What's wrong with Whale Hunting?

Also, it should be pointed out that if anyone is choosing their whales based on ratings, the current range from #1-250 is about 0.4 points (4.32 - 4.73), which if you have rated many beers, is fairly arbitrary and even I have changed my rating 0.5 point or more before when I have revisited a beer. So, for me, a beer in the 200-250 range may be preferable to some in the top 50. Just my 2 cents.

 

I tried out whale hunting for like 6 months and then realized that there were more important things in life to be obsessing over. My local package store always has enough good things on the shelf that makes me feel like the extra effort it takes to find a true whale seem a little pointless. Whatever floats your boat I guess.

 

Nothing but there are so many easily accessible beers out there that are just as good. If I have the opportunity to 'catch a whale' I'll jump on it but it's certainly not something I go out of my way for. Just because it's rare doesn't mean it's better than what's readily available. I will say I do have a soft spot for KBS but again, I'm a firm believer that on a large scale there are equal or better beers out there than whales.

 

I will try and land whalez, but at the same time trying everything else. I don't see an issue with it. I just don't like the guys bring mules and hoarding a bunch of bottle hostage asking for crazy $ or trades.

 

I only hunt whales if it is shooting fish in a barrel.

 

yeah, agreed, I've been killing myself trying to find Vertical Epic 01.01.01... I need to just let it go ;p

 

It's a free county and you can spend your $ as you see fit. I'm more of a drink fresh drink local kind of guy. I think some of the younger crowd has a lust for the best rated, best ticked that they might not explore what is right their own back yard. Maybe I will start a 100 miles club. No brews outside that distance for a month. Would be easy in my Boston, MA area.

 

I've been disappointed by to many whales. I check to see whats new or interesting and keep my eye out for it but I don't put much effort into the hunt.
What bothers me more is when one of your favorites starts to become a whale because of hype. I haven't been to Tree House in so long. My apologies guys, I promise to endure your long lines out of respect for your talent very soon.

 

The distinction of "whale hunting" is where the experience of trying great beer ends, and the experience of "collecting baseball cards" begins.

 

My issue with whale hunting based on ratings is that it relies mostly on availability. you want to make a 100 rated beer? easy. pick the newest hop you can get your hands on, make a huge abv barley wine/ipa or sour, Age it on African baobab wood (or insert any exotic wood/liqour barrel) then make about 10bbls of it half of which is tap only. instant 100 point beer. want to add on to the legacy? do a few extremely short runs of variants.

I love beer and i've had some Amazing beers in the 70pt range. Each site that rates beer kind of has a bit of a hive mind. BA is known to award higher points to more hop focused beers or beers that are just hard to get. also god forbid you get fruit near the beer that will automatically drop it at least 5-7pts. I still maintain that Craggie's Yo La Mango IPA was one of the best beers i ever had. in fact i came in to work for a week straight(on my time off) and drank the whole 5gal keg myself. its rating on here 86. I deal with people almost daily during the summer with their faces buried in their phones, wont listen to a single suggestion i give them and wont buy a beer unless its rated 95 or higher. Sometimes I just buy them a beer that they keep refusing, with my own money, and laugh when they come back telling me how good it was.

Taste are subjective to each person, while ratings do help, it helps more to know what the people rating the beers prefer. Instead of taking the rating system at full face value.

 

The biggest problem with whale hunting is most times you wake up with a hangover the next morning having porked a fat chick you normally wouldn't have given a second glance to.....

Oh wait, wrong kind of whale hunting. Sorry...

 

The limited run bottles bring out the worst in people but then again I guess that should not be unexpected. I hate bottle releases not so much for the waiting element but the people around you who have nothing better to talk about then the beer they just traded for, what they traded to get it, what they are wanting to trade the beer that they are currently waiting in line for, etc. Limited releases bring the douche in douche bag out. Some people have no shame in telling assembled people how they beat the system, rip off people, etc. The last release at Forest and Main, some fat guy was telling people how he was in Whole Foods and saw the beer that was going on sale when the beer area opened. I am not quite sure I believed his story but he said he grabbed the bottles and went to the regular check out line and purchased them before the pub opened. He also told everyone about how he was at a place when the delivery was made and followed the case in the store from the truck and bought the entire case. Seriously, if I was such a loser, the last thing I would do is keep it to myself.

 

We're free to spend our money as we wish. Being an ass about seeking out rarer beers and bragging and profiteering about them is the problem.

 

To each their own. A whale to one could be a minnow to another. I have found time and again some HIGHLY rated beer to just be meh because I had these grand expectations based upon the score alone or the brewery that made it.

 

I'm a total sucker for novelty. If I'm in a bar, and there's something on tap I've never had I'm gonna order it, but concentrating on whales means missing a lot of great beer. I think of it like fishing. I like catching a mess of crappies as much as I like fishing for muskies.

 

I am relatively new to beer but I have decades of wine experience and following the discussions on BA mirrors what I've experienced with "90+" wines. For some cult California cabernets and French Burgundies the demand is absolutely insane. For example I spent 7 years on the waiting list for Harlan Estate and by the time I got in it was up to $350 a bottle. (I declined). Certainly some of the wines indeed taste incredible but others are not anywhere near their price. Plus you can't get them unless you're on the mailing list, get them at auction or go to a fancy restaurant to get them at 2-3x markup. While I would like to taste some nice beers I don't want to replicate that unpleasant experience of chasing and chasing only to be disappointed.

 

The short answer to your question... Nothing!!

 

Reading through this forum, it seems like when all is said is done, its what your motive is for whale hunting. Correct me if im wrong. But say your a guy whos favorite beer is something that you can typically buy in most bottle shops. You purchase one two or who knows three cases just to save yourself the time going back and forth. I do not see any harm in someone who does the same with a beer that just so happens to be a "whale". Its not his fault that its a whale. If he likes the beer he likes the beer and he is going to buy as much as he possibly can. Like i said, at the end of the day its not his fault the beers that he enjoy just so happen to be hard to come across.

Of course there are people that will go out hunting a beer in which they have no desire to drink yet simply get as much as possible because its a whale and they just need to have it. If your looking for trade bait trying to come out on top (as in playing the well my beer is a whale thus is worth more card) then that is a problem.

-xICooRsYIx

 

I don't "hunt" the whales, but I've gotta admit, when my wife and I were in Aruba having dinner at a place called Madame Janette's (great German food) and I saw they had 2 bottles of Westy 12, I think my melon exploded. And yes, they were spectacular.

And as long as I'm dropping names, I had two 4-packs of Heady driven from VT to St. Louis so I could fly in from Minnesota and claim them.

Actually, that kinda embarrasses me. Kinda.

Otherwise, I sample what I think I'll enjoy - which is a lot of different beverages. I'm not a beer snob, I'm a beer nerd.

But I may walk to Russian River for PTY. Nah, I wouldn't do that.

Unless someone would walk with me. That would be cool.

 

Speaking of whales. A liquor store in the Dupont neighborhood of DC has 4 bottles of Dark Lord for 99 bucks a piece. Yeah I want to try it but not that bad.