★ Beer Haul: June 2012 (Post-Belgium Extravaganza)

I’m back from Belgium and it took a few weeks for my packages to arrive. They were all intercepted by Customs but nothing was seized which is nice. This is a sizable amount of beer and, before I post photos, I’d like to say a few things. This will eliminate the negative comments or at least make them pointless and perhaps answer questions that will inevitably reach my Inbox.

• I am not selling any of this beer. None.
• 10% of this beer will be traded away not in a way to score “whales” but to people I see talking about not having Cantillon or 3F and eager to try it. Trying to keep things fair here and not command “all the whales” for one bottle of Gueuze like I see constantly in trade forums.
• The goal here is to actually enjoy some fantastic beers with friends AND cellar these for as long as my patience will let me. It will be difficult but, by having Cantillon in the cellar, I will be less of a freakazoid toward having it all of the time.
• Goomba (The Dog) is doing much better. He sometimes limps but his surgery was a success and he’s doing great. Elizabeth (my GF) is very happy. There were a few people who joked about killing our dog, maiming him and threatened to track down the vet to find out how much the surgery costs. You all are insensitive assholes.
• What I do with my own money is my business alone. To call me retarded is just a mean thing to say and I ban people at the IP Address level who come here and waste their time to say hateful remarks. I’m enjoying the hobby of seeking out, trading / buying, drinking, cellaring, reviewing and brewing beer. It is far less expensive than any of my previous hobbies and it’s one that I’ve made a lot of friends doing. I really love it. If you truly hate seeing people waste money, please go to a Porsche enthusiasts forum and make fun of those guys for spending $2,000 on a set of tires.
• Finally, on the money thing. I get a lot of people saying that I’m a liar about my money situation. How can I spend all of this money on beer after being so broke? It’s called a paycheck. I get one every 2 weeks and I have a budget that allows me to spend some of my paycheck on beer. If I was flat broke tomorrow, chances are I get paid within a week and am then allowed to pay bills and buy some beer related things. I don’t know why that concept falls short on so many people who comment here.

Now that this is over with, I did actually get all of these beers for a great price. I spent, in total about 1500 Euro on beer and another 500 at bars trying great beers with some very nice people. How did I manage to have that much to spend? Well, I began exchanging my US Dollars for Euros starting in January. I converted notes every 2 weeks through my bank. This caused me to have little spending cash when I needed it in March but, it also meant that I didn’t spend it and instead kept it for this beer buying trip I had been planning for a while. I worked with local beer shops starting in February to begin setting aside beers for me in exchange for some USA offerings. That’s how I was able to get all of these. Shipping total was 390 Euros from Antwerpen Belgium to New Hampshire USA for 3, 60 kilogram boxes and 1, 30 kilogram box.

I hope this explains better the Belgiun beer buying extravaganza I did last month. Thanks to the regular readers who send notes and stop by daily. Now, on to some photos!

The following are beers I bought or acquired in trades with US based traders. 

Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA

Terrapin Side Project Indiana Krunkles Terrapin Hopsecutioner India Pale Ale Terrapin Moo-Hoo Chocolate Milk Stout Terrapin Side Project Monks Revenge Double IPA

Hair of the Dog Adam Gouden Carolus Tripel Goose Island Matilda Firestone Walkers Reserve (Robust Porter) Lawsons Finest Double Sunshine IPA Lawsons Finest Knockout Blonde Lawsons Finest Farmhouse Rye Lawsons Finest Maple Tripple

Funky Buddha Passionfruit Berliner Weisse Cigar City Tocobaga Red Ale Cigar City Cucumber Saison Cigar City Homefront IPA

Jester King Black Metal

Jester King Mad Meg

Jester King Noble King  

Now, these are the beers that I brought back from Belgium

3 Fonteinen Hommage 3 Fonteinen Armand’4 Oude Geuze Herfst 3 Fonteinen Armand’4 Oude Geuze Zomer 3 Fonteinen Armand’4 Oude Geuze Winter

Feer Oude Genever 20 Year

Dreupelkot (‘t) Graanjenever Geenver (2 of these) Handmade and sold by the man on the bottle.

3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze Golden Blend 2011

Cantillon Gueuze 100% Lambic-Bio Kriek 100% Lambic 

De Molen Haver & Gort Pannepot Reserva – De Struise Brouwers Chapeau Banana Lambic – Brouwerij De Troch (For the GF Cause she loves these) Vicaris Quinto

Girardin Gueuze White Label Boon Oude Geuze Mariage Parfait Drie Fonteinen Oude Kriek Drie Fonteinen Doesjel

Delirium Red Cantillon Blåbær Lambik Fantôme Pissenlit Michelstädter Rathausbräu Märzen 

Drie Fonteinen Schaerbeekse Kriek Cantillon Grand Cru Bruocsella 

Cantillon Iris

Cantillon Saint Lamvinus

Cantillon Cuvée Saint-Gilloise

Cantillon Lou Pepe Kriek (2009 & 2005)

Cantillon Lou Pepe Framboise (2004) Cantillon Lou Pepe Gueuze (2005)

The Following arrived later in the week so this is box #4 of the “haul”

Alvinne Kriek van Mortagne

Trappist Westvleteren 12

Cuvee Des Jacobins Rouge

More Cantillon Grand Cru Bruocsella

Cantillon Vigneronne

Cantillon Iris

Lou Pepe Kriek 2009

Lou Pepe Framboise 2004

HORALs Oude Geuze Mega Blend (2009)

Oude Gueuze Tilquin (2011)

Drie Fonteinen Schaerbeekse Kriek

Fantôme Saison

Tournée Générale Tripel Hop ( a gift from a friend)

Well, that’s it. It was a lot of work in May to get all of these beers and I have started to mail a few of them away to friends who can’t get them easily. Having multiples is really nice and I’m happy that the journey to Belgium was a success! There were a lot of people along the way that helped make this a success and I’m grateful to them. Nothing in my cellar is off-limits to people who come out to New Hampshire to drink with me. If you’re interested, just drop me a line and we’ll have a beer!