Wanted: Beer Trading FAQ Input

It's really the responsibility of the individual trader to know how to get the growlers they that they are going to trade. This question of what is legally allowed to be used for fills has not surfaced in the context of trade, as far as I recall, so it's not really a frequently asked question.

The question of shipping growlers does come up quite a bit, so I agree there should be an FAQ for that. This thread has quite a bit of info and suggestions that can combined into 1 answer: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/growler-shipping.93613/ . I personally treat growlers as just another bottle, albeit a large one, to ship with the added caution of tightening & tapping the cap or swing arms.

 

I live in a state where you can get pretty much any container, of any volume, filled pretty much anywhere. But I certainly check with my trade partners when I do a growler trade about what their local laws are, and try to find a way to send them glass they will be able to use, as much as possible. I think it's worth including something that encourages people to be aware of the fact that the rules might be totally different in your trade partner's state and that it's polite to at least try to help them out.

 

A fair point. I definitely have never come across any request from my partner to use a growler that is of a certain specs since I have to use brewery branded growler or whatever is available at the growler shop at the time. We don't have legal labeling requirements here. Given that and the question has never came up in the trade help forum, I never consider it to be frequently asked.

 

Per this thread http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/good-or-bad-or-none.237669 I think it would be good to clarify pre-trades and shipping costs regarding reimbursement if the trade falls through.

 

Don't forget to get a picture of the broken contents to confirm damage. After that resolution will be up to the sender / receiver.


Pre Trade: Trade at your own risk. Once the trade is confirmed, unless circumstances change (you were number 51/50, you missed the online sell, someone got ill that day and changed your plans) treat it like a normal trade.

 

How about across the U.S./Canadian border?

 

I trade growlers with people in 4 different states and all are a bit different. I can get anything filled at a growler shop as long as it can be closed and has the government warning on it. Breweries can't fill growlers in AL. In Florida, 64oz growlers can't be filled but 128oz and 32 oz can. A 32 oz of any kind can be filled as long as it has the government warning on it. In MA, they are brewery specific so they send to me first then I get it refilled. One of the breweries I get fills from in CA will allow almost any size as long as the size and government warnings are printed on the growler. It doesn't have to be brewery specific but if it is from another brewery the logos have to be covered with tape. Also the growler must be a flip top made from stainless or brown glass. New Jersey is pretty much just like here except that breweries can fill them you don't have to go to a growler shop. These may not be the exact legal rules in each state but they are the rules as I know them from trading in these states.

As far as an FAQ, I think it should be addressed so people would know that growlers can be traded but you have to work out those logistics beforehand since sometimes it is the determining factor in who sends first.

 

Is there currently a post or a sticky with all of the acronyms that people use in the trading forum? Personally, I can't keep up with all of them, and half of the time I have no idea to what people are referring when they're looking to trade.

 

When I'm trading with someone new I always refer them to this:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lgJYsBKQyKLn1Kex7rKGFU6kmX92MgcRunGvhqpD2wE/edit?pli=1

It literally answers everything and then some. Even I refer to it when I ship overseas.

 

Completely forgot about that! Saw it when it was work in progress. Great info. The only thing I saw needed to address is using grocery bags or trash bag to contain potential leaks. Grocery bags are very thin, most have holes in them and can't be properly sealed. Ziploc is the way to go if containment is the goal. Trash bag should be additional, not instead of. Other than that, I think BA is looking for some "original content" contributed by members to avoid copying from other sources.

 

I get that. But why reinvent the wheel?

 

How to mark a beer as available for trade - first marking it as a 'got' and also marking it 'for trade'. It took me a while to figure it out, including Google and forum searches. Probably intuitive for others but my small minority...

 

I've got a quick suggestion, but I'm not sure how you can implement it. Some traders take forever to come back with feedback. Most are ok but I have one that I can't get to give feedback back to me, even though I've texted him a number of times. Is there a way for BA to add a system to ping lazy traders?

 

we are working on this, but long story short, no there is no solution now.

 

Thanks for letting me know.

 

never thought of this.....

 

I think another point worth mentioning is common etiquette for making things right. Generally speaking, don't trade what you can't afford to replace. Packages get damaged, bottles are released infected and sometimes there's other unforeseen issues that are neither party's fault. The general consensus seems to be that the shipper is responsible for making sure that the receiver gets what they traded for.

 

Is an infected bottle on the shipper? I understand if I pack insufficiently and a bottle gets broken or lost, it's on me to replace it. But if I send out a beer that by all accounts is fine, what's my responsibility upon arrival? Infected? Oxidized? If the trader is just very disappointed by it?

 

As a general rule, no.

In some cases you can get into grey areas. Not everyone can keep up with all the information about every beer out there, so if someone asks for a beer that you know has had some issues with infection, I think the ethical thing to do is check that they know they might be rolling the dice. But, if as far as you know, bottles haven't been infected (or flat, or otherwise flawed), there's no obligation to replace the bottle.

 

Is positive feedback left for another user "on hold" until they leave feedback? If their number didn't climb until they left feedback it would be another incentive piece for responsiveness. Of course negative feedback would have to implement right away, and that would be an ugly looking piece of code haha