How often do you blindly buy beer? Find any gems doing so?

Gems that I bought blindly. Coincidentally, they're all beers that I find HIGHLY underrated on here, and I'm surprised there isn't more talk of them.

Scaldis (a.k.a. Bush Ambree) - Beautiful and unique Amber Quad, or super Triple, or whatever you want to call it. Sold in single 8 oz. bottles, but they're only like $2 each.

Robinson's Old Tom - Traditional English-style Old Ale / Barleywine. Not quite as impactful as J.W. Lees or Yorkshire Stingo, but a great representation of the style for a fraction of the price.

Baladin Nora - Pricey, but one of the most unique brews I've had.

Birra del Borgo Genziana - In the same ballpark as Baladin Nora. Expensive, but beautifully original.

I do not see a lot of stuff on the market that I have zero way of estimating an idea what it is going to be like either by basing myself on the breweries other offerings, reputations or the general selection of the outlet. There is not a lot of stuff on the market that I can buy 100 % blind, if there is other stuff that I know besides that, it usually mildly interests me so I will go for that. Quite rarely I would say & I am not willing to take much risks & if it is a Belgian brewery I have never heard of, chases are not too big that it is going to be stellar. If it is not too expensive & there is nothing else that really interests me at the moment.

Not as much anymore. But my first purchase of Goose Island Bourbon County Stout was a blind buy. That turned out well.

All the time. Some days you get chicken, some days feathers. I don't research much prior to purchase. Lots of times it is the way my daughter used to pick football games (who has the nicer uniforms) and I will just grab a label that jumps out at me. I don't get all wound up about gotta have this or gotta have that. Whatever I find is good enough, don't like it then don't buy it again.

About 3 years ago I walked into a liquor store for the first time at this location somewhat near my house . I walked around looking at the six packs, and noticed they had a cooled bomber room . So I walk in, look at all the labels, decide I want something different and new. Found a bottle of Russian river sanctification , and thought it had the most basic and odd label. Took it home , and man- I have been madly in love with sours ever since .

But I have been burned.... Alligash and new Belgian did a collab called Brett beer. One of the first beers I have had to push myself into drinking entirely. I don't believe in alcohol abuse so I Finished it quickly to finish the mercy I had found .

I do it a lot on create your own 6 packs and on some Bombers. My 2 favorite beers that Ive ever had were purchased blindly. Moloko and Smuttonator. Also have found lots of local brewery gems in the create your own 6 packs.

All the time. Latest was Abita Vanilla Doubledog. Hit.

Usually if I go on a blind buy, it turns out to be in the "meh" range. The last blind buy I had was Full Sail Pale Ale. It wasn't bad, but I wasn't blown away by it.

And then there was the Rivertown Brewing "Variety Crate." That was actually a pretty good purchase, aside from the Unit 6 American Hefeweizen.

Last night my old man was telling my brothers and I how he got into crafts over some beers. Apparently his step up from BMC was Belhaven. After drinking that for awhile, he goes into his shop and asks for "the best beer they have". Guy hands him a freaking RARE which he buys completely blind. Not sure if I would have enjoyed that one right off the bat like that, but apparently he did because he's still the biggest craft beer junkie I know.

I blindly bought Troegenator being a fan of Troegs and it is hands down my favorite from them @ this point.

At first, I would buy beers that had interesting names: Fish Paralyzer, Sasquatch Named Kodini (on draft), Moose Drool, Tramp Stamp. And from there, I started following specific styles and breweries. I will still buy something every now and then based solely on the name. I really get a kick out of the different puns and creative names that are out there.

I'm surprised you get Fish Paralyzer all the may in Michigan. I live twenty minutes from the brewery that makes it and I have trouble finding it.

A few years ago I blindly bought a 4 pack of Something called Bourbon County Stout. It sat in my cellar for a couple months until I decided to try one. Now it's my favorite beer!

You should try smashed pumpkin. Same horrible flavor with added astringent hot alcohol notes.

I stay blind buying. The store I go to sells every bottle individually, I go nuts on things i've never had/heard of on a regular basis.

I buy blind at the local Russian market--beers I've never heard of and prices that don't hurt the pocketbook when they're duds.

Most of the time I'm taking the plunge on something new and unknown it's buying legally blind--I might not have heard of the beer but I know the brewery's rep or something about the style... but those Eastern European imports are always a trip into the unexpected!

I will buy locals blind. I just picked up a PBC Shackamaximum and Troegs flying mouflan. Both local and never had or seen before. The Troegs label says its like a nugget nectar pushed over a cliff. See how they are tonight.


Enjoy

As long as I've had a few beers from the brewery before and enjoy the style of the new beer, I'm perfectly comfortable with blind buying a single. I wouldn't blind buy a six-pack unless it's in one of my preferred styles by a preferred or reputable brewery.

Almost all of the time. I will always give a new brewery a whirl.

A couple years ago I decided to start buying random beers from local liquor stores so I could start getting a sense of what was out there. At that time I was real unfamiliar with a company called Dogfish Head and my favorite beer was Sam Adams Octoberfest. However, I bought a four pack of 90 min IPA and it was the best purchase I could've made at the time. So maybe this counts as 'buying blind' only because I was new but man that was a great introduction...

I do some blind buys from brewers that I have previously enjoyed or are recommended to me. I also do blind buys on styles that I enjoy.

I bought a switch back IPA the other day blindly, and now I wish I could hit on a solid beer like that more often. It was bitter and awesome!

What is blind?

Does it count if, even though I've never tasted it before, I've read Beer Advocate reviews. Or an article in the magazine. Or seen a review on Beer Geek Nation, Beer Bettie's, or New Brew Thursday. Or talked about with the Cicerone at my local store?

Today's modern communications provide the best of both worlds: very low risk that it's awful beer, but all the fun of someone's creation that I've never tasted before.

Blind to me means knowing nothing before hand. Seeing a beer on the shelf, looking at it and deciding its worth the try. Either the label looks good, description, a brand you have tried but not this style, etc.

Enjoy

All the time. Its how i found out about unibroque nearly 10 years ago. I see something pretty and I must try it! I am usually a winner as well. Why bother with bottle artwork if you have no pride in your beer? Pride almost denotes that it should be good ( although there has been and forever will be exceptions I am sure.).

Mikkeller Monk's Brew (Red Wine Barrel Aged With Raspberries). Expensive blind buy but totally worth it.

my wife loves this beer. she got s-faced on it one Halloween and was peeing blue for a day.

i blindly bought Highway to Ale. UGH.
swore off blind buys.

The only blind purchase that comes to mind is Chocolate Bunny. It didn't taste like chocolate or bunny. To hell with blind buys.

I buy blind almost constantly. However, I do think there are different levels of 'blindness' that you can have. For example, if it is something by Founders that I have never heard of, is that really a blind buy? The ones that I consider true blind buying is when it's a beer you've never heard of, from a brewery you know nothing or little about. I do this quite often and I get some seriously mixed results. Sometimes I find a gem that goes into my regular rotation, other times I end up drinking a very dull beer, and also from time to time I end up with something absolutely toxic tasting (Motor City Brewing Ghettoblaster???)

But if you mean solely based on ratings, I almost never know a beers rating before I buy it. I may have heard of that beer on this site or elsewhere beforehand, but I don't check ratings in the store, or before I go to the store, baring a couple of exceptions. Normally my method of operation is to buy the beer, take it home, taste it, develop an opinion, and then check out how it is rated. I find this to be the fairest way to give the beer a shake.

I like buying blindly when i'm out of my home state as I see a lot of local stuff I've usually never heard of before. Here in NJ theres a ton of local brews that havent left the county theyre from let alone the state and these are the type of beers i blindly buy when I travel. The only one that's blown me away so far though has been revolution brewing out of chicago. I had never heard of the brewery before, blindly bought they're double IPA, and it blew me away!

Just today purchased a Saranac 12 beers of Winter,Big Moose Ale,Belgian Pale Ale,4059 Porter,Red Ipa,Chocolate Lager,and BlackBear Bock.So far they have been good to above avg,and at $8 a 12/pk a steal

I never look at reviews. I buy blindly because I like to try new stuff. I found Pliny this way. Now that I am older and more experienced I narrow my selection due to brewery, style, and price.

I just bought a bomber of Little Sumpin' Wild for $ .99. I figure even though its a few months from fresh you can't beat 99cents. At almost 9% a few months shouldn't be too much of a factor. We'll see when I have the time to try it..maybe this weekend

I bought that blindly 2 months ago. Not looking forward to it at all after seeing the reviews. Will have to get rid of it soon. I have had some reviews go south before, so hopefully its not a drainpour

I found founders one day just by chance best risk ever

I never look at ratings before buying a beer. In fact, I never look at ratings in general. Then again, I rarely buy anything other than St. Bernardus Abt.

Total Wine?

When first branching out into craft, I came across some stuff on the mixed singles shelf that I had not yet heard of. I blindly grabbed it cuz the label looked interesting......

When I was just starting to drink craft beer I did it all time, mostly because I was interested in trying new styles. Though the packaging of definitely played some role as I had little else to go off of.

Gonzo was one "blind" purchase that worked out well. At the time I in college (i.e. pothead) and thought purchasing a beer inspired by gonzo was "pretty dank".

Bottles I generally will look up but if I see something interesting and new at the bar I will give it a chance and have found tons of stuff I have hated and even with high scores on ba I was able to save myself money by not buying it on bottle first.