So Many Beers. How to Chose?

I go to stores I usually frequent but I also try to hit any new stores I come across (obviously when travelling).

I check out local stuff first if they have a section, and seasonals if they have a section for that. Then I look for big bottles. Nationals and then imports follow. Price is big for me as I don't have that much to spend, and I tend to stick with styles I love. I check dates if I can. That's it.

 

I look for things I haven't had before, breweries I haven't tried before, and whatever fits my mood.


Don't overthink it. Relax. The worst thing that can happen is you get some beer to drink.

 

If I go to the beer store I'm usually seeking something specific. When taking into account year-round favorites, seasonal releases, and new releases from my favorite breweries, it is rare I go in and buy something on a whim.

I prefer to try new beers on tap if it is from a brewery I'm not head over heels about or unfamiliar with.

 

I'm a spontaneous beer shopper. I'll have plenty of beer and styles of beer in my fridge, but then I'll be struck with a thought, and then its off to the races because I don't have a porter, or I don't have a dunkel, or a belgian pale - and I will only be sated if I feed this irrational desire.

 

The 3 stores I regularly shop at all post new shipments received on Instagram, usually a couple of times a week each; a lot of breweries I like regularly post new releases to IG as well. Makes it easy to figure out what is super fresh vs. what's been sitting around.

 

It's too much, isn't it?

I was recently visiting Germany and the Czech republic and most places I went to for a beer had 4 or fewer choices (with a few exceptions that were clearly modeled on American establishments). Many places had a single beer. That single beer was always a very good beer, and you know what? It was actually really relaxing. It was awesome being in Koln and sitting down and just drinking the only choice - the (excellent) house kolsch, and not needing to think overmuch about it.

Then I came home to the USA and everyplace has 60 taps and 1000+ bottles. Maybe 10% of it is truly excellent, 60% is just decent, and maybe 30% is just not very good. Why do we need literally thousands of options? Why is the market not very good at weeding out the droves of not very good beers?

I think there's something really nice about just having a local pub with a two or three well-made beers that you just....drink. Drinking a beer doesn't always need to be an orgy of choice and hunting the just-released, or itself the main focus of an outing. It's deeply woven into our culture, as it should be, but it's ok if the beer is the background music and your conversation or activity is the main focus. Beer has been a staple for at least six thousand years, and likely much longer. It's not going anywhere. Relax!

I've heard a lot of brewer friends bemoan the fact that if they aren't constantly releasing new one-offs or new beers that they lose traction and tap space. The release cycle is punishing. These are folks that make excellent beer and have been for a couple decades. They seem exhausted and saddened by it, as they watch their old (and still very good) flagships wither. They feel like they're dancing monkeys, to some extent, chasing (often silly, to them) ephemeral trends ad infinitum.

Or maybe I'm just getting old and I think you kids with your triple hazy saison barrel aged IPAs are missing the point sometimes.

 

That's a cool thing to do .

 

I genuinely laughed out loud reading this

 

I would suggest that this country is reacting to the long period of time when there were few American made choices other than AAL available. You call yourself an old timer, so I am guessing you remember those days. Don't know about you but I will never get tired of the variety we have available, and I will never forget the dark ages of beer I spent half my life within. You say many of our styles aren't made that well. Good thing then we have sites like this one so we can avoid the ones that aren't made well, and concentrate on the ones made amazingly. There are more amazingly made beers here now than any of us could hope to drink during our lifetimes.

I also don't think anyone should assume that the locals in Koln all are lovers of that one or two taps, all Kolsch, thing. How many of them come back from vacations in the United States and bemoan their own local scenes as being wayyyy too restrictive? How many of them wish for a day they can get as many locally made styles as we enjoy here? How many of them will welcome a beer scene like ours, and look back on now as the dark ages, as I do now for those days of no choices here?

 

Jeez, I sure spend enough time on here- that's all it seems to take to develop a big enough mental list of what looks or sounds interesting.

 

There's lots of ways I make my selections. Below are a few in no particular order.

1. Anything with coffee that's dark usually gets added to the cart.
2. If I'm looking at building a mix six or two, I usually work through a brewery's line up. It helps me see their flagships and consistency across styles, plus then it's easier for me to recall what I've tried.
3. Pick up beers I often see in WBAYDN and otherwise hear about in this forum.
4. Pick up a beer or two off the Beers of Fame or styles list, as long as I can find them.

New area/vacation: if I'm in a totally new area and options and I can't do a mix six or two, I'll spend 30 minutes or more looking up ratings on here to make sure I make good selections. Especially since these beers will be taking up space and hauled back home via a flight or drive, I'd rather not waste any space.

 

Are those triple hazy saison BA IPAs DDH? Asking for a friend. Seriously, you eloquently stated what I've experienced lately, two times abroad and one time in rural Ohio

 

I've been at it long enough so that I've 'explored' enough new beers. I usually go to a store with a specific beer(s) in mind, or sometimes I'm looking for various beers in certain a style that I'm currently trying versions from multiple breweries for comparison.

 

I must confess that when I go to a store if I see something that I haven't at least vaguely heard of on here I tend to assume it's not that interesting. Not because I put the opinions here on some sort of vaunted pedestal or anything, but more just because the odds of me being the first to find something worth talking about seem kind of low.

I'll still buy fully blind now and again, but things I've at least read something about here definitely have a bit of a head start. That can work on the negative side too but that's much less often the case.

 

This is the only way I really purchase beer. Everything is posted to instagram. Instagram is why my bank account is not as high as it should be. I spend waaaaay too much money on beer. Thanks to Instagram.

Chef Myke

 

Yeah, nothing is 100% for me either . I actually picked up a blind beer from someplace I never heard of just this past weekend, although it was more of an add-on to a larger purchase. But it was very local, and an unusual style too- a Brut IPA. I figured "how bad can that be?" And the next day I found out .