I originally thought this would be a good idea for a class but, on the other hand, it might just make for a good online discussion:
What with all the "coveted" beer talk for the Fantasy Football draft and Kyle unloading a bunch of his cellar, it made me realize that I don't know craft beer well at all. I'd like to learn (in no particular order):
- what beers are rare/desired and which ones aren't;
- can you gauge which beers will be rare/desires in the future (i.e., can you tell which ones you should hang on to and which ones you should drink);
- where do you get all your beer info/what are good sources for knowing which ones are coveted;
- anything else one needs to know to "be in the know" about beers;
Jim,
Beer Advocate is a good resource.
Thanks, Ken!
Pretty much every beer on this list is highly sought after... Some may no longer be in production which makes them even more rare.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/lists/top/
Take a look in the forums for news about upcoming releases or beers that are currently getting attention:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/
Jim,
Generally speaking, rarity and "chase factor" will play a HUGE role in the ratings of craft beer. Generally speaking, most limited runs or non-regional brews will fetch a high price, as will anything aged in a bourbon barrel. There are some exceptions of course, but as a general rule, rarity imparts a massive amount of value onto a beer.
In other words, look at the "Top 50" lists of beer. With very little exception, most beers on those lists will be ultra-limited releases, or small regional releases. And the hype of the rarity obviously sticks around in the minds of beer collectors for a long time,
Be very wary of getting sucked into the "ratings trap" circlejerk. It contains some unfortunate implications. Such as:
According to the ratings, the best days of the Double IPA are far behind us. In fact, the best days of the Double IPA were before craft beer became "the cool new thing" because apparently, nobody has been able to improve on Heady Topper/Pliny the Elder in the last 10 years.
Goose Island BCBS and Founder's KBS remains among top (Rank #4 and #5 for stouts) despite approaching their 10th year of production. In either case, depending on whether you ask John Hall or Mike Stevens, GI/Founders were the VERY FIRST brewery in the barrel aging game.
Which means that...the first time anyone release a barrel aged beer...they got it right, and people have had a hard time innovating since then?
So...since 2005, we can hold the internet in the palm of our hands, and drone people half a world away, but have had trouble improving a beer recipe?
/rant
As far as buying stuff to sit on them, anything that's barrel aged or belgian abbey-like will generally be worth sitting on if you have more than a single bottle. As a general rule, high alcohol beers, and beers of the lambic persuasion will develop in bottle. Double IPAs will not.
Thanks for these tips, guys!
It's important to remember that the quality of a beer ultimately rests upon the person who drinks it. For example, while I'm more than happy to share someone else's $40 bottle of a sour beer, I would never pay that much for one.
A great way to learn first hand about these beers is to attend our monthly meetings and other CHAOS bottle share events. Then one can decide what they like best, without spending a ton of cash on something they may not like.
The problem with monthly meetings and bottle shares is that there's no - wait for it, wait for it! - education. Bottles are opened and set on the bar and people drink. That's all.
I think it would promote our "edcucation" mission to formalize it just a very little bit: open one bottle at a time, person who brought it says a 30-second spiel about what they know about the beer, why they bought it, &c., then the bottle's passed around for everyone to see the label and pour themselves a little to taste.
Agreed Jim. Many clubs take this approach, however it is a bit more formalized where the club buys the beer ahead of time and usually it is in conjunction with a style presentation showcasing a few different beers of that style.
That's exactly what I was trying to get started with the Style Presentation thing going on at the meeting....I believe my Helles presentation was a test run for doing those in the future...I'm just stretched real thin right now and haven't had the time or energy to make a push to continue it.
Maybe the format of the club bottle shares should be less "hey, look at these walez bro", and more "here are 10 Belgians that are prototypical representations of the style".
If anyone's ever been to the Goose Island beer academy series every month, something like that.
In all honesty, Joe's idea and presentation were awesome but it doesn't appear that idea really took off (otherwise someone else would have picked up the ball and run with it, there'd be more talk about it, &c.). "Spread thin" has and always will be our mantra here at CHAOS.
For September, what if we were to compromise with something which requires no real prep on anyone's part and doesn't make the sharing so formal? Why don't we (1) actually set out on the bar all the beers people brought to drink (maybe limit one per person?); (2) talk about the order in which we should sample them (that gets into a discussion about styles); (3) the person who brought the beer pours and explains whatever they know about the style, brewery, and why they purchased that bottle in the first place; (4) drink, enjoy, compare/contrast if someone brings the same styles.
I like that idea. I really liked Joe's style presentation and would love to see more of them, but don't feel qualified in the slightest to attempt to help out with future ones (at least not yet).
Yeah, I think Joe's presentation knocked it out of the ballpark in terms of education.
But, here's the teacher in me coming out: can anyone remember some of the things he talked about? We need to start having some takeaway from all the schools, presentations, workshops, &c.. How do we help people put that info to use or at least remember it at a later date?
Some random ideas: (1) take a video of presentations (and maybe workshops) and have them available on the site somewhere; (2) have a handout with important info on it and we can keep a repository of them on the desk at the brewhouse.
I think we're getting away from the original post of this thread and might want to start a new one. Reprentation of beer styles and coveted craft beer are two different things.
Jim, I agree. We should start recording the classes we have and maybe make them accessible to members on our website. Handouts are also a good call.