Where do people who are not very old get very old beer?

[user 306809]

Every so often I see a FB post or something on one of these sites where dudes from the 80s and 90s are drinking beer from the 60s and 70s. Every time I see that, I'm like "where the **** are these guys getting this beer?" I mean there are a lot of things that already needed to happen in the past for that old beer to be in your future. Someone who was already an adult when that beer was sold needs to have purchased it and then not drank it. It would then need to stay somewhere and not drunk until now when you decide to drink it. This seems like a set of circumstances that doesn't happen much in the beer world, at least in comparison to the wine world.

Do you just have to have some serious trading game? Just be rich and watch for stuff on MBC? Just get lucky? I am none of these things but I like old beer.

 

[match1112]

Every so often I see a FB post or something on one of these sites where dudes from the 80s and 90s are drinking beer from the 60s and 70s. Every time I see that, I'm like "where the **** are these guys getting this beer?" I mean there are a lot of things that already needed to happen in the past for that old beer to be in your future. Someone who was already an adult when that beer was sold needs to have purchased it and then not drank it. It would then need to stay somewhere and not drunk until now when you decide to drink it. This seems like a set of circumstances that doesn't happen much in the beer world, at least in comparison to the wine world.

Do you just have to have some serious trading game? Just be rich and watch for stuff on MBC? Just get lucky? I am none of these things but I like old beer.

Yes,
Yes,
Yes,
What is the appeal of old beer to you?

 

[user 306809]

What is the appeal of old beer to you?

I like old beer.

 

[match1112]

but, why?

 

[LukeAleTime]

I've had some old beer. It sucked. I would drink old beer again but don't give a **** enough to buy anything more than a few years old.

Edit: to answer your question, random bottle shares, lucky scores at old breweries, or purchased from BiaB or whatever

 

[stupac2]

It seems like a lot of it is "wait for some old guy in Belgium to die and for his survivors to say 'wtf do we do with all this beer?'"

Then it starts to work its way out.

 

[user 306809]

It seems like a lot of it is "wait for some old guy in Belgium to die and for his survivors to say 'wtf do we do with all this beer?'"

Then it starts to work its way out.

But work its way out to where? Auctions?

 

[stupac2]

But work its way out to where? Auctions?

Depends. I think that's where Grote Dorst got some of theirs (some of which they sold to go), Mikkeller and that-store-in-Maine-whose-name-I-forget too. Someone posted a video of the Maine guy's cellar where he talked about that happening, Yves Paneels (who he mentions) is the Grote Dorst guy. I think the video is in the cellars thread, I can try to dig it up if you want.

Sometimes it gets to some beer trader (since if the old dude is into beer his kids/grandkids probably are too, and then there's some odds of them being into the trading scene) and then gets distributed that way. I've heard this happened right before I joined in 2011, that's how a bunch of Brabantiae got out. (Also, IIRC, that's where the 1982 Framboise bottle I got from SeaWatchman came from, but I could be wrong.)

There are also a lot of random old dudes who have this stuff and give it out. A few friends got some 1987 JW Lees from Toronado and I've conned them into opening them for my birthday in a few days. In fact Dave will put up stupid old bottles for sale every now and then, I think some people bought some 90's Goudenbond that way. Another friend said some random regular gave him a similarly old bottle as a tip once. If you're really nice to them the Kulminator people will let you buy bottles to go, and some of those are crazy old.

But you're generally right that it requires some old guy who's been into it for a while to somehow interact with guys like us.

 

[SeaWatchman]

Best answer: the Internet

 

[user 306809]

Best answer: the Internet

I'll probably just rob you.

 

[quirkzoo1]

Grow old?

 

[jedwards]

Up until 3-4 years ago, it was pretty easy to buy beer going back to the 80s from bars that still had it on vintage lists. Before they shut down beer sales on ebay.co.uk, you could also find lots of resale from estate sales/etc there (at higher prices, and with worse provenance generally). At this point I know a couple guys in Belgium and a couple more in the UK that keep an eye out for me for vintage lots at estate sales/auctions/etc. I'm much more concerned with getting bottles with a known good provenance at this point because after trying an awful lot of very old beer, I've decided that while you can have a good bottle with a bad or unknown origin, the most sublime bottles I've had have been stored well.

I'm also building my cellar specifically to age beer 10-30 years since that's something I can't often buy or trade for... so starting in 2017 I should have some beers ready to go

 

[xscottypx]

ive been stockpiling gueuze and lambics. i never share them because i do not want to open them, i want to look back in 10-25 years and just be drowning in vintage gueuze.

 

[mrk_d]

I just traded for a gueze from 1989 (2 years older than I am). Did an international trade on reddit of all places, for a few rarer lambics in exchange for bulk quality American stuff. So there's one weird anecdote.

 

[BadJustin]

Answer: Mommy and Daddy's bank account.

 

[waltersrj]

Bottlework's in Seattle is my answer. Last December I was able to purchase my #1 White Whale, 1999 Drie Fonteinen Oude Gueuze...for $75. Last week one of my buddies was in and bought both a 1999 Drie Fonteinen Oude Gueuze AND a 1999 Cantillon LP Gueuze. Craziness...I love Seattle.

 

[Boilerfood]

The weirdest places imaginable. I know of bars with cases of every JW Lees expression that has come to the state since 1988. Unfortunately, the owner was never a fan of lambic so it's mostly stouts and old ales.

 

[davey101]

Before the formal beer ban there was some options on ebay. I bought a few birthday (1989) beers that way for very reasonable prices. Stuff like Bigfoot, Old Foghorn, and Samichlaus for like $15-25 a bottle. I remember those crazy old British coronation ales were always for sale too.

 

[Jake1605]

Did someone born in the 90's just say he traded for lambic?

*head explodes*

 

[Compton25]

 

[mrk_d]

Did someone born in the 90's just say he traded for lambic?

*head explodes*