The Goodjer American Beer Exchange 2

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After a fairly successful first exchange I decided to try it again.

Here it is in a nutshell:

1. We get a list of people together from different parts of the country who love beer.
2. We match them into pairs located as far apart from each other as possible.
3. Each person mails the other a selection of local brews that they love.
4. Enjoy beer from far away lands.
5. Post pictures of your beers. (You should probably take the pictures before step 4, I don't feel like editing this.)

There are a few ground rules:

You must be 21 to participate.

I'm restricting it to people in the continental United States only. I don't know if it's illegal to ship beer between countries and I don't want to find out. Plus it keeps shipping costs reasonable.

The cutoff date to join in is going to be September 16th.

Try and have your beer in the mail by October 7th.

Try to spend about $20-30 but feel free to go nuts if you really want to.

Try to get beers that the person you are exchanging with will like. Try and post your likes and dislikes in the thread.

Most importantly, make sure you send out your beer.

You might be asking yourself some questions about now

Isn't this illegal?

It is against United States Postal Regulations to mail alcohol, so if you sent it via USPS, it would be. And neither Fedex nor UPS will guarantee the safety of alcohol if you ship it, you will not get reimbursed if they break it, but they do not prohibit private citizens of legal age from mailing each other alcohol. If you are going to ship alcohol, there are several precautions you need to take with regards to packaging and sending them out for shipping, but we'll get into that later.

So how do I go about packaging my beer?

One way is to get a box with the partitions already in them (ie a wine case). Beer stores give these out whenever you buy 3 or more bottles, usually. Take the partitions out and place a plastic bag in the box as a liner. Then place the partitions back inside the box, within the liner. Wrap each bottle in that thin green foam wrap that you can get pretty much anywhere and place 1-2 bottles per compartment. If you have a particularly heavy shipment, you can add a couple layers of this material to the bottom of the box, under the partitions. Any space between the bottles is filled with bubble wrap, "peanuts", or more green crap. If the shipment is to be expected to get above 70 degrees, use one of the compartments in the middle to house an ice pack. Don't forget to use extra tape. When you ship it make sure to tell them it's glass and fragile.

Pairings

Norfair - tuffalobuffalo
oilypenguin - jonnypolite
Phishposer - fleabagmatt
EvilHomer3k - DeThroned
Clarkatello - brouhaha
boogle - demonbox
jonfentyler - conejote
Squee9 - Jucofett
Lester_King - Schrensky

Norfair wrote:

The cutoff date to join in is going to be March 9th.

Try and have your beer in the mail by April 30th.

You could have at least changed the dates for us :P. I'm in again though.

In again. Let's do this thing.

jonfentyler wrote:
Norfair wrote:

The cutoff date to join in is going to be March 9th.

Try and have your beer in the mail by April 30th.

You could have at least changed the dates for us :P. I'm in again though.

Bah, it was late.

I'm in again. You better pair me with someone who likes Oktoberfests, because the locals are going apesh*t over that right now.

Count me in!

Norfair, I linked this in the last exchange thread and the beer thread.

And please don't pair me with Phish unless he knows of Oktoberfests that are actually good. They seem a fiction.

I would do this, but the state of PA restricts me from doing so.

Beer trade? Sign me up!
Another round of tasty
brews in boxes please.

I'm in like a hops loving Errol Flynn.

Hurray! I'm game!

I'm down!

I would request, though, that I would prefer not to receive beers made with lactose-based sugars (Usually chocolate-flavored or milk stout beers.).

I'm glad my favorite local brewery just got a bottler. Now if these guys would get on the stick...

In again!

Did someone say beer? I'll play along.

In!

In so long as it begins at the end of the month!

Edit: I skimmed :O I'm in! (I'll be mailing out of CA)

I'm in!.
I live in Austin now.

Wish I liked beer. This sounds awesome!

I want to be part of this. Missed it first time around and really looking forward to it!

I had a tough time mailing my beer last time via the UPS store but had no issues going to a place that accepted UPS shipments. Anyway, I'm in, and would love to be paired with any Oktoberfest or IPA loving person.

Clarkatello wrote:

I want to be part of this. Missed it first time around and really looking forward to it!

Could I get a more specific location? I just need a state so I can arrange the pairings.

I love Oktoberfest brews! But of course, I'm up for trying anything. Like last time, I'll be sending four 750ml bottles that exceed the usual $30 limit by a healthy margin. This time, I'll only include hard-to-find beers; Boulevard in particular only distributes in MO and KS, and their one-off and collaboration beers usually sell out in under a week here in Kansas City. I've been saving a few bottles just for this exchange.

It's still hot as hell here, so I'll probably aim to ship closer to the October 7th deadline.

Norfair wrote:
Clarkatello wrote:

I want to be part of this. Missed it first time around and really looking forward to it!

Could I get a more specific location? I just need a state so I can arrange the pairings.

Do you still have all the data from the first one, or do we all need to resubmit something?

conejote wrote:

Boulevard in particular only distributes in MO and KS

My local grocery store here in Washington State carries Doublewide IPA, Long Strange Tripel, and Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale. I can't get enough of the Doublewide, great googlymoogly it's tasty! Plus, it's Twister proof!

Squee9 wrote:
Norfair wrote:
Clarkatello wrote:

I want to be part of this. Missed it first time around and really looking forward to it!

Could I get a more specific location? I just need a state so I can arrange the pairings.

Do you still have all the data from the first one, or do we all need to resubmit something?

Yes but I don't think he was in the last one.

fleabagmatt wrote:
conejote wrote:

Boulevard in particular only distributes in MO and KS

My local grocery store here in Washington State carries Doublewide IPA, Long Strange Tripel, and Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale. I can't get enough of the Doublewide, great googlymoogly it's tasty! Plus, it's Twister proof!

We get those same ones here in Iowa. I like the double a lot but prefer the single wide for general consumption. I have not had the Farmhouse. I've had that style from a couple other brewers and didn't care for it.

Reminder, I live in Austin now Norfair.

I noted that.

Last time I just divided people into three categories, east, west and middle America (similar to those on the east and west coasts do I suppose) and matched them up that way. The move from Oklahoma to Texas probably won't affect it to much.

It does affect the selection I can offer. In a positive way.

EvilHomer3k wrote:
fleabagmatt wrote:
conejote wrote:

Boulevard in particular only distributes in MO and KS

My local grocery store here in Washington State carries Doublewide IPA, Long Strange Tripel, and Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale. I can't get enough of the Doublewide, great googlymoogly it's tasty! Plus, it's Twister proof!

We get those same ones here in Iowa. I like the double a lot but prefer the single wide for general consumption. I have not had the Farmhouse. I've had that style from a couple other brewers and didn't care for it.

It looks like they've expanded their distribution, but only for certain beers. In fact, according to ratebeer.com, most of their beers have different distribution areas....it says that the new Reverb Imperial Pilsner is only available in Missouri, Indiana and Texas for some reason. Of course, it's not unheard of for retailers to go across a state line and pick up products they wouldn't otherwise have access to. New Glarus is only distributed in Wisconsin and Illinois, but it turns up in other states sometimes.

In any case, I've been stockpiling the special releases from Boulevard and Schlafly, so hopefully I'll be paired with someone who can't get them.

I don't think New Glarus even gets to Illinois. I'm pretty sure it's stuff just going over the border

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