Seven Hundred! (in Off-topic)

The beer walls total 700 bottles, as of NOW!

The Nitty Gritty Grandeur

Behold! And be DISMAYED!

nice man! any pics?

Explain?

Yes, explain :)

congratulations...

In my understanding... Sut has a wall decorated with bottles from every beer he's ever tried (or most of them anyway)

You have to post a pic.

Google Spreadsheets go boom.

There are two possible reasons for Sut not posting his picture:

Sut can't post a pic because::
Those entering his 'love lair' (where the beer wall is) would be tipped off and not be sufficiently impressed. (make that awe struck) Thus it may lower his 'love machine' status.

Or

As with other of his beer-lovers, The room where the beer wall is is called 'The Sanctuary' and is sacred, so it would thereby be simply inappropriate.

Or, he is cursed with The Luck of Bob, and his digital camera is as broken as mine.

Let me get some pics up...

Pics:

Full, as much as I can

Half of main wall

Other half of main wall

The other wall.

700. 701 is upstairs on the counter.

Number 1 was Blackened Voodoo. Number 700 was Pyramid Snow Cap (a seasonal winter brew in keeping with the weather outside right now. *smile*)

Sweet!

Your my hero.

Before Bast gets here: *you're...

...and thanks, BHT and Ranger!

Very impressive which is/was your favorite?

Awesome! I'm curious how long you've been collecting for?

AK, that's hard. Some thoughts:

Spaten Optimator is a damn fine "thick" brew.

Warstiener is a nice clan lager, and the Warsteiner Dunkel is a candy, of sorts.

Sam Adams Cranberry Lambic -- distinctive. Tasty. And seasonal.

Schlafly is king, largest domestic brewer in St. Louis now (sorry, A-B is owned by InBev). They do well at what they do.

I don't care for New Belgium brews (they all taste the same to me), but they have pretty bottles.

I am working on the WIsconsin brews, and have a lot of work to do: Capital, Tyranena, New Glarus, Sprecher, Point, Berghoff, and probably a couple others I am forgetting.

Bells is over-rated, in my opinion. Check it: four out of thirteen are stouts, and I'm missing one (another stout). How many stouts does a brand need? Stouts are easy -- like chocolate milk. You can throw in anything. It is decent beer. But when you command 9.99 a six, I'd like a bit more. Their Winter brew is actually pretty good, and is a fairly recent addition.

Can't think of what else to write, too many memories.

Very impressive. I tried to start that at one point, but it became a mess rather quickly. You're somewhat brave to not have a thin rail to prevent gravity from doing it's little tricks...

Wait... what's the head-thing on the shelf in the first pic? It looks like Iron Man. Is there something you wish to share?

Kefeck, it started circa 1993. My roommate Jon Bakehouse and I walked up to Tait's (not there any more), and grabbed what struck our eye: a six of "Blackened Voodoo". It's a handsome bottle, not my favorite beer.

Because we were lazy, a stray bottle stayed on a book shelf for a time. We became afraid to move it. Jon said we should put it on someone else's doorstep, ring the bell, and run. That way, when they opened the door and looked down, they would see BLACKENED VOODOO!!!!! Like a curse. I laughed, Jon laughed, but we didn't move the bottle.

Gravity being what it is, though, BV attracted other bottles. I wish to sweet Christ I could remember 2, 3, 4, or even 50. I can't. I don't even know the centurions, and I doubt I'll remember Pyramid Snow Cap as 700. That's kinda the point. The collection is as organic as my feeble human gray mass. As long as I know it best, I don't care how well it is known. *smile*

ANYWAY, it grew and grew. Probably reached 200-300 in Des Moines, IA, reached 600 in St. Louis, MO, and has now grown to 700 in Madison, WI.

Hail, hail rock and roll.

Demi, that's a Cyberman helmet (Nu-Who), a gift from the one of the greatest men in the Universe.

Behind that are a coupla albums from one of the greatest women in the Universe. She's around here somewhere. *smile*

Heh, I like how fuzzy the albums are behind the Cyberman head. We'll make this a contest: zero dollars to whomever can name them. I'll give one hint -- they are by the same band.

(and no, the person who gave them to me cannot play. *smile*)

What, not in alphabetical order? In order of any sort or chug and shelf? :)

They are ordered with their brand, as that tends to put bottles of similar size together and gives the collection nice aesthetics.

Alphabetical would be impossible, as I would have to shift every single bottle every time I added a bottle. As it is now, I leave singletons between the larger families of bottles, so when I add a new bottle, I can just move a singleton to the end. Add to that bottles of varied sizes (e.g., magnum-sized bottles have to be on the top shelf) and trying much of any system at all would be difficult. I've been doing this a while. *smile*

Did you happen to save the caps? I'm a semi-collector of bottle caps whether i drink what it came off of or if i find a rare one in a house that is being demo-ed

That is pretty cool. I'm assuming you don't live in Cali or some other earthquake prone area ;)

The slight tremors in STL last year definitely made the bottles ting, but nothing fell off or broke. Those walls were 9 feet tall, with no carpet on the floor. *smile*

Anon, no bottle caps. Would have been a good idea, I suppose, except I realized most caps aren't specific to the beer, just the brewer. Though, there are plenty of singletons on the wall, so even that fact would probably have still yielded me 200-300 distinct caps. And caps would have been much easier to store/move! Ah well...

Did you ever get your hands on an Innis and Gunn?

Do you also have a complete database of the beers on the computer?

btw: thank you for burying the college kids with their wall of 100 shot glasses so deep in inadequacy that they'll never get out. (and for providing us with proof that dreams can come true :-) )

GL, no, I have not gotten anything too "gourmet" recently, as the move to Wisconsin has made several dozen beers new to me (by simply going to the grocery store). I will get more exotic once I get more of the local brews knocked out (Wisconsin is no slouch in that regard). That might not be until bottle 800 or 900, especially with all the Oktoberfest and Winter/Holiday brew varietals currently on the shelves. *smile*

Loch, the most I have, and it is quite recent, is some Note files on my iPhone that list beers from the most common (and largest) breweries on the shelf. Otherwise I have reached the point where I forget what I have.

I have toyed with the idea of a more formalized database, but one thing the database would be good for, denoting location on the wall), is not possible. I move bottles around too much when new ones are added, sometimes doing a three or four-way "trade" to make room within a certain family of bottles. So, it would be never ending data entry. A database would also sort of help with knowing trivia like which brewer has the most (Anheuser-Busch easily wins, but only because they have so many products) or grouping by brewer attributes (which state, country, etc.) Every time I think about doing that, though, I walk along the wall and enjoy the organic nature of it, and the fact I know the collection best (even fun stuff like *shock* the bottle which technically repeats, or the one bottle I didn't actually drink myself!) So, this is one spot where I think I will leave computers out of the mix. *smile*

Just FYI, the "rule" on the wall is that I have to buy at least a six pack (or four-packs where that is how the beer is packaged), unless it is a large bottle where one suffices. In other words, no mixing and matching sixers at a liquor store that allows it just to expand the collection. And yes, no matter how bad the beer is, I drink all six. *smile*

Do you have a favorite bottle that is the most decorated/looks good?

so, by my math to match this beer wall (in terms of collection and method) in one year you would have to consume probably 10+ beers per day....

Congrats, dahling. I did like them best on the gallery shelf, but at least you have room for more now.

I know three of the greatest men in the Universe! Also, I want to play.

So, have you drank/drunk 700 bottles of different beers or do you actually own them all also?

Drank and own, those pics are of my basement... Is that what you mean? The bottles are empty, for sure. *smile*

Ah, the Kingman apartment -- that was still the best presentation, indeed, but as I recall, even with building the single shelf up over windows and doors that place only held ~175 bottles...I think that is right, anyway. Yes, Mr. Bakehouse and I looked at each other with a double-take when the rental agency showed us that apartment. Good times.

You want to play...what game, Bast?

kevlar, bottles...hm, Blackened Voodoo was a nice bottle with a cool name.

New Belgium makes bottles that are colorful, with robust labels and textured glass.

I like bottles with the name of the beer or brewer etched or set-out in the glass, and I like labels that are uncreased and un-"chipped", some have a more plasticy feel, meanin gthey stick really well and have a sheen (nice).

Then, of course there are the screen-printed (not sure that is the right term), like Red Stripe and Corona bottles. I like those kind, as the label never falls off with moves, humidity, etc.

But let's make the tough decision...best bottles... Large bottles look nice, like the big Schlaflys and big Boulevards I have. UK pints generally look very nice, including an Adnam's GentlemanLoser once sent me (thanks, mate!).

But then there are the cans (yes, I put cans on the wall, mainly if the beer only comes in can's or if cans look cool (like Foster's and Sapporo). The large Sapporo can is very nice.

Finally, there are the pop-top bottles, like Grolsch (I actually very much dislike Grolsch beer, though maybe I should try it again since it has been a while).

SO, by collection, I like my Schlafly collection because it reminds me of good times in the Lou, is colorful, is large, and has several nice large-size bottles (it is on the top shelf in the second pic I posted).

And for a single bottle, I'll go with Sam Adams Triple Bock. The bottle is a gorgeous blue with gold-ink-inlaid text, and was a special bottle offered back when I worked in Chicago every week. One bottle was 20 bucks, so that has to count for something. *smile*

Spin the bottle? ;)

Sutekh, you're my hero. I'm saving all sorts of bottles, but 700... and only beer bottles...

*faints*

I remember you having a pic with some sort of blue-ish lights behind your collection. Going to do something like that here too?

Hm, bluish lights? I had some Christmas lights around one of my taller shelves in St. Louis, but nothing like that here. I suppose I could just do some Photoshopping (or GIMPing, as it were), as I do like my blue arc light!
<----------------------

If they were full I would have to come visit you for a week or two. :-)

Sut, if you can ever find it out your way i recommend trying an UBU

had missed the pictures but wow :D

UBU looks neat, and from a brewery I don't yet have on the wall!

If they were full, the pics would show bottles and caps strewn along the first shelf with a man passed out underneath. *smile*

> Hm, bluish lights? I had some Christmas lights around one of my taller shelves in St. Louis, but nothing like that here.

Oh, maybe I saw that pic elsewhere. Nevertheless, cool collection ;)

Maybe a room like this in the future?

A secret cooler! I love it!

Even better, a walk-in fridge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk5JNs7KO30

There was a string of blue lights strung up at some point, I remember the pic too.

Yes, it must have been the xmas lights in St. Louis, and they must have been on a flash mode where they happened to strike blue when I took the pic.

There are no lights on the current shelves, and I don't imagine there will be (they look like crap when not in use, and just clutter things up...

'tis the season to be groggy.