Who here has gotten so involved in trading and acquiring brews outside of their distribution area because you got caught up in "the grass is always greener" effect? Example: for a while I would trade almost anything for Three Floyds or Bruery before taking a one hour drive for Blue Lobster or Jacks Abby. What was I thinking?! .... and discuss.
I appreciate the locals, but until i try everything I want to try ill be constantly searching and trading.
Nothing beats a fresh growler fill IMO. Head a little further south of JA and make sure to stop at Treehouse.
Living in Southern California the grass is pretty green. I always enjoy trying new beers but I can't even afford to drink everything that I have access to.
To some effect, I believe this is true. I traded for Sculpin before it became available locally. Now I don't even buy it. Same goes for Ethos. Both are still great beers, but I will admit, there is something about the chase, or the grass being greener.
Love JA. Finally hit up the brewery over the summer and got growlers of 2012 Framinghammer and 2012 BA Framinghammer. Will be making more trips in the future.
Never actually been to BL, but I've had the pleasure of getting a few bottles and growlers courtesy of a friend (much thanks to Jacob007).
Having a Growler staion in town has definitely reduced my urge to buy online/trade. Reduced, not eliminated.
There's not a ton of world class beers coming out of NH (but there are some.) The fact that our distribution isn't the greatest is tempered (for me) by having ready access to the MA distro in shops sort of near the border and not being ridiculously far from VT goodness. I'm pretty content.
I get Cigar City beers in near unlimited amounts and have a hookup for the rares. I maintain this brewery makes some great stuff, but I don't get the hype behind most of their stuff and I trade them away without much second thought. The only beer from them that I ever have a tough time parting with is Humidor Jai Alai (this includes Huna). I would definitely say I don't appreciate this brewery and wish I had access to a brewery like Russian River or Bruery instead.
I think part of trading also involves "spreading the wealth". I have recently traded bottles of Darkness due to how easy it is to find on tap. Darkness is one of my top 5 beers so I'd like fellow enthusiasts to be able to enjoy the same experience.
I used to think that Wisconsin couldn't make a decent IIPA/IPA, and while they are very few and far between that certainly isn't the case. This line of thinking made me trade for the best examples across the country and I'm grateful that I got the chance to try so many awesome beers from both coasts to see what the style was really about. I don't aggressively trade for out-of-distro shelf beer anymore, instead I actually trade for rarities from WI that I didn't get a chance to try. Also I'm less interested in trying styles as I am exploring certain breweries that catch my eye. Right now I'm dying to try Upright, Jester King, SARA, but I'll always support my Midwestern standbys like TG, New Glarus, and Prairie regardless of what I trade for.
In my case, it's not the grass being greener. I have some really great breweries in my backyard (Pipeworks, Half Acre, Flossmoor Station, 3 Floyds, etc.) I feel I take 'em for granted. They're somewhat easy access and they'll always be there to enjoy . I see some of the other brews that are being enjoyed in the WBAYDN? forum . . . who wouldn't want to try them? That's why I wanna commit myself to more local exploration in '14. Because with all of the great beer here, there and everywhere; who knows what I'm missing?
