Beer Swapping

I did it. Last week I made my first beer swap with a friend. I will tell you now, I am hooked. Beer swapping is so much fun. I'm going to do it again, and again, and again. In fact, I think I might have even found a new Beer Swapping partner. This is going to get addictive.

I have a friend, we will call him "Chef". He lives on the east coast. We spend a lot of time talking about beer. Drinking beer, making beer, different beers, beers we like, beers we wish we want to try, and beers we wish we could get.

That last one is what got us started. I read on other blogs about all these different beer from regional breweries that I can't get out here on the west coast. Chef has the same problem. He wants to try all the beers from all the breweries here on the west side of the country. Thus, we decided to trade.

It started off easily enough. We each made lists of the breweries and certain beers we wanted to try. But we decided to choose a few of out favorites for each other. Kind of like a surprise. Boy, was I surprised.

I got 9 beers I have never tried before. 5 were from regional breweries I have never even heard of. Here is the list.

Cape Ann Brewing Company -Fisherman's Brew Lager
Victory Brewing- Hop Devil Ale
Brooklyn Brewery - Pennant Ale
Troegs Brewing Company - Hop Back Amber Ale
Bell's Brewery - Two Hearted Ale
Bell's Brewery - Oberon Ale
Clay Pipe Brewing - Hop-Ocalypse India Pale Ale
Dogfish Head - Aprihop Ale
Dogfish Head - Palo Santo Marron

So far, I like what I have tried. In fact, I liked them a lot! Some more than others, but I still enjoyed them. As of 5 minutes ago, I only have 1 left of the original 9. But don't worry, I took notes on each one. Come Saturday night, I am going to review them all for you, my blog reading fans.

In the meantime, I leave you with this. Imagine walking up to your front door and finding a package. This is usually a good thing. But this time, it's something special. This time, Brewmaster Santa left you a special Christmas present. Beer! And not just any ole beer. This is special beer that you can't get. How cool is that? So, are you ready to trade yet? I know I am!

-Cheers!