Saving beers?

There are some bottle collectors who are regulars in this forum, including me, but all of the bottles that we save are empty if we call them a collection. The biggest reason that most of us give up on collecting bottles is that you will run out of storage space quickly.

If you keep bottles that are full then you need to get involved in the Cellaring forum to learn the ins and outs of that. There are many beers that improve with age, but there are some that do not. You have some on your list that should not be kept very long, namely those that are hop-forward beers (IPAs and double IPAs) because the hops will fade over time and lose their peak flavor. These kinds of beers are best consumer as fresh as possible.

 

I can't, it prevents me from drinking them.

Sometimes I save them for like 4 days in my fridge. That counts.

 

I don't see your point in saying "never" because a beer that responds to cellaring will reach a point that it will no longer improve, and likely will decline in quality, thus it's pointless to keep it. You should drink the beers somewhere along the way and enjoy them. There is no financial gain to cause you to sit on these beers, although there can be some trade value, but typically you get equal value in return for whatever you trade. Beers are meant to be consumed....not hoarded.

 

I think he's collecting the "complete" beer, brew and bottle and everything, not cellaring it.... I can see how in a few decades those bottles would be interesting as artifacts from this period of the craft brew scene, he's looking at them in terms of being historical items (and really, from that point of view preserving the beer, cap, and bottle unaltered as a complete package makes just as much sense as saving the empty bottle.)

Collecting some glasses is as far as I go. I wouldn't be able to save full beers.... the first time I got a good buzz on I'd lose willpower and start downing the collection.

 

I have thought about collecting cans and beer bottles but I just do not have the room. Maybe in a couple of years I will when we get our new place.

 

You know, I kinda understand what he is doing. I remember reading someplace about beers going for like thousands of dollars because the brewery is no longer in business, and the beer itself if from a certain period in our brewing history. The only problem I see with this is, well of course the space factor, but more importantly, just how long it would take for that bottle to become a sought after collectors item. I say Rock on man if it feels good to ya! Cheers

 

Kind of like how people still have unopened bottles of Coke and Pepsi from the 30's, I could see a 2013 Founders Harvest Ale having intrinsic value to many by the time 2063 rolls around, even though no one would ever plan to drink it at that point. Although, I think I read on the internet the earth is getting hit by a comet before then so it might get opened anyway.

 

If you never plan on drinking it, and you never plan on selling your collection, if it were me, I would have just drank them, refilled them with water, then re-capped them (it's very easy to remove a cap completely flat and intact)... plus a capping device can be bought for $15 if you're that worried about getting the cap back on "just right".

Just my thought.

I used to collect bottles too... until my 2,000 sq. ft. house started feeling like I was in a 400 sq. ft. studio.

P.S. You never said which ones in your collection are full beers. Are all of those full? Most of the SN beers on your list put a year indicator on the neck label too. I know Hoptimum, Bigfoot, and Celebration do. Probably Narwhal as well, but I can't recall for sure. Does that mean you're going to buy one every year just to keep on a shelf?