There’s no disputing the fact that beer culture has grown tremendously in the last decade or so—a growth that has led to long lines to purchase Goose Island Bourbon County variants, pilgrimages to acquire Alchemist’s Heady Topper and a robust black market for Russian River’s Pliny the Younger and other highly rated brews.
Luckily, the buying and selling of rare beer doesn’t have to be a shady, back alley endeavor. A number of websites and even a handful of auction houses are now selling rare beer alongside hard to find wines and spirits. Sites like Beer Auctions and My Beer Collectibles, as well as well-known auctioneers like Skinner in Boston, make hard to find beer available to the highest bidder. Skinner’s “Whiskey, Spirits & Ales” auction in January included a package of mixed bourbon barrel aged beers that sold for over $500. In March, Skinner auctioned a bottle of De Cam/Drie Fonteinen Millennium Geuze (1998) worth $1000.
Boston Chef Jason Bond frequents Skinner’s auctions to purchase beer for the reserve beer program at his Cambridge restaurant Bondir. “The live auctions are a fun time,” says Bond. Along with the auction itself, the events are catered and include wine tastings. “It’s a good place to meet and mingle with people who are into wines, food, and restaurants.”
Like all auctions, everyone gets a paddle and bids as each lot comes up. There is also online bidding, phone bids, and pre-auction bidding involved. Many of the auctions are not live at all and take place over a week’s time, sort of eBay style.
Bond doesn’t do a lot of research on the beers before hand. “We look for beers that are fun first,” he says, adding that you can’t really go wrong with your selections because all of the beer auctioned is a rare find. “We leverage price point, number of bottles available, and the holes on our list to make a final decision. Our reserve list covers a pretty good range from unusual and price-accessible to very rare, often single run bottlings.”
Customers at Bondir benefit from Bond’s winning bids. His current list includes a variety of rarities, from Mystic Brewery’s Vinland Three (375ml) at $15, up to Cantillon Grand Cru Bruocsella 2001 for $190. His oldest beer is a 2000 Hanssens Artisanaal Oudbeitje Lambic. “It’s a funky strawberry Lambic.”
Bond has some advice for someone thinking of trying their hand at buying aged beers from auctions. “Do it. It’s fun, educational, and often eye-opening to the huge breadth of styles out there.”
How else are you going to get your hands on a bottle of Cantillon Brabantiæ from 1989? Don’t worry; it will only set you back around $600.