The Hunt

Nowadays I can do just as much hunting online as I can in store, especially considered the closest decent beer store is an hour drive away.

 

I have only gotten into craft beer this year and so far "the hunt" has resulted in nada for me! Lol. Then again, I have been focusing mostly on trying beers I can find locally. Needless to say, I have access to a ton of beers I have never tried before so I don't feel a huge urge at this point to hunt down the rare ones. With that being said one day I will want to try and find some of the obvious choices such as Pliny the Elder and Goose IslandBourbon County Stout. It goes without saying that I would also like to hunt down a Heady Topper, but from what I have heard I would have mor success digging up the Ark of the Covenant. Lol.

I did just order my first beer online though which was "Not Your Father's Root Beer." From what I have heard it is amazing and I could not find it locally. At some point in the future I will get into trading, but living here in the Seattle area I'm not sure what I have access to that others do not. So I figure I will rack up more craft beer related knowledge and experience before attempting my first trade.

 

Have fun hunting. I'll laugh at you sitting in your chair when I walk around you to grab a sixer of a great beer sitting right there on the shelf and reasonably priced.

 

I go to the "latest haul" thread, see what I want, then break into people's homes and take their beer. Sometimes, after holding their family hostage in a brutal, days-long ordeal ala Michael Haneke's 1997 film "Funny Games."

 

Not being particularly adroit at using modern technology, I rely on developing relationships with shop owners and beer buyers for small mom an pop bottle shops, and the ABC locally. They let me know when something good is on the way, or in. And they will put bottles aside for me knowing what I like; that whole relationship thing...

 

Part of the fun of any hobby is the hunt though, right? I collect vintage Star Wars action figures for example. I could go to any local store and find at least a few that are reasonably priced and I often do. But there are also a few that are extremely rare and when I manage to find those it's double the thrill. And I know that some of these rare beers are supposed to be delicious so I assume the reward is the successful hunt, but also a really great beer to drink.

 

friends with the girl that does ordering at the bottle shop, they don't get much so trade for the rest here

 

Trading is much easier than you think.

 

You can always try trading HotD, Boneyard growlers, Logsdon (PnB), Pelican (MoaS), and Fremont (mostly the BB offerings).

Good luck!

 

Awesome! Thanks for the heads up. I will dive in eventually.

 

All of the above. Sometimes I'll go wait in line for beers (Tributary's Mott the Lesser [beer formerly known as Kate the Great]) Sometimes I'll talk to the stores and get on the list or get friendly with the beer guy, sometimes just get lucky.
For the beers that don't get here, I don't worry about it. If a friend offers to send or pick something up, I'll respond in kind, but I don't actively trade.

 

Sometimes I join the hunt, sometimes I don't, depends on a lot of variables including how interested I am in the beer, how much free time I have, how much beer I already have sitting around at the time, etc.

I will say that my general "hunt" is just stopping at binnys on the way home and checking a couple liquor stores. I don't go too far out of my way. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I don't, sometimes I stumble upon gems that I never would have expected. I enjoy browsing beer shops.

I am slowly but surely getting addicted to trading, which is a more expensive but much easier method of acquiring rare stuff... It is exciting in it's own way. The uncertainty of whether the beer will arive safely, the extras...

 

ditto

 

When I'm ready for the dog track, I'll pick a beer store instead, get a chair and do what the OP says he or she does. Until then, I have too many other more important things to do besides hang out at a store waiting form something to go on sale.

 

It is brown and the beer finder is nice. Im not a truck chaser so knowing who got what on what day saves me from playing that role. Miami is full of people who do so it helps me snag my 1 bottle which I'm totally content with.

 

Wow... So in your avatar, you're the one in red then?

Sorry. Couldn't help myself...

 

I enjoy travelling to breweries to get something I wouldn't be able to get locally (my first trip to Russian River, Westvletern, etc). But I'm not so excited to hunt down special/rare beers. Usually the price is out of whack with what you get, which is more of a turn off for me than anything. I seek a good deal as much as I seek a good beer.

 

I go to a liquor store over my lunch break, ask the manager/clerk if the beer is behind the counter if not seen on shelves, and get told it's "sold out". Then mention, "what about the 4 pack behind the counter that I can see?" Get told "Now you're looking behind my counter? That's for a customer who can't make it here until after work." It was a shock to find out that some people have greener money than I. I had to have a sit down with my boss after that insight.

 

And much more expensive than you think.

 

yeah especially when half your trades go to Florida, damn FedEx