Is being a BA a rich-man's game?

Nah, bein a BA (aka Craft beer drinker) isn't a rich-man's game. It's a hobby. And like any hobby, it's gonna eat up your wallet somewhat, but as longs as you have enough money at the end of the day to pay your bills, it's all good. Those people who pay upwards of $100 for a bottle of beer are in the minority. I think most of us craft beer drinkers think twice before we buy a bomber of something that costs more than ten bucks lol.

 

For a lot of us BAs, beer is a hobby. Like any other hobby, from SCUBA diving to knitting, there are levels of financial investment one can make in pursuit of enjoyment of said hobby.

Beer actually has a pretty low point of entry. It's entirely within reason to expect a delicious beer for <$5 pretty much anywhere in the US. That's pretty phenomenally cheap.

Clearly there's the high end of the spectrum as well, but judging the entire hobby on the high end isn't a great way to go about things in my opinion.

 

i dont think there is a big difference. ive seen plenty of bmc drinkers spend more on a weekend at the bar or ball game than i spend a month (well maybe a couple weeks) its just a matter of how you spend it.

now beer trading is were it can get expensive.

but in the end its a hobby and like all hobbies they can be really expensive. for some people its pouring their extra cash into a project car, fishing equipment, paintballing equipment etc, for me it happens to be beer.

you can still enjoy good beer with out breaking the bank you just need to make smart purchases.

 

$50-$100 is fairly excessive, IMO. I'm guessing those bottles only get drank every once in a great while.

With that being said, it can be an expensive hobby but i don't think it's a rich man's game by any means. You don't have to spend tons of money to love great tasting craft beer.

Lots of it can be had for reasonable prices.

As an alternate, you can always start home-brewing. I don't know where that price point is, but i'm sure there is one.

 

I believe that it is possible to be a BA and not wind up in the poor house, heck, as a unemployed graduate student, I'm banking on it. Utter devotion to locals helps. If you decide to trade, decide with very few exceptions that the famous big brewery releases (a la Dark Lord, Hunahpu, Eclipse, KtG, etc.) are off limits and deal strictly with off-the-shelf and locals, though if you live close to one of the big shots, you can obtain trade fodder at cost and can skirt this rule a bit. Get to know big distro breweries and importers (e.g. Sierra Nevada, Sam Adams, Ommegang, St. Bernardus, etc.) so you can drink world-class without giving up the arm and leg. Finally (and this is one I need to work on as well), drink less. Don't compromise quality, stick to your craft guns and decrease quantity. I'd personally rather drink craft and never get buzzed again than go back to BMC.

 

I think if you avoid limited release beers and rarely drink at bars, the cost can be kept under control. Bringing my wife to the bottle shop also helps keep things in focus.

 

I suggest finding new friends...friends with lots of money!

All joking aside, being a Beer Advocate means that you Advocate "good" Beer. Now good beer can cost anywhere from $1 to $100. As with anything, you have to live within your means. It is fairly easy and cheap to access quite a few different beers and styles to determine what you may or may not like. However, I do think that people try to keep up with the Jones' and want the biggest and best. Its part comptetiveness and part materialism. If you don't have lots of spare cash to throw at certain beers, or just refuse to, I suggest checking out some of the larger beer festivals where you will be able to try a lot of rare or expensive beers in a day or two. You may drop some change on the trip and festival but you get to drink some of your "wants" and you get a little vacation out of it at the same time (kind of like your KBS trip).

 

And, nobody is forcing you to spend your money on the things you have decided to spend your money on. There is a countless amount of cheap craft beer available everywhere, it is up to you to decide whether or not your advocacy is predicated on not drinking BMC at all costs, or spending $16.99 on an Abacus just because it is waxed and comes in a box that probably costs .02 to make.

just my $.02

 

It can be expensive but worth it, and I have never spent more than $35 on a single bottle. I didn't go to KBS day but got 22 bottles while helping a friend get 12 as well, all for between 5.50 and 7 each bottle. Trade some and shared a bunch for nothing but goodwill, there are great beers out there at good prices all time. Todays haul for me was a 4 pack of Heady topper, Maine Zoe, Alesmith Speedway Stout and 4 Hoponius Union. Total cost was less than the prices you mentioned and I will get to enjoy them and share them moreso than one amazing bottle.

 

There is more in to a cost of a beer like abacus than a box and wax though you do make a good point. Barrel aging costs money as well.

 

Its all about what you want/can spend. If you can buy a few bombers for $5 here, $10 for a 6 pack there and enjoy it. Thats fine. As stated, its a hobby/interest. Dont get intimidated by what others have, get celler etc. You get out what you put in.

If you see something out there you have always wanted to try, trade for it. Ever want to try Pliny ($8), Lunch ($7), Heady ($16/ 4pack)- those all are relatively "common" and not too costly (compared to limited releases, hyped beers, barrel aged etc). I bet there are things that you have at stores near you that someone in Cali, Maine, Vt or Mass cant get there (except Philly, Philly gets everything).

If you want to try things, put up a ISO/FT on the trade forums. Let people know what you want and what you have. Check out: http://www.seekabrew.com/# to see what is available in your state and the state you want to get stuff from. Trade $4$ and get something you have always wanted to see if its worth they hype without having to travel there.

I live in a relative beer island, we have great stuff in state but not much coming it (getting much better). My trade ammo mostly consists of Maine Beer co stuff and get Allagash limited releases when they are available but have turned them into some great beers Ive not had the opportunity to try. KBS could be turned into a alot of great beers. Poke around and lurk if that is something you are interested in.

BIFs- great fun too. Thats where I get some great beers I never would ever had the opportunity to try, nor would I have traded for them.

Trading can be addictive, but fun. Homebrewing.... we wont go there.

Most of all- "Respect Beer"

 

I am a broke college student supporting myself, paying my bills, only working 25-30 hours a week as a delivery guy making about 10-15 dollars an hour average. Maybe 20 on a good night. I'm by no means rich, but I can afford beer 3-4 days a week, whether its just bomber or two or a six pack or more.
But it does drain my wallet horribly. And there is an occasional beer I just can't afford, or have to sacrifice getting a six pack to buy a single, or bomber.
I also tend to not buy anything thats considerably over priced, in spite of the brewery or distributor running up the price. A bomber just isn't worth 15-20 dollars unless its 15% ABV. Or a single isn't worth 10 dollars, unless its INCREDIBLE or gonna give me a great buzz with one beer.

 

Enjoying good craft beer doesn't mean you need a cellar worth $10k+ in it. The most expensive amount I've ever spent on a beer is $30 for Black Tuesday, but that's a rarity for me. There's nothing wrong with setting a modest budget and sticking with it.

 

I'm not rich I just very fiscally irresponsible as long as I can pay bills, feed myself, and put a little away... why not buy beer with the rest??? I've payed seventy five dollars for a bottle once other than that its mostly a stupid amount of relatively inexpensive bombers and seasonal four packs. I have a nice closet filled with beer that I hope is sitting well... in my parents house... where I live... So I guess its their closet... but the beer is all mine

 

Bear in mind that this site gets over one million hits per day, and has hundreds of thousands of members. They are a tiny fraction of the 5-6% of Americans that are craft beer consumers (much less the world). Of those thousands of members, a small fraction (maybe 5,000) are active on the forums with any regularity. Of these few thousand, a few hundred are active on the trading forums. A good number of these people have lots of disposable income, and love to trade beer. Most of them just want to try new things, and once they develop trading partners you don't see their ISO:FT posts. I'd wager that for every trade post on the site, their are 8-10 trades that occur between regular trading partners without a thread being posted.

Anyway, does this means you have to spend lots of money to drink great beer? No. It means a fraction of a fraction of the people who love craft beer also have the income and desire to amass and share some crazy and/or rare stuff. If you don't have the cash or desire, don't worry about it. Try new things in your local shop, and explore all the classic stuff you've probably overlooked at the store. Get to know your local breweries, and when they put out something nice, go to the brewery and buy it. Even the hottest brewery like Deschutes, Port, Russian River, Bells, or Founders was once a small local brewery that needed the support of people like you to grow.

Lastly, you also don't have to quit drinking BMC, despite what some of the threads here would lead you to believe. There's a time and a place for everything, including ice cold tall boys of Hamms.

 

Can't spend your money when you're dead.

 

I think I have a moderate cellar (150-200 bottles) but do I drink the expensive stuff all the time? Nope. I would guess that a lot of people are like me, in that they drink awesome stuff that is relatively easy to find (recent beers that come to mind are SN Celebration, Lagunitas Sucks/Gone Wild, etc). I bought quite a few of Sam Adams winter mix 12ers and Widmer Citra Blonde 12s as well. It is all about finding the right mix of daily drinkers and occasional "special" beers.

 

It's no rich man game as long as you don't feel the urge to be in line with those who spend hundreds of dollars. They write in the forums a lot about their amazing catches but they actually are quite a minority of BAs.
As for myself, i've set a limit of 50€ (roughly 70$) on beer per month, i review just some 7/8 new beers per month, while drinking more or less 3/4 per week. I still consider myself a good BA. Of course it means i will never try all the barrel-aged cool stuff, no brewdog aged in the ocean ipas, no 3fonteinen gueuzes that are just slighlty different from the standard oude gueuze but cost 5 times more, but i still think i'm quite lucky to have the opportunity of drinking some great beer every once in a while