Drinking Whales

Don't know how long you have been into beer, but I have been at it for over 20 years. Spending a ton of money on mostly inferior beer is not fun, and I never like spending time in line for anything. It is more enjoyable to me to drink all the new stuff that comes out in the area and spend my money on travel, rather than trading and overrated, overpriced beer.

 

Definitely save them for a special occasion, but tasting and for the hell of it are just fine too.

 

I keep a modest cellar of rare beer, and regularly break them out to share with friends and family who I know ill enjoy them. It is never hard finding a reason to open a bottle of good beer. And often a couple others do the same and we all get to try some incredible beer without one person having to acquire them all.

 

Sorry not trying to keep this going but just a few things.

1. No, I have not been drinking craft beer for over 20 years.
2. I do not spend "a ton" of money
3. Waiting in a line really isn't a big deal
4. Lastly, I do not trade since I'm in MA. I will only Cellar a beer if I have enjoyed it.

I still have money to travel, funds aren't that tight

 

I never hold onto a beer very long. A beer undrank is no beer at all.

 

I'll usually keep a whale for a year after the bottling date. Once that date arrives I add it to the bottom of my to-drink list. Adding 5 bottles from the cellar to the to-drink list next week!

 

If a rare beer is made to be aged for a period of time then I'll drink it whenever that period of time has come whether it be near a birthday, Burns Night or whatever. At the moment I have some rather special mature whales up for consumption and opening them at their peak will be the occasion.

 

I open them when I have a couple people that really enjoy beer around. I like to SHARE hard to get stuff because who knows when or if you'll ever have it again.

 

Great beer should be shared and consumed with great people. That's the most important qualifier that my beer mentor taught me. Many of the whales on my "tasted" list are due to his generosity and the generosity of others, and now I try to uphold the same standard. Craft beer wouldn't be as fun without them.

 

answer is simply, no.

 

i dont hold onto very much. if i do, they are american wilds or lambics of some sort. At any given time, i only have 10-20 (most) bottles downstairs. my gf and I do most of the drinking of them, but i have a pretty nice circle of friends to share with. We usually get together once a month or so and we each open roughly 3 bottles

 

That would be impressive except for the amount of money in packing and shipping greatly exceeded the value of the beer.

 

OK, so pretty much every beer listed in this forum isn't a whale, that really doesn't answer the question.

The entire point of whales is to drink them with others, at small-ish tastings and have a great time.

It's is almost zero fun to drink them by yourself, even if it is to celebrate.

Drank a Veritas 004 in an airport hotel the night before I moved to Europe.
Drank an 08 Cable Car and a Lente the night my youngest son was born while in Germany, as you can't stay in hospitals.

Good times, but for the events, not the beer drinking. I would much rather drink a sixth of a bottle and of 5 others with friends then the whole thing myself.

 

I'm from Bud country - EVERY beer listed so far is a whale.

 

I can understand this issue. In my experience, you can bust into the Whalez trade one of two ways:

1) You happen to live in close proximity to a brewery that either produces seasonal/annual whales or produces a stellar, World Class regular line-up but only distributes in a small area. So, if you live in Alpine, CA or Vermont, you can fairly easily send bulk HT, Lawson's, Alpine, Hill Farmstead to folks for single bottles of Whalez from around the country. Or you can send those breweries more limited beers (whales in their own right) to folks trading whales back to you.

2) You're willing to invest hundreds of dollars to obtain a whale-worthy trading cellar by hitting up a few release days, buying beer from those who do, or shelling out the dough to buy whales through websites.

There is a third way, but it involves building up your cellar slowly over many years and obtaining whales for your own enjoyment. This, of course, leads to infrequent whale trades and less impressive Haul pics.

I can't help but get jealous when my well-paid internet beer buddies post pics full of rare anniversary beers, one-off sours I've never heard of, and bottles of stout aged in whiskey barrels that once housed legendary spirits. It reminds me of when we were kids and I would spend all of my allowance money on a few comics, only to see my friend's mom buy him $100 back issues of X-men that he would never open up and read.

 

Thanks for the solidarity, brother! If anyone here is interested in a big surly haul in exchange for a small amount of cellarable whalez, hit me up!

 

Can you. Get a Rum King from Indeed Brewing? that's a good place to start for a local stout...

 

I know that I personally can't, but I'll mention it to my pal in the cities, thanks!

 

I am just going to hold on to them till I die, then it will be worth it.....

 

I never said it was rare beer OR travel. I just prefer to spend more on travel... I was spending many thousands of dollars on beer every year. Plus, getting married tends to slow you down some. haha