So what are some of the better memberships? Naturally all of them say they are better than the others.

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Is there anymore of that floating around town?

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Spec's Smith Street at 3 cases left yesterday when I went, so at 2 btl limit they may still be around. My internet homework has shown this to be a bigger PB! release than we got last time; if I hear of or see any more I'll post them here.

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So what are some of the better memberships? Naturally all of them say they are better than the others.

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The Bruery Reserve Society is probably the best for a beginner. It is fairly easy to get into and provides access to a wide range of beers. It is quite expensive, but every membership program is. The society is also large and allows proxies so it is easy to find a trustee to send your beers. Allocations are high in this society so it's easy to split with people.

Most of the others are more difficult to get into. Some, like Cigar City El Catador, have very few open memberships each year and it's a crap shoot if you get through to complete a transaction. Others are invite only, like Casey Blending and Brewing Extended Family.

Others I can think of are Rare Barrel Ambassadors, which I believe BSD is in. DeGarde has since discontinued their membership program, along with Crooked Stave. I believe Night Shift in New England has a society. Other breweries, like Toppling Goliath and Perennial have on site "mug club" type memberships.

Bmac or BSD might have others that I've missed.

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Awesome glass

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Drunkenly stole it from Cottonwood like 2 years ago.

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Others I can think of are Rare Barrel Ambassadors, which I believe BSD is in. DeGarde has since discontinued their membership program, along with Crooked Stave.

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Damn, I forgot I have a case of that stuff sitting out there. I need to have that shipped. And screw you Crooked Stave! I'm still mad about not be able to inconvenience NoCol anymore.

The only other beer club I know about is Fifty Fifty. I've only had the Eclipse so I'm not sure about any of their other beers or the club, I just remember seeing it as I booked my Tahoe trip for this summer.

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Hey guys. So here's my craft beer testimony.

I'm currently a senior at A&M, so I turned 21 about a year and a half ago. I never really saw the point in pounding 12 Natty's at a party because 1. it tastes awful and 2. I'm not thirsty anymore after three of them. Four of my really good friends, however, are about 5-6 years older than I am, and they'd be doing this craft beer thing for a while. I cautiously stepped to the edge of the pool worked my to the deep end. The first beer I ever bought myself was a plain ol' Shiner, and after I drank it in my home, I decided I was going to try everything, and collect the first beer bottle of every new beer I try. I've done that to this day, and the bottles make great house decoration lining my window ledge. I could post picture of it if anyone is interested, I'm quite proud of it.

So I started with all the Shiner's, then all Saint Arnolds, then all Karbach, all No Label, all Real Ale, all Sierra Nevada, and on and on. I've basically tried everything HEB has to offer (besides Ballast Point, surprisingly it isn't in the College Station HEB). Fast forward to today, and I'm basically an alien to the rest of my college friends. I've been able to try a lot of extremely rare stuff, but I'm ready for the next level. Problem is I don't know how to acquire it.Teach me your ways, O beer thread.

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Be careful with this part. I had this bright idea when I started in the craft game too and now have a garage full of bottles and cans. I couldn't even guess how many are in there. I was very proud of them too but I've recently come to the realization they are serving no purpose but getting in the way and now with a possible move in the future their fate is probably sealed.

I realized this issue recently. I decided to just collect the bigger breweries. Basically anything rarer than Prairie isn't kept.

Also on the debate to store or drink. I usually try to get more than one if I'm gonna keep one but if not I generally save the one for a special occasion or when I get together with friends or family and we share em.

I'll drink a variety of the "regular" stuff and my "rare" stuff is no where close to what you guys get but we usually have a pretty good share at family gatherings and such.

Grad school graduation is on the horizon so I'll probably make some exceptions and enjoy some stuff I've been sitting on for myself on that one.

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Others I can think of are Rare Barrel Ambassadors, which I believe BSD is in. DeGarde has since discontinued their membership program, along with Crooked Stave.

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Damn, I forgot I have a case of that stuff sitting out there. I need to have that shipped. And screw you Crooked Stave! I'm still mad about not be able to inconvenience NoCol anymore.

The only other beer club I know about is Fifty Fifty. I've only had the Eclipse so I'm not sure about any of their other beers or the club, I just remember seeing it as I booked my Tahoe trip for this summer.

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Fifty Fifty is a good one. It's not necessarily a club, rather a futures program. You commit to buy a certain number of bottles when they're available at a set price.

And to circle back to the trustee thing, maca, sending any quality beer is encouraged. Fresh local IPA's, local favorites, etc. There's no set convention. My Bruery trustee just buys shippers in LA and I send him labels. Very nice setup since I only have to deal with shipping one way. I send him a really nice 12 bottle shipper at Christmas to cover the year.

You can also be like BSD and never give your trustee a single thank you beer.

the Eclipses I've had are good but I'm not sure if they're really worth the price tag. Still want to try the vanilla one though.

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You can also be like BSD and never give your trustee a single thank you beer.

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Say whaaaaa???????????

I sent you several beers...and a wine check!!!!

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You can also be like BSD and never give your trustee a single thank you beer.

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Say whaaaaa???????????

I sent you several beers...and a wine check!!!!

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Just busting your chops bruh

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the Eclipses I've had are good but I'm not sure if they're really worth the price tag. Still want to try the vanilla one though.

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The futures prices are usually pretty good. IIRC, about $10-15 below the ridiculous retail prices you see around here.

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You can also be like BSD and never give your trustee a single thank you beer.

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Say whaaaaa???????????

I sent you several beers...and a wine check!!!!

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Just busting your chops bruh

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Oh good. I was questioning myself as to whether I actually shipped some stuff up there. You had me worried.

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So what are some of the better memberships? Naturally all of them say they are better than the others.

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The Bruery Reserve Society is probably the best for a beginner. It is fairly easy to get into and provides access to a wide range of beers. It is quite expensive, but every membership program is. The society is also large and allows proxies so it is easy to find a trustee to send your beers. Allocations are high in this society so it's easy to split with people.

Most of the others are more difficult to get into. Some, like Cigar City El Catador, have very few open memberships each year and it's a crap shoot if you get through to complete a transaction. Others are invite only, like Casey Blending and Brewing Extended Family.

Others I can think of are Rare Barrel Ambassadors, which I believe BSD is in. DeGarde has since discontinued their membership program, along with Crooked Stave. I believe Night Shift in New England has a society. Other breweries, like Toppling Goliath and Perennial have on site "mug club" type memberships.

Bmac or BSD might have others that I've missed.

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Bruery and Rare Barrel are both great ones that provide a lot of beer and you have the ability to buy pretty big allocations of stuff if you want that to use for trading. Both of those are easy to split with a friend becasue they can get expensive very fast and there are a ton of bottles that come with it.

El Catador is great (Thanks Hub!) but very hard to get into with only a few spots opening each year. Everyone that I know that was in Night Shift did not renew this year becasue all of the good beers they came out with last year were not available to members.

I get almost all of my beers from my memberships and from previous traders and harldy ever hit the trade forumns anymore unless there is something big I am looking for.

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So what are some of the better memberships? Naturally all of them say they are better than the others.

---

The Bruery Reserve Society is probably the best for a beginner. It is fairly easy to get into and provides access to a wide range of beers. It is quite expensive, but every membership program is. The society is also large and allows proxies so it is easy to find a trustee to send your beers. Allocations are high in this society so it's easy to split with people.

Most of the others are more difficult to get into. Some, like Cigar City El Catador, have very few open memberships each year and it's a crap shoot if you get through to complete a transaction. Others are invite only, like Casey Blending and Brewing Extended Family.

Others I can think of are Rare Barrel Ambassadors, which I believe BSD is in. DeGarde has since discontinued their membership program, along with Crooked Stave. I believe Night Shift in New England has a society. Other breweries, like Toppling Goliath and Perennial have on site "mug club" type memberships.

Bmac or BSD might have others that I've missed.

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Bruery and Rare Barrel are both great ones that provide a lot of beer and you have the ability to buy pretty big allocations of stuff if you want that to use for trading. Both of those are easy to split with a friend becasue they can get expensive very fast and there are a ton of bottles that come with it.

El Catador is great (Thanks Hub!) but very hard to get into with only a few spots opening each year. Everyone that I know that was in Night Shift did not renew this year becasue all of the good beers they came out with last year were not available to members.

I get almost all of my beers from my memberships and from previous traders and harldy ever hit the trade forumns anymore unless there is something big I am looking for.

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I would not recommend joining Reserve Society solely for trade bait. Those bottles just don't trade very well. There's maybe one or two Hoarders Society beers per year that will trade at their $ value. Everything else is too many bottles, and everyone has a friend in the society, so they don't fetch a whole lot.

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El Catador is great (Thanks Hub!)

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He tried to get me into that on Day 1 and they turned him down because I was out of state...only to open it up later to everyone (or something like that). ugh. But hey, he tried...good people on this thread.

El Catador has been really up and down. I've stayed in because its cheap and hoped for more barrel aged hunahpus. Havent been too impressed with many of the others. Rumors flying that there will be one this edition or next.

Sad I couldn't get into the Rare Barrel membership this year. Ever since I visited the brewery last fall, I have been wanting to get hands on some more of their beers. How do you guys normally find your proxies for a membership?

Speaking of Rare Barrel any other CO folks here any updates on CSA bringing them out here? I heard it's happening but no details on the timeline.

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How do you guys normally find your proxies for a membership?

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You can just post on the boards asking for a proxy and a lot of time people will help you out. All of mine are from repeat traders that happen to live in that area that I have established a relationship with.

https://instagr.am/p/BDoKhShsL3V

https://instagr.am/p/BDoYXhFMLza

iz that a gud thing?

Any idea if Ol Oi will see distribution?

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You can just post on the boards asking for a proxy and a lot of time people will help you out. All of mine are from repeat traders that happen to live in that area that I have established a relationship with.

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Bruery boards? Or somewhere else?

My local beer guy is getting Cognac Abyss in tomorrow, so I'd be on the lookout if you are in the Austin area... #abysshomer

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https://instagr.am/p/BDoKhShsL3V

https://instagr.am/p/BDoYXhFMLza

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I'm headed up tomorrow if anyone wants to meet up. Got a buddy in town and he just had a kid so this is his "me time", lol.

Jah, if you hear any places that get it let me know. Been on the lookout for this one. Think HEBs or Specs will get it?

I have been impressed and satisfied with every dark beer I have tried from Jester King:

Black Metal
Multifarious
Whiskey Barrel Rodeo

I'm guessing Ol Oi would be no different. Soured brown ale?

Just spent 9 hours looking at galvanized buckets at $30 apiece. Thankfully we find a bar in Brenham that had BBH Chocolate, which was helpful.

Heading to Fredericksburg area tomorrow. Anyone got recs of good places to go? I'm cashing in the Good Husband chips.

My friends, and good Aggies, own a restaurant called Burger Burger.

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Just spent 9 hours looking at galvanized buckets at $30 apiece. Thankfully we find a bar in Brenham that had BBH Chocolate, which was helpful.

Heading to Fredericksburg area tomorrow. Anyone got recs of good places to go? I'm cashing in the Good Husband chips.

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Pasta Bella... End of conversation. Navajo is good too, just pricey.

CP, RR, Gtown?

If you head out of town a ways, Alamo Springs Cafe has one of the best burgers I've ever had.

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Heading to Fredericksburg area tomorrow. Anyone got recs of good places to go? I'm cashing in the Good Husband chips.

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Y'all should swing through Boerne.