How do you decide what to drink?

I wish beer was like a piece of fruit. Could you imagine if you had a piece of fruit in your fridge that was picked 10 months ago? You would never eat it.

Problem with beer is you can't tell by looking at it. The contents are trapped inside. So looking at code dates is mandatory.

That is why we actually need our retailers (bar owners, store owners) to be extra diligent about only serving the freshest product. Its not just the breweries or customers (drinkers) fault. Wholesalers and retailers need to step up too.

 

Sadly, people do eat fruit that has been picked 10 months ago. It's just been coated in wax and preservatives. But that's a subject for FruitAdvocate.com.

 

In the past year or so, I've been mostly drinking growler fills from locals (Trillium, Night Shift) where I tend to buy what I can drink fresh as they don't last long. Bunch of standards in my fridge for variety for me and things I know friends like to drink (Guinness, Notch Pils, Notch Left of the Dial, Allagash White, High & Mighty Beer of the Gods) A few bottles from a bottle share lately that I basically consumed when I got them (FFF Alpha King and Zombie Dust, Half Acre Daisy Cutter)

No real rhyme or reason other than degree of shelf life and taste at the moment.

It might be more than $20 a week though ;-)

 

This is why I tend to drink a bit more local and also more growler fills

 

Very important.....

 

Perhaps my biggest passion over good beer is the fact that there are so many styles (104 here on BA.com) and that you can try several different ones in the same session.

So how I decide what to drink often involves putting together a session of 3-5 different styles of beer in an order that will allow each to shine. That typically involves saving the hoppiest for last (IPA/DIPAs generally go last) ... or sometimes I'll save a huge malt bomb (imperial stouts) for the end ... and sometimes I don't care. Experiment. And doing this has taught me that a good German or Czech pilsener ALWAYS works at the end of a session. That is, ALWAYS for me at least.

But when in doubt, I drink. Get the fridge empty for the next round of brews.

 

I was pregnant, then not sleeping (baby!), then sick (the baby kept blowing raspberries into my face, so I got inoculated with all daycare buggies). As a result, I haven't had more than about 20 beers since july 2013! ack.
And my stash kept growing and growing during that time. Now it runneth over.

I just go to my bloated beer fridge and cellaring area and just open whatever I'm in the mood for. Don't care if it's a cherry rye. You can't take it with you, so you might as well enjoy it when the mood strikes! today it was a cigar city maduro. yesterday and the day before a special stout brewed one time on commission for a friend.
Should never hoard beer for a rainy day that never comes

 

Beer selection is never random. If anything, I think about the choice too much. Yes, the season has a lot to do with what beers I bring home, but many factors go into what I'll select for the evenings reward. Something new, a favorite I've been guarding for some time, what's for dinner, mood. But, its never random. I have a beer fridge with probably 30 different beers, some meant to enjoy within the week, some high ABVs have been there for two years or more. Plus, there are too many great beers released each week not bring home some new addition.