Stress-Free Beer

The last few weeks have seen some very highly anticipated beers come & go.  Two weeks ago, Stone’s Enjoy By 2.15.13 dropped on Pittsburgh.  For weeks prior, people called, tweeted, & messaged asking when we’d get it, how much, how many, etc.  It came & sold out in half a day.  Two days ago, we got a small supply of Bell’s Black Note.  Leading up to that, the hype machine started buzzing about how much was going to make it to PA, whether we’d have any, would we save so-&-so some, what scandalous acts would folks have to commit to get a little.  That went in a few hours.  Same with Bolt Cutter & every other Founders Backstage release, & in a few months, people will be crawling over one another to get at KBS.  This morning, sources reported a huge line outside of Russian River’s taproom hours before they were scheduled to tap Pliny the Younger; history has shown that folks stand in line for hours after opening to try a glass of this liquid epiphany.  E-Bay has shut down alcohol sales, but a year ago, a quick search for “Dark Lord” would yield asking prices in the multiple hundreds of dollars.  If you look at the on-line trading forums, it seems that folks would trade their own mother for a bottle of (fill-in-the-whale).

Just thinking about the blood, sweat, & tears that people put into chasing down these white whales - & the agony they suffer when they feel they’ve missed out – is a little troubling.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve encountered someone in the store ask if we’re getting in that special release Unobtainium, & see the conviction in their eyes.  It makes me so happy to hook someone up with that one-of-a-kind beer they’re dying to try, but part of me is saddened to see folks pass up so many other great beers just by virtue of the fact that they’re accessible & available to them all the time.  The thrill of the hunt is excites us & makes the catch very rewarding, but it seems like after a while we have to ask ourselves if the added pressure & urgency is really worth it.  It seems to me that beer is something to be enjoyed, not a source of stress, & that too often we take for granted the faithful standbys.  Once in a while we need to take a look around at the hundreds of other quality products out there– the Two-Hearted Ales, the Edmund Fitzgeralds, the tons of other widely-distributed, quality brews - & pick out a beer to enjoy, without the hunt, without feeling like it’s slipping between our fingers.  Beer is to be enjoyed, so take some time to stop & smell the hops.  Stress-free beer is always worth it.