for years, and have over 300 bottles in the corner of my home office. I still can't stop buying beer.

 

I finally realized today that obtaining beer was becoming more of a pain in the ass, that the enjoyment of drinking. In the past week, drove to Alchemist for Heady, waited in line..but totally worth it, then on Saturday waited in line 2 hours for tree house growlers. Today just wanted to get some FW Velvet Merkin, which was dropped off at the stores today, and was sold out by 330 when I got out of work to go there and get some. Usuaslly that would mean keep driving to stores farther away, but I gave up. Been at this for a few years now but, its getting so ridiculous and hard to obtain beers I enjoy, now it's a fight and a lot of effort. Like some old fad, or crazy mom waiting hours in line and go crazy over the must have new xmas toy.

 

Remember it's a marathon, not a sprint...

 

Do you ever feel like you should tame it down? I try to keep all my beers in the fridge. The beer fridge downstairs is totally full. Now I just looked at the upstairs fridge and it's mostly full with beer. I think I've gone off the deep end. I think I need another fridge or something. It's probably a good idea to leave room for food?!!!

 

What if you gave it all away? You can hop from one extreme to the other and be a stellar beer advocate as you do so. ;-)

 

I only have one fridge and there have been times when there was only beer in it. And cheese.

 

I'm not the only one who lives here and with the beer fridge all full from me downstairs and I just took a look upstairs... I think I have overtaken the fridge upstairs too. I'm sort of amazed that my room mates don't give me hell. We really can't fit much in the food fridge. It's getting to the point where I can't keep it in the beer fridge, the upstairs fridge (for food) is mostly beer, and I have a bunch of stuff sitting out and not refrigerated. I need to find another fridge on Craigslist. I'm sure I'm not alone. This is getting ridiculous even for me. I guess most people don't actually refridgerate or cellar their beer properly. Unless I get another fridge I'm there. Gotta invite some friends over. Not that I don't already but it's hard to waste good beer on people who drink Bud, etc. That's what I give the beers I don't like much too.

At least it's cold enough to keep frozen food outdoors. Maybe that's what what we need to do. We just need to buy all frozen food. It's gonna be -15F tonight. Hope my trades make it. They never have not made it safely though.

 

This is EXACTLY why I stay out of the "Latest Haul" thread.

 

I've been telling myself I need to take a break for weeks. My fridge is full of tickers, but I've mainly been drinking those I've already reviewed, because I'm not in the mood to think about it. Money is an issue, too. When I've drank down the one's where freshness is an issue, I'm taking a step back. I'll probably make an exception for Hopslam in February, though.

 

^^This. Football season is my heaviest shopping/drinking time. By the end of it, I'm usually a bit burned out after trying 4-5 new brews every week on top of regulars.

I currently have a couple of really special bottles (Night Shift Quad Reserve and Bruery Reuze) that I may just hold on to until the Super Bowl and give my palate a chance to recover after I finish the other 10-12 bottles I have. Those beers are just too special (both price wise and rarity wise) to me to not enjoy to their fullest.

Taking a break once in a while is a good thing, bro. Do what feels right.

 

Yah that's a tough one here. My local store has a big thing for hopslam. They let us pre-order as much as we want (cases if we want) for way cheaper than anyone else gets it. I usually don't get too much though. It's one of their yearly things.

 

I would say that this is a hooby for most, and with any hobby this typically happens once in a while. If you are really in to what you are doing, you immerse yourself, and at some point you burnout.
The good news is that if you walk away and take a break, I find that you typically return with a better focus on what you really like.
I have a few hobbies that I go through this cycle with.

 

Understood and certainly can relate. I'm a scuba diver and that takes away from the beer money. Used to ski all over but got sick of bones breaking. I'm getting older and my body doesn't heal as quick as it used to. Getting back into trading beer after a couple year hiatus.

 

I saw the photos and was getting concerned. Then I saw the Powerade and thought,well at least he's getting some electrolytes to balance things out.