When did you stop chasing OMG whalez off of the top 250?

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by cmiller4642, Jul 17, 2018.

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  1. KarlHungus

    KarlHungus Initiate (0) Feb 19, 2005 Minnesota

    I've never chased anything from that list, and I probably haven't looked at it in the past year. I don't need to. My personal top 250 beers have all been drank while spending time with friends. Those beers most have names like: Hamms, Summit Saga, Bell's Two Hearted, Old Style, Fuller's ESB, ect.
     
  2. Spaten454

    Spaten454 Savant (1,162) Aug 23, 2012 Texas
    Trader

    When I got into craft beer I lived in Charlotte and we would trade regular sexual chocolate for OG vanilla. No one knew what craft beer was then except for Sierra Nevada pale ale and stone IPA.
     
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  3. AZBeerDude72

    AZBeerDude72 Initiate (0) Jun 10, 2016 Arizona

    I have not chased any, if they happen to cross my path I will enjoy them.
     
  4. meefmoff

    meefmoff Pooh-Bah (1,848) Jul 6, 2014 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Apart from making trips to VT now and again I never have. I don't have much of a ticker mentality in general (I'm more prone to extremely deep dives on very specific things) and my early perusals of the trade forum and its array of mysterious acronyms sealed the deal.

    I do make a point of trying to check out celebrated beers when I happen to be visiting their native habitat though, so I'm certainly not completely immune to the allure.
     
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  5. Lahey

    Lahey Initiate (0) Nov 12, 2016 Michigan

    Those acronyms kill me. After 2 years on this site, I still don't know all of em and I don't care to. I'll just type it out if it's not gonna be obvious to everyone.
     
  6. bbtkd

    bbtkd Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,326) Sep 20, 2015 South Dakota
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    You wouldn't run out of bourbon if you chased BBA whales :wink:
     
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  7. dennis3951

    dennis3951 Initiate (0) Mar 6, 2008 New Jersey

    I have never chased anything that wasn't wearing a skirt!! {or Daisy Dukes }
     
  8. warrendietrich2001

    warrendietrich2001 Pooh-Bah (1,692) Feb 13, 2013 Nevada
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I live in an area where getting a top 250 beer is a challenge but I do seek them out when I attend beer festivals. However through people I have met here on BA and their generosity I have tried 128 of the top 250 and I can honestly say none have been from I'll trade you X for Y but merely beers that show up at my doorstep.
     
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  9. Squire

    Squire Grand Pooh-Bah (4,081) Jul 16, 2015 Mississippi
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Reminds me of the comment from a guy in a bar who told me he chased women for years and caught a few that he later wished he hadn't.
     
  10. Lahey

    Lahey Initiate (0) Nov 12, 2016 Michigan

    I worked with an old guy that wore daisy dukes (we called him daisy)... you triggered flashbacks:no_mouth:
     
  11. Squire

    Squire Grand Pooh-Bah (4,081) Jul 16, 2015 Mississippi
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Isn't a thing worth talking about a thing worth describing legibly? I'm reminded of the college professor who's wife had to edit his notes to make them readable.
     
  12. THANAT0PSIS

    THANAT0PSIS Pooh-Bah (2,201) Aug 3, 2010 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    I don't know exactly when. At some point in the last two years, my tastes moved away from barrel-aged things and über sour American wilds and more toward German and English styles, which are obviously easier to acquire great, even world-class versions of.

    Additionally, during my time, some of the best beers I've had have continued to be made but have trended downward in hype simultaneously. Now, some of my favorite beers of all time that are out of my distribution are very easy to acquire and don't take much trade value to do so. For instance, it's pretty easy nowadays to get some Focal Banger, Heady Topper, Hill Farmstead standard releases,Trillium, and Jester King (among many other less popular but equally amazing breweries, especially from the West Coast). Those are some of the best breweries still in my mind, but while they are obviously still popular, their more standard releases don't have insane hype or ludicrous bars of entry like they used to. Other breweries have taken or shared that mantle, but I'm just not interested in getting marginally better beers for exponentially higher bars of entry. A higher number of hyped breweries and this changing of the guard has also led to formerly limited releases sitting on shelves nationwide, making the chase literally no longer necessary.

    Finally, the main reason I gave up chasing is because the return of investment is not what it was for a few reasons. I used to be able to dedicate my free time and money to get beer. Over time both my free time and money have fallen and the time and money required to chase has risen due to more expensive beers, profiteering, and more people chasing. Another reason that the ROI is lesser now is because great breweries aren't just concentrated in a few pockets nationwide; truly amazing brewing scenes on par or very close to on par with what many consider the height of brewing can be found in many places that were sparse or total wastelands five years ago. A world class beer may be being made in your town and is certainly being made in your state. Lastly, I travel a lot, so I can try a lot of hard-to-find beers from the locations that I travel to. It used to be that I needed to take beer home with me if it was hyped, regardless of if I tried it on tap or not, as that felt more like ticking the box to me, but having a pour is just fine for me at this point.

    So, for myriad reasons, I stopped chasing a while back. If I luck into something that I've wanted for a long time or that is climbing the hype-o-meter, so be it, but if I have to put in more than nominal effort, I'm fine not trying the beer until it's easier to attain. I bet there will be exceptions down the road to this, but I've found this more calm--dare I say zen--outlook on beer has made me happier with beer than any time before. Embrace the FOMO and spend more time drinking the beers than acquiring them.
     
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  13. dennis3951

    dennis3951 Initiate (0) Mar 6, 2008 New Jersey

    I don't think I would have chased him !!!
     
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  14. Greywulfken

    Greywulfken Grand Pooh-Bah (5,731) Aug 25, 2010 New York
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    "Chased" is too strong a word, but I stopped paying attention to how many I'd had from the list when the site had a ratings overhaul (what, maybe 3 or 4 years ago? I don't remember), and Heady lost it's #1 spot on the list. Anyone remember when that was?

    Anyways, before that overhaul, I had actually tried a respectable number of the top beers, and I thought it worthwhile to try as many others as I could (without traveling or trading for them). But after the overhaul, my numbers dropped by at least half, too many unfamiliar and new beers populated the list, and the list became more fluid and changeable, which deterred me from "chasing" after anything else on the list.
     
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  15. lastmango

    lastmango Maven (1,383) Dec 11, 2014 Pennsylvania

    Agree! I just stopped at a bottle shop and one of the top beers was about $22 a bottle. That's a 12 ounce bottle. Nothing is worth that price. I look for value.
     
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  16. BalancingBrooms

    BalancingBrooms Pooh-Bah (2,800) Aug 22, 2013 California
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    The first year they did black friday for BCBS was the first and only time i went out of my way to get any sort of hyped beer...
     
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  17. TheGent

    TheGent Grand Pooh-Bah (4,201) Jun 29, 2010 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Of the ~30 beers on that list I’ve specifically sought out a small number:

    Heady
    CBS
    BCBS
    Abrasive
    Yellow Rose

    With the exception of CBS and BCBS, I specifically sought out these beers while in their local regions and traveling for work, and they were all very easy to find. CBS I sought out when it was released last year and I will continue to seek BCBS and variants as they come out.

    The others I’ve randomly come across and have taken the opportunity to try.

    I don’t actively seek out beers that are on the list because they’re on the list.

    Edit: There was a time I sought beers on this list, but it looked a lot more like beer of fame list and many of them were actually attainable at a reasonable price. That’s actually how I discovered many of the classics. So to the answer the question. I probably stopped actively seeking beers on this list about 10 years ago, other than what I’ll try to find if I’m in the area for work.
     
    #37 TheGent, Jul 18, 2018
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2018
  18. TongoRad

    TongoRad Grand Pooh-Bah (3,848) Jun 3, 2004 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    If it didn't keep being brought up as a topic I wouldn't even know the list existed :wink::grin:.
     
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  19. FBarber

    FBarber Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,161) Mar 5, 2016 Illinois
    Super Mod Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    If I come across a top 250 beer Ill definitely try it, but I never sought them actively.

    However, I've made it a goal to try to have all the beers off the Beers of Fame list. Its not something I actively chase, but if I get the chance to try them I do it. I've always found that list more interesting.
     
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  20. chrisjws

    chrisjws Pooh-Bah (2,768) Dec 3, 2014 California
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I've selectively chased some of them. I don't see it as the be all end all or even close. For instance Modern freaking Times has zero even on the California list. No way you can tell me if we could have a remotely objective ranking that would be the case. Lists are what's popular, not what's the best. Some of them are outstanding, and some are pretty run of the mill and either legacy'd in or propped up by hype and local fanboys.
     
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