This Week in Beer (TWIB) is a feature where I’ll highlight some craft beers I had during this past week mixed with some related (and unrelated) thoughts. Yes, it’s a play on the name of the show This Week in Baseball which I grew up on and loved.
Wow! It’s been nearly three four weeks since I last posted. That’s the longest drought I’ve ever had. I was getting caught up on trying to write something perfect instead of just putting my words out there. I look around and see these smart, edgy posts and think, “Man, I can’t put out anything until it’s that good.” However I’ll probably never write a post filled with the perfect blending of words around a witty topic that will make other writers and beer bloggers envious so why wait?
I’ve also been dreading writing about accomplishing Beer Mission #4. Not because my experience was horrible. It was the complete opposite. But because I didn’t want to format it! Formatting it takes just as long to write it. You have to upload the pictures, name it, give it alternative text, put in bullets, add links, check links, shorten the URL WordPress tries to give your post, add tags, and on and on and on and on… So yeah, I’ll get around to it one day but I want to tell you about my experience here, today, in the simple and my favorite on-going feature of Short On Beer called TWIB (short for This Week In Beer).
You Spent How Much On Beer?
I set a personal record on money spent on beer tallying up a bill so high that my credit card got declined!* I make an annual pilgrimage to Long Island, New York to visit my mom and take part in a fantasy baseball auction. Go ahead and laugh but my winnings paid for my trip to Vegas in November. I reached out to Greg Back, a New York blogger, to ask where I should go to get good beer in Long Island. I looked over his suggestions, Google Mapped some directions and shoved my mom and wife into the car and off we went.
*Note: My credit card was declined because it looked like I was buying $220 worth of alcohol 300+ miles from where I live not for insufficient funds. Don’t buy beer if you have no money and call your credit card company before buying copious amounts of beer way out of state.
We pulled up to Bellport Cold Beer & Soda with no idea what to expect. It’s a small building with a large red roof that has “BEER & SODA” in giant white san serif letters on it. We walked in and I nearly fainted. Beer. Everywhere. All kinds of beer. Evil Twin, Cigar City, Westbrook…
Dave, the owner, introduced himself and showed us around. Three boxes full of big bottles and 6-packs later I cut myself off.
My haul from Bellport Cold Beer & Soda
Dave hooked us up with an extra bottle a 2006 Lambic and a couple pint glasses from a local brewery. I scooped up some Justin Blabaer, a Stone Enjoy By, some Ballast Point Sculpin, a few sours and numerous local beers and some presents for friends (many not pictured). If you’re in Long Island, take the time to go find Bellport Cold Beer & Soda. I will be going back next year and for many more years.
I have some other stories I want to tell you about soon including a random Tuesday night epic bottle share night that came out of no where. Until then, I want to know the most you’ve ever spent on beer. Was it worth it? Tell me your story below.
Remember to sign up to receive email updates for new posts by entering your email address at the bottom of the page so you never miss anything! Cheers!
Short On Beer 
€80 on a six pack of Westvleteren 12, was it worth it? Oh yes!
Given the opportunity, I’d do the same.
It’d be rude not to! 🙂
First, I hear you about those smart, edgy posts. Annoying collections of excellent grammar, marvelous story telling and sharp-edged humor. I can’t come close.
I’ve never had my card declined, but there are rare occasions (holidays, parties) when I might hit three different liquor stores in one day (one for beer, one for wine, and one for…whatever) and at the third one I’ll think, “is anyone at MandT going to flag this? It must look like someone stole a credit card and is hitting every liquor store he can before anyone finds out.”
The most I ever spent? That’s tough. Probably a party I’ve come close to $200. It’s hard to tell because big purchases usually have wine in them. I can tell you I spent $120 one year for Guinness and Murphey’s for St Paddy’s. And I did spent $65 for a 12oz bottle of Brew Dogs, Tactical Nuclear Penguin. Worth it? Yeah. Although now I find myself easily walking past bottles with $15-$20 price tags.
Parties I classify separately than randomly buying up bottles for the hell of it. My wedding beer had to have topped $300.
Gotta say, $65 for one 12oz bottle might be too much for me though. This gives me argument ammo for future justifications on outrageous beer splurging.
LOL, yeah, if you think “but honey! Ed spent $65 on ONE BOTTLE OF BEER! ” Will help you with your splurging, you go with that. Let me know how it works.
Pingback: Answer Hour: What is craft beer? | Short On Beer