Biology of a Whale?

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by zipper8650, Dec 31, 2012.

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  1. zipper8650

    zipper8650 Zealot (549) May 10, 2011 New York
    Trader

    Is any beer ever a whale at release?
    If not; how long after its release will a rare become a whale and is there consideration for the style and how it may age?
    Is quality and limited quantity all that makes a whale?
    Has any whale ever died of old age?
     
  2. RochesterAaron

    RochesterAaron Initiate (0) May 24, 2007 New York

    Ann.
     
  3. HopsintheSack

    HopsintheSack Initiate (0) Apr 17, 2012 California

    From what a I noticed on the new white whale list, is that they don't even need to be all that good to be whales. Which is why I don't hunt them. Some people have drank so many different types its about the ticks more then finding excellent beer is what I assume.
     
  4. codysjb

    codysjb Pundit (994) Jun 16, 2010 Florida
    Trader

    Sometimes true but I tend to use caution when saying this. With very few exceptions, beers don't become whales if they are poor quality. Surely bolt cutter could have approached king henry status if it was good (not yet a whale but I suspect it will be soon). It was from a popular brewey, limited distro,.. But it wasnt great. Many small breweries (of the top of my head I think amherst brewing co) put out small (less than 200) bottle counts of barrel aged beers that arent whales because they arent known and dont come close to whale quality. I will certainly admit that quality isnt always amazing (i for one would rather have blabaer, and bcbs than dave) but the reason companies seem to get on the map and that a particular beer becomes a whale is because at the end of the day people think they make good beer. Small brewing companies put out less than 100 bottle count beers every day but if the beers are not good then nobody takes notice.
     
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  5. ant880

    ant880 Savant (1,179) Nov 7, 2010 New York
    Trader

    My fault...that was an astute observation on your part. I believe you just have to reverse the anus and the blowhole, everything else remains the same
     
  6. PsilohsaiBiN

    PsilohsaiBiN Initiate (0) Aug 10, 2010 New York

    Bahahaha!
     
  7. Dennoman

    Dennoman Initiate (0) Aug 20, 2011 Belgium

    1) Is it touted as being a very limited release? Has the brewer announced it will be a one-off?
    2) Is there a bottle limit?
    3) Is it sour, aged on bourbon/whisk(e)y/rye/wine/... barrels, or a combination of the two?
    4) Is it hand numbered and/or wax sealed?
    5) Is it exclusive to members of a Reserve Society or another similar group?
    6) Is it released at one specific annual event and only at the brewery?
    7) Is it sold for a price that makes no sense other than "we sell it that expensive simply because we can"?

    If the answer to any of these questions is yes, I'd say you're dealing with a pilot whale, two or three is a gray whale, four or five is a white whale and all of the above is a shiny sparkling diamond-encrusted aircraft carrier platinum whale.
     
  8. DStoked

    DStoked Zealot (672) Sep 28, 2011 Ohio
    Trader

    Expensive + Rare = Whale.

    I'm 100% sure this has been discussed on this site before, but I know of scientific studies that show that simply telling someone that something is expensive increases their perception of how good it tastes. Basically they gave people cheap wine and told them it was expensive and gave them expensive wine and told them it was cheap, and so on, and people always went with what they were told was more expensive.
     
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  9. SFACRKnight

    SFACRKnight Grand Pooh-Bah (3,274) Jan 20, 2012 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    See, this is where trading and whales get nonsensical. We have a shit ton of beers that are produced here in Colorado that should be whales, but they don't make it out of the state, so nobody knows what the hell I'm bringing to the party. Case in point, ac golden's Ctayt. Just picked one up, and hope to get another to stash in the cellar. With a bottle count of 1344 chances are it won't show up on anyone elses radar. Super rare, high abv (read cellarable), comes from a dark corner of Coors that's notorious for putting out amazing brews, should make it on that whale list no problem. But since there isn't enough to make it out of colorado chances are it'll never get the hype and recognition needed to make the list. These are beers that you hear whispers about, and only see three or four reviews of, and can never ever seem to spot, much less land. That being said...

    Fuck walez...I collect Krakens.
     
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  10. Dennoman

    Dennoman Initiate (0) Aug 20, 2011 Belgium

    Key rule of marketing, hyping and advertising: "make people feel like they're missing something, and they'll buy it".
     
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  11. waltersrj

    waltersrj Initiate (0) Dec 16, 2010 Washington

    The word "Whale" gets thrown around way too often these days as I think many new BA's aren't truly familiar with what quantifies one. As a part of the group that created the new White Whale list I can say that it was created from a few things; rarity, trade value, and somewhat by people's preference to the quality of the beer.

    Most beers on the list taste fantastic, and are well worth the effort it takes to land them. Some (like VE 020202) are definitely not worth it (IMO) but are indeed quite difficult to land. With that said, the list is very well put together and took a substantial effort from many BA's who've tasted most beers on the list or trader for them.

    You're definitely correct in that there are many beers that are much easier to obtain that taste just as good as some on the list. Tickers gotta tick, but a lot of the beers on the list are phenomenal.

    Cheers,
    Ryan
     
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  12. Rosty

    Rosty Devotee (337) Nov 29, 2006 California

    This is why I call my cellar Sea World. . .
     
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  13. TheBeerTruck

    TheBeerTruck Initiate (0) Feb 29, 2012 Michigan

    My mom taught me to never drink the yellow whales.
     
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  14. zipper8650

    zipper8650 Zealot (549) May 10, 2011 New York
    Trader

    thank you all!
    diamond encrusted aircraft carrier platinum whale was great
     
  15. aasher

    aasher Grand Pooh-Bah (4,471) Jan 27, 2010 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    Blabaer always gets treated like a wale.

    Beers that are draft only for a couple years and only at events then eventually released in bottles are destined to be wales in the opinions of the masses, but will never reach true wale status to BA vets. An example is CBS.
     
  16. kzoobrew

    kzoobrew Initiate (0) May 8, 2006 Michigan

    So you have a couple whales and a lot of dolphins, sting rays and fish?
     
    YogiBeer likes this.
  17. brikelly

    brikelly Pundit (781) Apr 11, 2010 Massachusetts

    Juicy
    Juicy too.
     
  18. BrewsoBrewco

    BrewsoBrewco Crusader (479) Feb 15, 2011 Oregon

    Haha. Comic gold!
     
  19. beerjerk666

    beerjerk666 Grand Pooh-Bah (5,081) Aug 22, 2010 Florida
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Watch out where the Humpbacks go.....
     
  20. jglowe77

    jglowe77 Initiate (0) Jan 24, 2011 Massachusetts
    Deactivated

    lol
     
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