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So you are such an obsessed beer geek the fact that there are awesome beers that you don't even have a chance of getting them pains you? Do you have conversations like this with lots of people in your life? http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/12535814/beer-traders Maybe you should seek professional assistance... OR You can trade with other similarly obessed beer geeks who live in different parts of the country with the same problem! Welcome to the world of beer trading! This world might seem complicated, confusing and borderline underground, but fret not for the rewards are all they appear to be. A goon in Florida can get some Pliny the Elder for some Ciger City Jai Alai, a goon in Indiana can get some Alesmith Speedway Stout for some Three Floyds Dark Lord, and a goon in Texas can get some Portsmouth Kate the Great for the low low cost of their firstborn son, a working human kidney and two blowjobs. Why trade? As I alluded to previously, there are some really great beers from really great brewers that aren't available across the entire coast. In fact, only 3 or 4 beer brands have major nationwide distribution and even then its only a small subset of their overall product portfolio. Hard to get releases and back vintages can be traded for similarly difficult to get / rare beers. Ultimately in a good trade both parties win! Why would I not want to trade beer? Beer trading is not a perfect utopia without any drawbacks. For one its a little on the expensive side as shipping and packaging materials can add up, especially if you try to trade overseas. Expect $15-$25 on shipping a box out, making your minimum target trade value to be somewhere around $50 to make it worth trading. Dealing with shipping is a bit of a hassle and if a box you sent out shows up with broken bottles you have to deal with getting them replaced. Why trade here and not eBay? eBay is for the most part the biggest scum of the beer trading world, with rare beers reaching outrageous values and promoting the profiteering and "scalping" of beer which ends up hurting the people who actually want to DRINK good beer. There are plenty of stories of grandma's and people who know nothing about beer, much less do any drinking of good beer going and buying up huge stocks of rare beer for the sole purpose of profiteering on eBay. Not very cool. Ratebeer has a pretty good trading scene with good traders, Beer Advocate is the central nexus of beer douchery and the trading forum there is everything wrong with beer trading. Please don't go to BA, block it in your host file if you can. Goons are cool, trading beer with goons is really cool. Legality: Isn't it illegal to ship beer? It is illegal to ship alcohol through the US Postal Service without special licenses and forms and etc etc. Don't do it. UPS and FedEx have a policy of not allowing alcohol to be shipped, but it is not against any laws or something you can get arrested for. As a shipping company it is a little bit of a pain in the rear end to deal with glass bottles that break in shipping and leak, not to mention dealing with spurious "compensation values" that could be quite high for something that is quite fragile. They don't want to know about it because they don't want to have to deal with it, make it not a problem and it wont be. People ship beer all the time, and its not hard to ship beer without it breaking and most often times if you drop off a box at FedEx/UPS they don't ask what the contents are and off it goes. See the "how to pack beer" section below. How to trade: Part 1 - setting up a trade There are two main methods to try and solicit a trade. One is effective for finding what you want and the other is effective for finding new stuff you don't know about. These modes are commonly reffered to as ISO/FT. ISO = is seeking of and FT = for trade. Lets say I want to trade for some Dark Lord and I know I have a few beers that might interest someone in that region or someone that just might have a Dark Lord. I'm just pulling beers out of my rear end for this example. My post would be something like this. quote:ISO: Dark Lord FT: List My trade list should be kept up to date and have every beer I am willing to trade on it. If you value X beer highly and don't think you want to trade it as general distribution, don't put it on the list. This might mean you end to keep a "beer trading cellar list" as well as a "full cellar list", but its much easier to work with somebody who has their trading list put together as opposed to generating a million emails agreeing on what is and isn't tradable. Its totally cool that you don't want to trade X beer, just don't put it on your trading list and cause an endless stream of disappointment because you don't want to trade your Allagash Vagabond. How to trade: Part 2 - Trading Ethically and Painlessly While ultimately a fair trade is one that both parties agree upon as fair and it could be a bottle of BA Dark Lord 2011 for 24 bottles of KBS 2010 (seen it!) or a bottle of Russian River Beatification for a really fresh great IPA that may not retail for a ton of money but you can only get it at the brewery. Most of the time it's a comparable number of beers at a comparable value, commonly referred to as $4$ (dollar for dollar). $4$ works well for most trades, beers that are exceedingly rare or of very old vintage don't always fit in. For example: Does a bottle of Rodenbach Grand Cru from 1994 have the same value as one released today? Not quite. Isabelle Proximus? Posse lot Especial? Midnight Sun M? Also a different story. These are examples of "whales" that don't really fit in with the $4$ scheme and there's no good metric for saying "if beer is 5+ years old it means its +30% in value" and so forth. If you are trading for these you'll have to take this into account and work out together what equates to a fair trade. Here is an example of what a trade I did recently on RB ended up as both parties getting what they want and agreeing it’s a pretty equitable trade. He started off looking for some Lost Abbey Sinners 2010, which I had and I've wanted to get some CDC Rosso E Marron, and we expanded with some other local stuff from there. There were a few high dollar value beers from me but he made up for it with a slightly increased bottle amount. It was pretty painless and easy and we both walked away happy people. quote:From Me: Above is a little chart/method that I've found is an efficient way to keep track of where the trade is at, balancing it out to keep $4$ pretty even. When you have a good idea that a trade is going to happen it's time to bust this out and then finish it up and agree on who ships first. Shipping cost is not counted towards the trade value unless someone is insisting on something outrageous like overnight/etc. Shipping hit both of us for about $30 on this box. Bonus Beers The last thing that is a good practice and something that really puts the icing on the trading cake is bonus beers. These are beers you throw in with no secured trade. They are optional (sometimes your shipper is already full) but always a good idea. I've discovered some really awesome beers I knew nothing about because they were local to an area I've never been to, and I hope that I've helped people find some nice stuff this way. How much bonus beer should you throw in? Depends on how big the trade is and how generous you feel. If you didn't ship first and the other guy packed in a ton of extra bonus beers you should try to return the favor. How to pack There are many ways of packing beer, but in my opinion ALL of them are pains in the rear end. The one that is by far the least pain in the rear end is a styrofoam bottle shipping container system thingy. You can get them at Bevmo/Total Wine and other places and they are the bomb. One of these shipping containers (common sizes are 1 bottle, 2 bottles, 3 bottles, 6 bottles and 12 bottles) are usually only a few bucks ($4-$8) but turn packing a box of beer into a near bulletproof process that doesn't take much time and only needs some scrap paper to get them nice and secure. Here is how I packed a 12 bottle shipper. First take 3-4 pages of a newspaper and ruffle them up a bit and set it over the slot for the bottle, this will make sure that the paper expands to secure the bottle from jostling around too much.  Set the bottle on top of the hole and slowly shove it down, the paper should crumple around the bottle in a near form fitting fashion. Try and wiggle it, you can probably only wiggle it on the top side of the bottle.  Next take two pages of a newspaper and fold it in half and then squeeze it together some so it becomes kind of snake-like, and then shove it in around the top of the bottle, kind of forming a ring around the bottle. You might need to do this twice but after you do this the bottle should be secure and wont budge at all.  Repeat until all of your bottles are nice and secure. Once they are all packed just put the top on and tape the box up and its ready to ship! Misc trading stuff If you've got some cool tips for this section let me know and I'll add it in! -Cellar Management I like to use the iOS app Brew Vault to manage my cellar. It does cloud syncing to multiple iOS devices and you can easily export a list and mail it to yourself. Great app, quick and easy. Some people use an excel spreadsheet or google apps sheet and that works fine too.
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Oct 14, 2011 19:44
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I have a trade going on right now with Corbet. I shipped his 3 bottle box today. From Me Abacus 2011 Parabola 2011 FW14 From Corbet Founders CBS FFF Behemoth JP Luciernaga
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Oct 14, 2011 23:29
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Oh, I have a trade request going on RB but it got buried. ISO: Three Floyds XV (that crazy anniversary blended beer) FT: list. I'll definitely trade for over $4$ on that one. If you've get a bottle you want to trade, let me know and I'll make it worth your while.
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Oct 15, 2011 01:28
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Huge_Midget posted:I don't have my current FT list finished yet, but I am going to the 3F anniversary party. Depending on bottle allotment I would be interested in trading you for some things on your list. I'll keep you up to date on what I've got. Nice! If there is any way I could possibly get 2 I'll majorly hook you up. Let me know when you know how many you get and if you are up for trading them.
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Oct 15, 2011 18:58
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mindphlux posted:I'm forever in search of two beers, that I can't get here in Georgia. Any beer trade fits in the beer trading thread! Though the chances of somebody living near where this is distributed might be difficult, your best bet might be the RateBeer Trading Forum as they do lots of international trades.
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Oct 17, 2011 07:40
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mindphlux posted:I've asked in a GWS beer thread before, and I think someone said they at least had access to Hövels, which I'm jonesing a bit more for - so I guess I figure it's worth a shot at least! Try and crosspost in the commercial beer thread. Pimping this thread in there will only help make it more active 
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Oct 17, 2011 16:24
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bananasinpajamas posted:I work at Cigar City, so I have access to all bottles, as well as growlers. I don't want anything crazy, as I'm at a stage in my beer geekery where I just want to get beers I like to drink. For example I traded a Whiskey Barrel-aged Hunahpu's for several bottles of New Glarus Belgian Red. I'd be interested in getting some BA Hunahpu's or BA Marshall Zhukov's. No Cantillon's here yet, they are in the process of changing distributors (maybe).
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Oct 17, 2011 18:10
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bananasinpajamas posted:I don't have the BA Zhukov's, although we're going to release a big batch of it aged in apple brandy barrels in the coming months. Mmmm, I like the sound of that. What would you want for one? Anything in particular?
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Oct 18, 2011 16:28
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bananasinpajamas posted:Absolutely no imperial stouts. I'll take 6ers of awesome sessionable beers before any IS. I've got almost every single stone collab beer they have done except for the IPAs (as they wouldn't be good anymore)
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Oct 19, 2011 06:45
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Corbet did you get your package today?
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Oct 20, 2011 15:33
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Corbet posted:Got it! Packaged very well! I'll be sending out your bottles tomorrow. Sweet! Looking forward to it.
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Oct 23, 2011 03:02
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I suppose its going out on too much of a limb if somebody here had a Veritas 004 or some of the Allagash coolship beers they would like to trade...
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Oct 25, 2011 20:20
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I've never seen any laws that indicate it is illegal to make international personal alcohol shipments on either the US or Belgian side. I don't know about NZ but they are a bit more progressive on the alcohol laws than the US so I can't imagine it would be breaking any laws. International shipping for beer is a LOT of money. Like $60 USD for shipping a 6 pack of beer.
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Oct 28, 2011 15:37
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funkybottoms posted:UPS and FedEx only ship alcohol under certain circumstances (and a six-pack internationally would be way more than $60) and i'm pretty certain it's just plain illegal to ship it via USPS. don't know how that applies to things coming in to the US, but customs is gonna be checking it out on both ends. Yes, this is mentioned in the OP. I don't know about international laws though but people ship beer internationally frequently on RB, its just expensive as gently caress its not worth it unless you are trading super high value bottles.
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Oct 29, 2011 00:08
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Corbet posted:Got it! Packaged very well! I'll be sending out your bottles tomorrow. Box arrived today and all the bottles are intact and happy! Thanks!
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Oct 29, 2011 00:11
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Mikey Purp posted:ISO: Surly Darkness 2011. Not able to access your list.
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Oct 31, 2011 16:31
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Mikey Purp posted:Oops, sorry. Fixed sharing prefs. I've got a Darkness 09 I'd be willing to trade if your BCBS Rare is on the table. Obviously the value of a BCBS Rare is a bit higher than a Darkness 09 and I would throw down some more from my list. I'm going to review my list and make sure its up to date, there has been a bit of trading activity and I've been slacking.
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Oct 31, 2011 17:54
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rage-saq posted:I've got a Darkness 09 I'd be willing to trade if your BCBS Rare is on the table. Obviously the value of a BCBS Rare is a bit higher than a Darkness 09 and I would throw down some more from my list. Yeah I'm missing quite a bit give me a few.
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Oct 31, 2011 18:11
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Updated my list.
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Oct 31, 2011 20:57
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Mikey Purp posted:I have an unhealthy mental attachment to my BCS Rare so I don't think I'm willing to part with a bottle yet, even for a major addition to my Darkness vertical. If there's anything else you may want I'd be happy to work it out though. You want to chat on my trading list or on AIM?
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Nov 2, 2011 22:59
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Crosspost from the beer thread.quote:This belongs in the trading thread as much as it belongs here but I have to send out a big shoutout to Jack Skeleton for hooking me up with as a Black Tuesday mule.
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Nov 8, 2011 23:46
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funkybottoms posted:i've now completed a trade back and forth with one goon and in the middle of trades with two others. do we want to add a list of active/verified "good traders" to the OP, or are we familiar enough to assume that everyone who's been around for a minute isn't gonna dick anyone over? I don't know that its necessary but I think its a good idea. What does everyone else think?
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Nov 9, 2011 00:01
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Also we could just use Ratebeers built in trading system instead of reinventing the wheel. If you have an RB account someone can register a positive trade with you. That way if anyone wants to trade on RB this counts towards their trading cred.
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Nov 9, 2011 00:29
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I have sad news for you on Lost Abbey. 1: Cable Car isn't sold on shelves, its produced for Toronado and a lot of it goes to them, and if you know somebody that knows somebody you can sometimes be able to buy it at the brewery. I had one in my hands when I was in the SD Toronado but they don't do "to go" sales so I had to give it back  This one is nearly possible to get. 2: Carnevale is a spring or fall seasonal, I forget. You can probably find it somewhere. 3: Cuvee de Tomme is kind of their "Anniversary Beer" along with 10 Commandments. Not much of it is made and not much of it goes on shelves outside the brewery. Possible to get but not easy. 4: Duck Duck Gooze is released once every 3 years and sells out instantly. People give their left nut for it, will be very hard to go. 5: Framboise de Amorosa has been made twice and both of them are very small batches and the first one was a Sinners Club beer and the second one was brewery-only sales IIRC. Possibly to get but not easy.
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Nov 10, 2011 00:47
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Haha, speak of Cable Car, here's how the 2011 release is going down. http://beernews.org/2011/11/the-lost-abbey-cable-car-kriek-2011-to-be-released-this-weekend/ No carry out anywhere.
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Nov 10, 2011 08:51
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Corbet posted:Sounds good. I already know I'm going to need to send you another package in the coming weeks. Most Michigan breweries don't come in bombers so I have to send a ton of 22 ounce bottles to match 4$4. Once you've had a chance to drink some I've sent in my first package, I'll send another with beers from breweries that stood out. Do you get Smuttynose/Portsmouth out there? Where's your cellar list?
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Nov 11, 2011 07:35
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Paladine_PSoT posted:ISO: I've got 7-11 that I would consider trading. What kind of interesting brews do you have access to? I'd be interested in Russian River.
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Nov 16, 2011 05:13
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Corbet is a good hookup for Behemoth. I cracked mine I got from him in our last trade and had it yesterday while brewing, pretty tasty!
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Nov 22, 2011 02:51
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Putting up a reminder post that I'm still looking for Three Floyds 15th Anniversary, Barrel Aged Dark Lord and also a Bourbon County Rare. If you have any of these get in touch with me and I'll hook you up.
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Nov 23, 2011 20:44
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CalvinDooglas posted:I just thought to look for something like the special inserts that came in my old Beer of the Month club boxes, and I found this: http://www.clarkbrewing.com/Clark_Brewing_Innovations/Home/Home.html I've used those, they are expensive and they fall apart. The Rare Beer Club has some pretty clever molded eggcarton/particle paper material that can hold 3 750mls per layer that are pretty clever, but I don't think they would secure as well as styrofoam shippers, which are totally the way to go. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxX1kA-nhZk&feature=player_embedded
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Nov 30, 2011 06:58
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BoredByThis posted:See above edited post for list, also add BCS Rare to the open for trading list. Seeking Hunahpu's. If you don't get a Hunahpu for a BCS Rare I can probably give you something nice for it. Thats one of my high priority targets that I've got special ammo for. Hit me up on AIM or the chat on my trading list rage-saq fucked around with this message at 20:46 on Nov 30, 2011 |
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Nov 30, 2011 20:44
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funkybottoms posted:if anybody gives you a hard time, tell them you're flying and need to check the box. jerks. you can order them from uline, but you'd have to order a lot, so maybe ask around at various pack-and-ship stores (they probably don't sell them, but my store gets them from people who don't want to toss them in the trash) or like a U-Haul spot as they sometimes have different materials than a UPS Store. The BevMo and Total Wine near me carries those 12pack ulines for $6ish each.
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Dec 5, 2011 15:31
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I like turtles posted:This seems like probably the most appropriate thread to bitch about this: Avery, my favorite brewery in Colorado, has decided that since the market is growing faster in other states than in Arizona, they're not going to distribute here anymore They pulled out of AZ like 8 months ago. You just didn't notice because the distributors here in AZ are loving awful and "deliver" really old, often returned for being too old, product to retailers who don't know any better. Often times they flat out lie and say they just got it in. IE a local quality bottle shop got a shipment of the Alaskan Smoked Porter in not long after it was released. They ordered 3 cases and what showed up was 2 cases of 2011 and 1 case of 2009. This is but a minor grievance compared to much of the other stupid poo poo they do.
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Dec 5, 2011 17:06
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I did a massive overhaul of my cellar list because managing multiple lists has gotten to be a major PITA. Oh yeah, the stuff I'm hunting for currently. BCS Rare Three Floyds XV Anniversary Baller Stout Three Floyds Barrel Aged Dark Lord (I'll put down a lot for this) Smuttynose Baltic Porter Any Bruery Barrel Aged beers I don't already have rage-saq fucked around with this message at 01:33 on Dec 6, 2011 |
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Dec 6, 2011 01:27
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Corbet posted:Anybody interested in Jolly Pumpkin La Roja Grand Reserve or Dark Horse Bourbon Barrel Aged Plead the Fifth? La Roja Grand Reserve? Where do I sign up?
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Dec 12, 2011 05:40
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digitalhifi posted:This looks like a really great way to ship beer. It's similar to the shippers at BevMo and the like but cheaper and can be bought online. They are $10 for 5 shippers and boxes. Each one holds 6 bombers or 12 oz bottles. Anyone use these before? I'm planning on trying them soon. https://www.clarkbrewing.com I've used both versions of them, they fall apart and aren't very good which lead to them breaking. They are also not much cheaper than the styrofoam shippers which are highly superior.
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Dec 26, 2011 18:50
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Zam posted:If anyone has interest in The Bruery Smoking Wood or Trois Poules Francais please let me know. Can add other beers as well to make it a larger trade. You had Trois Poules Francais yet? I have some bottles on the way, sounds pretty interesting and I *loved* the original Three French Hens.
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Dec 26, 2011 22:44
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I've been thinking of setting up a goon trader spreadsheet that does a few things. 1: Your username here, and maybe on RB/BA if you care 2: Link to your cellar/want list 3: Trade history 4: contact info? What do you guys think?
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Dec 29, 2011 21:47
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wattershed posted:I wouldn't say no to that. I know it'd be a lot easier to search for a beer, for example, and see who has one up for trade vs traipsing through various gDocs and the like. It wouldn't be some kind of tradable beer database, that would be an astronomical amount of work. It would just have a link to somebodies gDoc spreadsheet(s) if they have one.
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Dec 29, 2011 22:38
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Sirotan posted:That's a pretty lovely thing to do, especially when you are already shipping out something they don't want you to ship. Maybe if he had done it a couple of pounds under, but half the entire weight? Really? Yeah thats pretty hosed up. Good way to get on their shitlist which probably means they pay closer attention to your packages and you might get them confiscated.
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Dec 31, 2011 00:33
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