I live in Alabama, and as most of you probably know we are a little late to the game. I have always been a beer fan, but was never overwhelmed by anything until the craft scene finally got here. Over the last couple of years I have sampled just about anything and everything I could get my hands on from belgian whites, to porter, to stouts, to ipas, and so on. I have also started a subscription to Beer Advocate and just finished my second issue. I still have not ventured into trying homebrew or attempting to brew myself, but I will probably get there at some point. I have recently become and more into the IPA's and similar styles (black ipa, apa, imperial ipa, etc.). I made a copy of the Beers of Fame and omitted everything but those that fit the styles I am interested in trying. Unfortunately I can not find a large majority of them anywhere near my radius (GA, TN, MS, and AL.) Do people here do beer trades? Is something like that even permissable?
http://beeradvocate.com/community/forums/iso-ft-beer-only.25/ Not only is trading allowed, its encouraged. Start small, but hit the ground running. Cheers
Thanks, I just read a bit more about it. At work they haven't upgraded us beyond IE 7 so the message board is really hard to read and I missed the whole section on ISO. I read a bit about it earlier since I have been home. Still trying to get my head around it. I posted a general question about ISO in the Beer section, but it has not been approved just yet. Thanks for the reply.
My advice: hit up Hop City in Birmingham and they will coach you on what to buy. Start out with regular ipas, then double, then Russian/imperial stouts. You can't trade till u have been a member for 30 days so just read up on it till then. We have access to great local brews too like Good people and Straight to Ale. Good luck!
Yeah I was at Hop City two weeks ago. Had a great time, but nothing I can do too often, its a good 2 /1/2 hour drive for me. The beers I am interested in are typically things I can't get in this market. AL, GA, TN, or MS. So thats why I said should I offer things like STA, OBB, etc for trade.
Well when I say I could offer STA and OBB for trade, I mean for beers I want that are from markets they have no infiltrated, which is primarily where I am focussed now. Like the West Coast, New England area, or even some in the Great Lakes area.
I have tried some founders stuff, but not their IPA's which is what I want to try. I think I can get it here where I am. I have had Bells Two Hearted, which I love. The others I have not had any luck finding in my area, Florence Alabama
Let me throw a somewhat relevant question into this thread without starting a new one: I'd like to get into trading, but as most of you probably know, I don't have access to the most desirable selection here in Mississippi. I've got a while to wait before I can post in the trade boards, but I'd like to know, is it easy to find people who are interested in locals for locals, even though my selection of locals isn't all that robust?
Yes. But, you would be surprised at the things you might be able to get because its available, that people will trade for. Lots of people can't get FBS or Founders IS easily because it sells out but I can get tons of it.
Yeah I started trading not to long ago, but there are a fair amount of people out there looking for locals. What may seem like a boring old shelf beer to you may be interesting to me because I can't get it out here. For example I can get Odell, Firestone Walker, Alesmith, Epic, and others fairly easily which people without distribution may be interested in. Obviously you are not getting many of the forum beers with your locals but the point for me is just to try new beer. When I trade locals I usually just say something like lets trade a $50-60 box of whatever you can get that you think is good. I love blind shipments, it's like Christmas. Start of slow, there are plenty of nice people on here. For future reference I can get a lot of West coast stuff and will always trade locals for locals. I am about to have a baby any day so taking a few weeks off from trading, but in the future feel free to hit me up.
ITs pretty easy to trade Founders FBS & FIS to West coast guys for stuff like Russian River, Alpine and Firestone Walker...hell I ever traded for Stone, when I first stated trading.......also Terrapin Wake n Bake will trade for locals out West and Mid West..
Broob, I moved to MS several years ago from a beer mecca. I joined BA specifically to start trading. Several things helped me when I started out: First, do some locals-for-locals trades. Often times people are looking for MS brews because they aren't widely available. Sometimes that makes them desirable in and of themselves. Another angle to take is to appeal to the people looking to try beers from all 50 states. Since we can get some beers from MS, AL, LA, and AR (among others), you can knock off several states that don't have a wide distribution. That helped me out when I initially started trading. Second, build some regular trading partners. This goes along with the first recommendation. Do some local-for-local trades and be generous, start relationships, and keep in touch. Lazy Magnolia has some new stuff coming out this year, so if you find a regular trading partner, you could surprise them with the new offerings from LM down the road. Generosity goes a long way, even if the selection isn't that robust. It's pretty much a universal language in trading. Third, go to rarer beer releases and use them as trade bait or offer them to the trading partners you've established relationships with to entice them to send better beers. I'm being pretty transparent here, but trading is a game, and when you live in MS, it's all about how you play it. Again, generosity is the key. This method requires quite a bit of time and money, but if you have both, it can be worth it. When you travel to releases, you will run into other traders and can establish relationships quickly that way. It's a great way to do bottle shares and in-person trades that can help in the future, as well. I've traveled to Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin to acquire beers for trades (and myself, of course) and have made some lasting connections in all of those places. This option isn't for everyone though. Lastly, when you travel, pick up local beers that may appeal to others. Check the regional forums to see what's out, what's hot, what's new. I never travel without hitting a few breweries and bottles shops to get things to send to trading partners. If others haven't mentioned it, remember about yourself. Trading is fun, but there are beers around our parts that are worth enjoying and seeking out. Depending on where you are, you can probably cross a state line to get some decent brews that will satisfy your beer interests. Getting the rarest and newest beers can be fun, but it is often unnecessary. Enjoy the locals and then branch out if you aren't satisfied. On a completely different note, where are you in MS (you can BM me if you want). I'm in Oxford (obviously from my avatar) and we have a decent tasting group in the area. We do bottle shares a couple times a month usually and are always happy to have another BA join. Don't feel like you need to bring anything rare ... it's all about sharing and enjoying what we have. There are also two new breweries that will be opening up soon in the area (Oxford Brewing Company and Yalobusha Brewing Company), which will offer more stuff to try in the future. While things may seem bleak right now, it's actually a fun time to live in MS, as far as beer goes. Things are popping up and will only get better in the future. I hope something here was helpful. Take care!
I picked up, this weekend, the few I could get here that are on the list and I am interested in. I picked up a couple of Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA's, a couple of the Foundrs All Day IPA Session, a couple of the Sierra Nevada Hop Celebration, and Delirium Tremens. I also picked up, just out of curiosity Horny Goat's IPA. I haven't tried any yet, but soon will. Excited to get some of these on the palette.
Try some Yazoo Hop Project. It is brewed in Nashville, but I can usually find it in Birmingham, usually even at Whole Foods.
I was at the corsair distillery in Nashville a few months back, right next to the American Pickers store. They had a tap room and had tons of Yazoo, but I did not try any. Will keep an eye out for that in the future. Thanks.
