How do you usually acquire nice beers?

Man oh man. Every Time my oldest daughter has had to travel for work, my wife wigs out, I slip out of the room and pull up seek a brew website to see what they have that we don't. I then go back and tell her everything will be alright, they have to spread their wings. Then I text my daughter and give her my wish list. She actually scored my KBS this year while traveling up north. My middle daughter just took a job in Tulsa, great beer hanging around there that I can't get here, so casually told my wife, we need to visit her more often, make sure everything is ok. She's coming home this weekend, I have texted her several times with wants

 

Come across it randomly, in the most surprising of places.

 

Along with travel and trade there is the option of stores in several stores that ship. In addition to getting great beer from far away you get packing materials for your next trade.

 

Travel. Just finished 80 day road trip across country (bonus: in addition to the great beers you will drink along the way, you get to meet a lot of great people, too). And you may find new breweries that are making great beer.. Spoiler alert - Dodgeton Brewing in Trinidad, CO - opened in July, 2014 - excellent Coffee Porter!

 

Trading has worked well for me. As long as you can get something people are looking for you should be able to get a wide variety of beers you are looking for. Ordering online is also a good option. Craftshack gets a good supply of highly rated beers. If your going to pay for shipping to trade, the shipping for online orders is not a big deal.

Travel is also a lot of fun. This does not have to be traveling exclusively to beer locations, you can just do a bit of exploring on your planned vacations.

 

The grass is always greener in someone else's yard, isn't it?
I've made peace with not caring that there's all this amazing beer in that yard cos I have plenty enough in my own. If I want to go to that yard and enjoy their beer. I travel, and it helps that many of the well known mecca cities for American beer also happen to be very worth traveling to.

 

I usually wait in very long lines in November or December in the cold for most of my goodies. Otherwise this trading thing is where it's at. Meet cool people across the country that take care of your beer wants and vice versa.

 

I agree with the above posts: travel, trade, using family/friends as mules, and online stores (if your state allows shipping).

 

That's crazy talk.

 

Travelling or travelling friends (I force them to bring me nice beer or never return).

 

It has already been mentioned but maybe a weekend trip to Philly would be a good idea for you?

In Philly we receive kegs of Pliny the Elder, Blind Pig and Damnation. Also we get bottles of RR sours like Consecration, Temptation, etc.

We also get Cigar City beer but be forwarned that sometime the distribution of Cigar City is sporadic. Maybe call a week or so in advance to some retailers to check.

For draft there are two websites that can be helpful: PhillyTapFinder and Beermenus.

Cheers!

 

I get a lot of Cali stuff I can't get in Chicago online. It can be pretty expensive sometimes what with shipping costs, but if you want rare beers/ones you can't get in your distribution area, it's a great way to treat yourself to some nice brews once in awhile.

 

Lol, sorry. I was out of line, I meant ALL TRAVEL=BEER

 

Using concentrated dark matter for twisting space and time so I can easily access good beer. So basically travel.

 

I've never traded, so travel is how I get to try a lot of the beers that are high on my list. Well, that and leeching off of friends that trade an obscene amount and love to share.

 

Trading, On-line, Travelling, or Bottle sharing with co-workers

 

Acquire all beers via concerted efforts from my mouth and digestive system. Brain and Liver just get in the way.

 

As everyone has said, trade and travel. Ive done a bunch of trades and a lot of times people make it much harder than it needs to be. If you find a good trading partner you are golden. But some people are pretty crazy with trades.

 

New Brunswick has a pretty shitty selection when compared to other places (although it's getting better quickly) so I usually get a good load of beer whenever I travel, especially to the United States. As long as you are in the United States for over 48 hours and don't bring back a boatload of beer, the Border Guards don't really kick up a big fuss about it.

 

I use 2 methods of getting good beer. First, I drive to 2 area mega beer stores (Total Wine, Joe Canals) which are close to where I live in South Jersey and spend an hour browsing up and down the ailse with BA on my smart phone checking the reviews. Second, my son-in-law is a chef that owns his own restaurant. He will usually go into Philly to a different restaurant with my daughter to try new foods and have a new beer or 2. He'll turn me onto any new, good beers he finds.