I'm interested in trading, but I'm concerned about the shipping process, especially in regards to keeping the beers cold. Does anyone know if we're obliged to keep the beers chilled while sending? How do you do this? Any tips?
Best advice: If you are concerned about beer and temp, wait til the weather cools down. A few summers ago, I got a box of Russian River Sours delivered to my door. A massive heatwave and storms delayed shipment. By the time it got to me, the beer was warmer than piss.
I try to avoid shipping during the extremes: extreme heat, extreme cold and (some might disagree) the extreme Christmas shopping/shipping season. (Last year was a good example of this.) Make sure you check the weather forecast for the area you are shipping to. Also, constant communication with your trading partner is just as crucial. If you don't think the weather is conducive to the trade, talk it out with your trading partner. I did. I asked him to wait a couple of weeks until the weather hit above 20 during the Chiberian winter. He said the beers needed to get out soon, but they could wait a little while.(IPA's) It all worked out just fine. You just don't know how long those boxes are going to be exposed to the elements. Be it on a truck or a porch. Cheers!
The other guys covered weather. To answer your question, no, you don't need to include icepacks or things like that (unless trying to counteract shipping during a hot time). If you do, pack well (duh) and try to double box so the shipping people don't feel cold coming from the box. They might open it up. But if you're shipping from MA to somewhere and it's not going to be over 90 on the journey, it should be OK to send. Anyone who trades should know we can't control the weather, delays, and such, we can just try to mitigate (e.g. send on Mondays, don't send when it's freezing out).
Well, a lot of the beer I'm getting has been on warm ass trucks already on it's way to retailers. A few more days isn't going to ruin it.
