Posting coveted beers you COULD get?

There's nothing wrong with posting stuff for trade that sits on the shelf locally. The key is "sits on the shelf", meaning there is a 99% chance when you go back, that beer will still be there. I trade Heady all the time, and its often not in my fridge. You just need to know your local stores, know how fast stuff is leaving the shelves, know whether a beer has just been released and likely to disappear before you get back to purchase.

 

I generally use "shelf" beers for expansion purposes and have good enough relationships with several bottle shops that will hold beers for me should the other trader wants something. The key thing is to make sure your (potential) trading partner(s) know that those are shelf and you "should" be able to get these beers so they understand all the possible outcomes. Honesty is good. You don't want to say you "have the beer", then later tell them that you "thought you could get it still".

 

With the trading forums having feedback, I would be cautious about posting stuff for trade that you don't actually have. It has happened before and will happen again that you assume a beer will be there and when you go to get it, it's gone. It's best to trade stuff you actually have.

 

I don't ever post a FT: something I don't have. But often, if someone is looking for something (e.g. Westbrook Gose), I will respond to them via BM with an "I can get Gose." I don't actually have it, because it doesn't make any sense to clog up my cellar with Gose 6-packs (at least until production ends in August), but I can easily get it. I am careful to be clear with potential partner that I have to get it as a stipulation to the trade. And I rarely purchase it until a trade has been formally accepted under that caveat, as I would be screwed by purchasing 25 bucks of beer and then the trade partner decide to go with a different/"better" trade.

I think as long as you're being transparent and clear with the trading partner, you're okay.

 

How about listing beers you know are available at any time in your FT? Shelf beers for example, but as another example HopHands and SaisonHands are Tired Hands' flagships, is putting them in my 'Gots/FT' considered ok?

Edit: Given that you are transparent about the fact that they are not in-hand when arranging trades.

 

I don't think that's an issue. I've done that plenty of times with Alpine's lineup (not Expo, Chez, Great). I just say I have to swing by the brewery to grab the bottles, or just say what bottles they have in stock and what I can get.

 

Ok great, I'm far enough from TH that it's not just an "on the way home" type errand, but I could make it happen with a little advance notice/flexibility in ship date. So, at least for the two beers they'll always have around, I might as well offer them up.

 

You don't need to be specific when mentioning TH in your trade. You can simply say TH currently available growlers, send the link to their site, get your trade partner's preferences (4 beers or so) and phone number. You can text the menu if the preferred beers aren't available when you get there. Even HopHands has kicked in the past so nothing is safe. There are usually better beers than HopHands and rarely do people want HopHands or SaisonHands when looking for TH beers anyway (you'll have to trust me on this).

 

I think the key is to just be honest. Don't seal a trade for something you might not be able to get. It's fair to say "I'm going to the store to grab ____, let me know if you want any, I'm looking for ____" when what you're going to grab is generally available. But, I don't think it's kosher to say, "I have ____ (maybe DB Jesus or CRWnB or some other quick selling item), I want ____" if you don't have it in your possession.

In my experience, most of my trade partners have been pretty easy going (as you'd expect in the beer community). As long as you conduct yourself accordingly, you can usually work something out where everybody's aces.

 

I've only done a handful of trades with TH so far, but more than half of the recipients had HopHands as their #1 or 2 want. It's a small sample size, sure, but if you haven't had any of their beers yet, you'd probably want to try those two too, there's a reason they're the flagships.

Quote deleted since the refrenced post was also deleted.

 

I guess we do trade with different group of people. People may freak if I disclose how many TH growlers I've traded and I can only recall 2 or 3 HopHands and that they weren't specifically looking for it either.

 

It seems like we do, but with any luck, I'll be in your group soon!

 

Hahaha...HopHands is still one of my favorites, by the way. Not a fan of SaisonHands though...most of their saisons are better than SaisonHands.

 

I agree with that, I thought Single Hop Galaxy was a lot hoppier/more bitter than most IPAs (enjoyed it thoroughly, just wasn't 'to style' to me) but the other handful of saisons I've had there I liked better than SaisonHands, my favorite being Beautiful Crystalline Structure