Waiting in line for beer

Full disclosure: I have never waited in a line for beer other than a beer festival.

I find things that a lot of people do odd. I think the people that line up in costume to go to comic book festivals or Rocky Horror are odd. I think the people who wait in line and sleep over for the newest Apple releases have a problem. I think people who wait in lines for Black Friday deals have issues. I don't understand anyone taking work off to waste that time they could have been making money to spend it. Beer or otherwise I don't get it. But the people who do it, do get it.

There are people lining up and/or waiting for tons of things that they are passionate about that I don't understand. They don't care. Why would you care if they think you're odd and have issues?

 

We might be the same person, although I did wait 5 minutes once at Alchemist...not sure if that counts.

Nothing the OP mentioned sounds even remotely appealing to me. Flying places to wait in line to buy some beer? Not a chance. If you enjoy that, by all means keep doing it. For me, my time and sanity is worth far more than the joy any sought after beer could provide.

Now that I've had the opportunity to try many of the most talked about beers I find myself settling in for the easier to get stuff. We're pretty fortunate in MA that we have a lot of very good shelf turds

 

I don't know, I feel like sometimes the waiting in line, experiencing the camaraderie among like-minded people, being among the first to get your hands on a brew, and enjoying the fruits of your labor later outweighs the cons...

Of course, I'm also a guy who goes to Comic-con every year and camps out there overnight. So I may just be generally odd

 

Much of the problem is due to hype and the increased number of people interested in craft beer. Compound that with trading and hoarding and shit gets messy. I couldn't imagine spending the majority of my saturday traveling to Treehouse (not to single them out) and waiting in line for hours for a couple growlers of beer.

 

Very good shelf turds is an oxymoron, but I agree with everything you said...

 

I went up to get Heady Topper in Winooski a while back, knowing they might be out. When I got there, the delivery was late and there was a line. All of the sudden things were thrilling. It was no longer a "well, they either have it or they don't" type of thing, it was like "we're almost there!" I talked to some of the other folks in line, and it was a blast. I liked it so much that we waited in line at 3 Floyds on the way out west and the way back (because my wife is the best). I think anticipation and camaraderie are the things I like about it. Go with a friend and enjoy yourself.

 

It's not possible to have very good beers that sit on the shelf for a while? Shelf turd is a derogatory term for things that don't sell out in an hour, it's not representative of quality.

 

I disagree, a turd is a turd. It could be good at first, but once it sits around for a while and collects dust, it is no longer good and becomes a shelf turd.

 

You spend too much time thinking.

 

We already knew that from your avatar Captain Space Time.

 

I love a beer adventure once in a while. Some people like to travel to watch exotic birds. What's wrong with taking a road trip for some rare VT beers? There's the thrill of the hunt, and then returning home a hero with a few cans of Heady to share with friends.

 

rarity/difficulty of purchase drives perception of quality, no doubt. I've done the classic Belgian Quad tasting blind, and Westy 12 did not win. Many others report the same.

in the wine world it's simply accepted that people's perception of quality / taste is driven by brand and price point. I'm sure beer works the same way.

that said, a lot of people are just looking to tick. try something different or rare. so people will wait for that and that's cool with me. but I also think a lot of folks convince themselves they are getting something better when they are mostly getting something different.

 

you've got to fight for your right to party.

 

I think if you are standing in line for hours for a specific beer, more likely you dig the craft beer scene - or letting people know you were able to acquire x beer - than you do beer itself - otherwise you would find a place to go drink/buy equally as good beer without a line. People get caught up with the build up to these releases and think they HAVE to have it - just as people just have to have that new Apple product on the day its released or large screen tv in order to "keep up with the Jones' ". You don't, it won't change your life one bit if you never get to drink that beer - you can't drink them all anyway - no matter how hard you try.

IMO those that like the beer scene more than beer types will be the first to abandon craft beer when these events are deemed not as cool anymore by their peers. "Dude, you're STILL going to beer events? Pshaw, bbl aged cider is where its at now, you should come with us next week to..."

 

Noticed that you did not mention doing all this because YOU want to DRINK the beer.

 

I have stood in line a number of times for beer (mostly at HF, however I am doing my best to avoid that now and just going at slower times). So I can understand standing in line for beer you intend to drink. But I will never understand standing in line for beer that you're just going to turn around and trade.

 

I can name you a ton of shelf turds that are still great after collecting dust, some even better.