Where are you with craft beer?

Could have picked 2, but no option. My limited release/trading has basically died, well at least the trading part has.

Cheers!

 

It appears that so far I'm the sole voter in the "drink craft beer on occasion but drink mostly spirits." It was all fun and games when the craft scene was up and coming....

When this site was young, craft beer was different story. $6-$7 could get you a decent six from a regional brewery. New additions came far more carefully and gradually than they do now. At thirty-four I don't mean to sound like an old curmudgeonly bastard but this $13 for a 4-pack crap really annoys the hell out of me. At around 18% abv and with an impossible amount of flavor, Worldwide stout used to run about $12. Now I gotta pay the same for friggin' Dale's....

Enter VO Gold and Sprite. Beefeater and tonic.

I can still get Victory Golden Monkey (at 9.5% abv) for $12.99/6 but when that reindeer game is over, I'm officially out.

 

Drink craft MOSTLY, but I'll appreciate an easy to drink beer such as PBR on a 'party' night, also trade & drive for releases though.

 

I drink mostly craft beer, but I still drink mead every now and then. I still like mead a lot, but it's kind of expensive. I go to releases from breweries I like and sometimes to other events.

 

I voted "............ interest has faded". But really I feel I can drink just about anything and be content (macro or import) and not have to judge every detail of it. I've never been a spirits guy. Mixed lemonade with vodka doesn't count Im sure. The true sipping whiskeys have always felt too boozy.

For me, I feel burnt out. I have some buddies who are just getting into craft, and they are just really into every new release, every new brewery opening, brewery hopping more then twice a week, and just trying all these beers that are new to our state but not necessarily new releases.

They turn down the basic stuff now. I just don't know anymore. I feel I can sit on a mainstay and maybe one new try and be set for the week. The experimentation phase is past me. And in a time when I see the brewery #s doubling in just a two year span, I should be ecstatic. I guess I'm burnt out of spending $5/pint on mediocre duds. I guess its that circle of life scenario that plays out with almost everyone and their "hobbies". Most get in too deep, and slowly reel away. For new breweries sake, I hope there are more newcomers than those who are reeling it back a bit.

Not the exact thread for it, but one of my 2016 beer goals was to track potential impulse buys, and track actual buys. Just 3 weeks into the new year and potential buys was nearing $400. Luckily I sat on missing a lot of these releases, woke up the next day, and felt I could go on with my day without getting to try it. BA's a great place but we can get caught up on so much. Beer becomes just beer again when you back away a bit.

 

Voted "other."

As far as alcoholic beverages go, so far it's been almost entirely beer (with some cider, wine, or mixed drinks thrown in on rare occasions) and most of that beer is from American "craft" brewers -- including those that have been partially or entirely bought by somebody bigger, so long as the beer's good. Any beer that's not from a smaller American brewery is likely to be "macro" imports, particularly Mexican ones and Guinness with some others thrown in here and there. A little bit of American macro (Bud/Miller/Coors/Pabst) stuff every now and then also.

I don't really have much interest in chasing down limited releases -- if I just happen to find one still on the shelves at one of the local stores I'll buy it, but I'm not standing in line for one -- or attending any events, though a release event at a brewery might be something I'd consider if I had a friend to go with (being stuck standing/sitting alone in a crowd of strangers for longer than a few minutes or so does bad things to my mental state.) Haven't gotten into trading at this point either, partly because I figure it's mostly going to be people wanting to trade one super-insanely-hard-to-find/expensive beer for another, but mainly because I'm worried about packaging something as fragile as a glass bottle to ship across hundreds of miles.

 

Other

I honestly only drink craft beer, but if I'm at a party and all they have is bud light or miller lite, I'm not gonna be an ass and say "I only drink craft beer" LOL
I don't travel for releases - wish I did, just too much money to go to the states with the releases I want.
Beer trading - In one month I did 8 trades, took a break during the holiday season, then did 2 trades in a week LOL

 

Confusing poll for me, but I trade occasionally, will seek releases but not travel for them, and mostly drink craft beer but am also not shy to pound back a couple domestics here and there.

 

I voted other. I drink exclusively craft beer but have always been into good beer to the point where I took up homebrewing and got to the point where I'm happy enough with my skills that I'm satisfied with brewing and drinking my own beers,especially for styles dependent on freshness, e.g. IPAs\DIPAs. I still buy my go-to and favorite beers and attend a few festivals but no way will I stand in lines for hours or overnight. Too many good beers available now to chase the proverbial "greener grass on the other side" any more.

 

Very nice post OP....Kudos...

 

Id say the best part about finding a craft beer you enjoy is trying different styles you normally would not see the large companies make. I see you are from PA and i dont know you so forgive me if i come off as pretentious, my intent is to help. there is a ton of Dutch/German heritage there so youll see a lot of things like german pilsners (EX: Victory Prima Pils, althought its more hoppy and bitter than traditional) and maybe a kolsch (EX; i believe Lancaster Brewing makes one) maybe more so than other states or regions and to me at least are "gateway" styles because they are inoffensive and subtle although different from your average adjunct lager like Budweiser. I hope you find what you are looking for. And there's nothing wrong with Busch. I still enjoy me some high life. Its a great experience. Cheers.

 

Quite a lot of "craft" beer is crap.

I began drinking at a time when what is now considered to be "craft" was the norm.Lovely decent locally brewed cask beer.Restricted choice of beer types but you don't miss what you've never had.
Thankfully, 55 years on I am still able to find beers like these pretty well everywhere. To tell the truth , I enjoy them a lot more than the "new wave" of fancy beers which keep on arriving.Brewers, it seems, trying to be different rather than better.

 

Well, I don't doubt that you know some good beer when you taste it, or probably see it for that matter! I can only speak for what I grew up with. Which was mostly BMC products. That was what most people drank, as beer was concerned, and I survived it ok, I think. Now I've moved on to better, imo, beers. And I really love a lot of different styles of beer, but a lot of them are still not available to me yet, where I live. Trust me though, it's getting better all the time, and I'm liking the hell out of it. Cheers!

 

^ this is me...plus scotch and starting on fine rums.

 

I don't drink anything but craft, can't remember the last macro I had, really. I don't trade or go to releases much anymore because it just costs too damn much.

 

All I drink is craft and I only go to local releases

 

15 miles is my limit.

 

3rd base.

 

Other - Only buy craft if not made by myself. Great thing to be able to make your own craft. Plus I do my own releases for friends and family. Much funner than waiting for commercial releases.

 

Nowhere. Craft beer is a stupid term and pretty much meaningless where I live.