Hauling vs Hoarding

Maybe because in the real world I live in, excellent beer is readily available, and people are, by nature and choice, polite and civil? Why should I vent at the brewery? Maybe they made as much of the beer as they were able to, or wanted to. The real world, unlike the collectors world, has to take into account many variables. But, as your posts have shown, empathizing with others isn't your strong suit.

 

I understand perfectly well that we disagree. I didn't appreciate your first response to my post. Apparently you don't actually believe that rare releases are a game, even though you acknowledged as much in your first response to me. It's rare beer. I couldn't care less who gets it and said as much earlier on.

By the way, I bet you're right that fewer people would sleep on streets for the opportunity to buy a single bottle of beer. But now you're changing the rules for the game that exists but doesn't exist.

 

You're a chicken guy. I'm an egg guy.

 

This seems to be one of the drivers of the issue. There's a fundamental divide between the mindsets of "It's a rare beer, maybe I can pick up a little of it when it comes along, appreciate it on a special occasion or two, and look forward to next year" and "It's a rare beer, and I absolutely must have as much of it as I can possibly get because it won't be coming around again for another year and if I run out that's a disaster!"

 

That's where we differ. If you want a BCBS on special ocassion then more power to you. If I want to make it a Sunday ritual to have a cigar and a BCBS while reading the paper then I have different priorities than you and that's fine.

Just don't look down on me for spending my time and money to purchase the product that I want.

 

I mean nothing in this discussion is clear cut. I would say your example toes the line of hoarding, but (based on nothing) it sounds fine to me. Also, I have no idea how rare/available CRWnB was.

 

See, here's where you're missing our point. We don't look down on you for for spending money and time on a product you want. The thing we have an issue with is the methodology of obtaining it. As long as you get yours, you don't seem to give a shit about anybody else.

 

I'm a definite hoarder, and it doesn't bother me. I will drink some, trade some, and stare at the rest of it. I won't break rules, but I will buy whatever and however much I want and can afford.

Also, Darkness day was legit. Friday night bottle sharing > Saturday heavy metal concert. The only thing that kept me and my mules there on Saturday was getting bottles (I only kid, no mules)

Can these threads all relating back to Black Friday and BCBS just end now? It's bad enough the trade forum is filled with AB InBev posts.

 

That is an excellent point. There is something very cool about the beer calendar. I don't mind not being able to have every beer year-round. There are enough stellar year-round beers in every style to satisfy me. I do stock up on a few mass-produced seasonals like Stone IRS or V @ Sea, but knowing they will be coming around the next year keeps me from buying them by the case.

 

It would be interesting to see how opinions break down by age groups. I suspect our younger advocates that discovered hops within the last few years are probably the majority of the fuck-everyone-else contingent.

 

It may be fine in your mind, but it's still selfish hoarding. Why wouldn't people look down at this? Isn't this a beer advocacy site? ME, ME, ME dammit!

 

The answer lies somewhere in between the "fuck you I got mine" and the "everyone should get all the beers kum-beer-ya!".

Those are the extremes of each position, and I would hazard a guess that people who are honest with themselves will see that the extremes are likely the minority.

As was eloquently stated above, just don't be a dick, and things will more than likely work themselves out.

 

A good example of hoarding: I stood in line for a couple of hours during one of the last MBC Dinner releases, when it was 3 cases per person. People stood in line, with mules, and were loading up their SUV's with upwards of 9+ cases of Dinner. Everyone knows that most MBC beers, particularly the hoppy ones, are much better when enjoyed fresh. The average person is not going to enjoy this much Dinner before the hop characters begin to degrade. I saw people wanting to trade these bottles online, several months after the release. Luckily MBC realized there were a number of people still in line who wouldn't have received any bottles had they kept the same limits, so they dropped the limit to 4 bottles per person, and some people got pissed off! If they hadn't lowered the limit, there would have been a ton of disappointed people, and all of that trade bait that people hoarded, would be degraded quality. Were these people well within their rights per the brewery rules to purchase this many cases when the 3 case limit was being followed? Yes. But to me, it's a tragedy to prevent people from enjoying Dinner as fresh as it can possibly be, because you want to hang on to it for use as trade bait. Show respect for the beer and your fellow beer advocates who wouldn't have otherwise been able to get some, and let others enjoy the beer the way it was meant to be enjoyed.

 

Well, in addition to pointing out the greed involved, I kind of am also poking fun at the concept of camping out on concrete or spending entire days roaming from store to store to get an abundant supply of a single beer release, when so many phenomenal world-class beers are year-round and widely available.

Of course, by the same token, some people probably think I'm nuts when every so often I set off on foot with a 75 pound pack into wilderness areas known to contain copperheads and black bears, to spend a week sleeping on the ground and eating food rehydrated with filtered creek water - without even getting any beer out of the deal!

 

Depending on rarity, I buy from 1 - 3. If when something comes out and I know it's very rare, 1 - 2 bottles. I usually try to have one in the first couple weeks I buy it, and cellar the other one. If it's spectacular, and I run across it 2 weeks or more after it's initial release, I might pick up another bottle. If I run across more and I know people who haven't gotten it, I text and ask if they want. I believe in the community of beer geeks, and try to help with that as I can.

Good example is I found 3 bottles of 2013 Brooklyn Black Ops at a location around my house in April of this year, so over a year from release. I picked up 2, and I'm a huge fan of this beer. Had one that weekend and it drank incredible. Couldn't wait to have the other in a few weeks with a nice dinner. I told people I talked to about it, but never made a trip to get that 3rd bottle. Let someone else enjoy it.

 

never had chance get any bcbcs the local store in iowa started selling on thanksgiving let one guy buy all they had. any chance could buy some from you or maybe a trade for few bottles if see any thanks

 

At my local spot i will usually buy 2 of everything. One to drink and one to hold on to. However, if im on a beercation or im traveling several hours to a brewery that doesn't distro to where I live, I buy as much as I can. I usually end up giving it or selling it to my friends in the area, but never for profit.

 

That's a reasonable argument. But I don't think I'm wrong. It's just a different culture now. And more to my point, when we were younger (I'm early 40s) all this beer just wasn't available. Kids have more free time than the rest of us. They have fewer bills to pay and more readily available peers with similar free time for bottle shares, queueing and whale hunting (I hate that term). Not trying to be the angry old man, get off my lawn type. It's just my opinion based on personal experience. I have a wife, a 6-year old and a 10-week old at home. I barely have time for a nightcap.