Overwhelmed with beer?

I have probably had 3 beers since October 1st. My tennis league started back up and I decided to not drink during the season. During this time, I've been buying only beers I can age and I buy very little. I also just bought a house over the summer so I'm on a bit of spending rollback. Honestly, I kind of like it. It feels good to not have alcohol in your system and I'm saving money. Life is long and there's plenty of time for drinking when time permits.

 

That's kinda where I'm at... I enjoy reading about this stuff, but I pretty much stick to a few brands - 3 of which I consider "local" - Southern Tier (this one really is local, I'm about an hour from the brewery), Saranac, and Sam Adams (Ok, Boston is a bit of a stretch)... and Sierra Nevada (ok, not local)... but I get your point. There's a decent brewpub within an hour, too, so I can a get a variety of great beers right where I'm at.

 

Help me be like that. I need to be like that again.

 

For me, I work best when I have a specific goal where stopping the consumption is part of getting to that goal. I want to make Top 4 in my league. That's my goal, and eating better and cutting alcohol for the season is part of that. As an added bonus, an improved sex life has made this cutting a lot easier. I broke the cut a few times but only for special beers, once for an FBS, once for a Victory at Sea (and I had a Narwhal that night too), and once for Enjoy By. Once you've stopped for a few days, it gets easier to refrain.

 

Stop treating beer like Pokemon cards and more like a great beverage to be shared with friends.

 

I don't normally have alot of beer but I do have many different beers at one time. I think the most beer I've ever had in the fridge/cellar at one time is a total of 60 or so. Right now, I have 16 different beers and a total of 34.
7 out of those 16 different beers are only represented by one beer, and the most I have of any one beer is 6. Seems that whenever I finish a couple of the singles, they're usually replaced by another beer that I have held onto one of. It's just difficult to part with the last one somehow. But if I had as much beer as the OP, I'd probably have a party for those of my friends who would appreciate it.

 

I want that back too.

Thanks

 

If you're overwhelmed I'm more concerned as to what post office you work at than what bar.

 

Start homebrewing. Makes you work for your beer, and then you always have one waiting in the fridge when you get home. Plus you'll spend less at the beer store and on trading.

 

Its been said already but stop trading. It sounds like its taking a toll on you in both time and money and you live in a location that gets lots of good beer.

I can definately relate to Number 3 and i don't even trade. I just travel alot so i always pick up new beers to try and there are always dozens of new releases to check out. Unfortunately i should probably put a beer budget for myself and that would also help you (I would say do it month by month and you can carry over any unused funds to the next month if you know in advance that you will be purchasing "X" amount of beer".

Also i record all of my beer in a spreadsheet...otherwise i would completely forget what i have.
I tend to put IPA's and Pale Ales in the Fridge and right up front to where i can drink them asap (so they don't even make it on the spreadsheet) then i have a variety in the fridge and a variety on the counter to immediately replace any bottle coming out of the fridge. Everything else goes in the cellar and on the spreadsheet (although maintaining that can get time consuming....i know first world problems).

 

My name is Jeff and I'm a beer hoarder; I think I'll go online and order some BA Stout that I won't drink until 2015 or later.