The Beer Journey

Discussion in 'Cellaring / Aging Beer' started by slevy221, Oct 15, 2014.

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  1. slevy221

    slevy221 Initiate (0) Feb 27, 2014 New Jersey

    Hello Fellow BeerAdvocates!

    I've been contemplating something lately and figured I'd pick the brains of this community.

    Over the past year+ of Craft Beer drinking I've become very passionate about beer. I've built a cellar that is 30 deep and nearly 1 year old. And I've made a couple of fun trades.

    While I love to taste the variety of beers that are out there in the world and explore the unique flavors and ingredients that go in to each batch, I've noticed there is something else that factors into my passion. The Journey.

    Each beer can have it's own story behind it over time. Whether it's calling every beer store in NYC and traveling across town to grab the last KBS available, or working through trade negotiations to piece together The Bruery's Winter Series which I started too late, it's all about the community experience that makes it awesome.

    So my question now relates back to my The Bruery Winter Series Extravaganza. I started collecting beers this year. Bought a couple of #6, managed to get my hands on a #5 and then managed to trade for #3 and #4. I now am faced with the dilemma of: Do I try to get #1 and #2? Thing is, #2 is made with Pecans and I have a nut allergy...so I can't even drink that. And #1 is just so hard to get that I don't know if it's worth breaking the "beer bank" for it.

    On the flip side, the concept of completing this series is kind of exciting. Like the thought of sitting with some of my closest beer enthusiasts to crack open all 12 bottles in one sitting sounds epic and would be viewed as an accomplishment.

    So...with that said...what would you do? Be fine with #s 3-12 or push the envelope and fight to get the full series?

    All thoughts are welcomed.

    Thanks!

    -Saul
     
    #1 slevy221, Oct 15, 2014
  2. jakethesnake9z9z

    jakethesnake9z9z Crusader (464) Mar 5, 2009 Wisconsin
    Trader

    Great question Saul! You'll probably get a few good thoughts on this, and I figured I'd through in my opinion as well (for what it's worth)...

    As I built up my cellar the last few years, I've always been tempted by my completionist mentality, and the craft beer industry caters to this all too well. Examples:

    "well I have Black Tuesday, Chocolate Rain, and Grey Monday set aside for a tasting, I pretty much have to trade for Mocha Wednesday..."
    "I have 1414, Fifteen, and Sixteen, but I can't open them unless I have a Black Gold too..."
    "I've been doing a BB Pt5 mini-vert, and now stores have released special specific-barrel versions of this year's BB Pt5? My tasting won't be complete without them..."

    Sometime it's really fun to collect a set and try the whole thing with a bunch of others, but sometimes it's just expensive and time-consuming to try to complete all your collections. Based on my experience with aging Bruery beers, I'd say that several might be on their way downhill long before you get the full set of 12, especially since you don't know how the first couple were cellared. If you're throwing all your rare beer ammo at a rare fresh beer or something you have great confidence in holding up, I'd say go for it. On the off chance that you taste it in 6 years and think "hmmm, this isn't good at all", it'll probably sting a little bit depending on what you had to give up though.

    For what it's worth, I have 2 Turtle Doves through 6 Geese-a-Laying and plan on opening them with friends after buying #7 since I don't trust the ability of those early ones to hold up for another several years.

    Either way, have fun and cheers!
     
    #2 jakethesnake9z9z, Oct 15, 2014
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  3. slevy221

    slevy221 Initiate (0) Feb 27, 2014 New Jersey

    Thanks!! This actually kind of makes sense. Don't wanna give up a ton to get something that turns out to be bad. I think I'll stick with building the cellar from 3-12.

    Appreciate the feedback!
     
    #3 slevy221, Oct 15, 2014
  4. ASak10

    ASak10 Initiate (0) Jan 2, 2014 Colorado

    Personally I thought 5 Golden Rings was awful. I can only imagine how much worse it will be in 7 years. I just question how some of these will hold up (even though I know the bottles say they will).
     
    #4 ASak10, Oct 15, 2014
  5. slevy221

    slevy221 Initiate (0) Feb 27, 2014 New Jersey

    Haha Idk I really enjoyed 5 Golden Rings. Wasn't able to try 3FHs or 4CBs but really liked 5GRs and 6GL.
     
    #5 slevy221, Oct 15, 2014
  6. ASak10

    ASak10 Initiate (0) Jan 2, 2014 Colorado

    To each their own, definitely nothing wrong with that!
     
    #6 ASak10, Oct 16, 2014
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  7. tommyguz

    tommyguz Pooh-Bah (2,534) May 14, 2008 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Bummer about the allergy, however, I faced the same choice you made and though I found some great traders to help me get PiaPt and 2TDs without breaking the bank, I decided it was something I wanted to do. I had like 6 or so of us do the Vertical Epic series 020202 - 121212 and it was a fun night. Is it worth breaking the bank for? No, probably not, but it is definitely a fun experience, or at least I thought it was. So come the end we will be doing the Bruery tasting at some point that winter....5 years or so from now I guess it is?

    Edit: the only thing I hate about doing it, is I didn't have 1-2-3-4 fresh :slight_frown:
     
    #7 tommyguz, Oct 16, 2014
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  8. slevy221

    slevy221 Initiate (0) Feb 27, 2014 New Jersey

    Literally about to have the same issue. Couldn't try 3 or 4 fresh.

    That's awesome that you enjoyed that though! It's what I'm hoping to do as well.
     
    #8 slevy221, Oct 16, 2014
  9. tommyguz

    tommyguz Pooh-Bah (2,534) May 14, 2008 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Yeah it was a fun experience
     
    #9 tommyguz, Oct 16, 2014
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