Bottoms Up

Matt Maples, who runs Liquid Solutions, a Tigard, OR. retail beer store with a large mail order via the Web presence, is trying another rare beer auction. This one starts next Friday June 6 at noon, PDT.

The items: one bottle of vintage 1994 Thomas Hardy’s Ale. Starting bid: $13.95 and six bottles of Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barley Wine-style Ale, one each from 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003. Starting bid: $19.95.

This is fascinating and unlike Ebay, Maples isn’t selling beer of questionable origin. He has a real, if small store, and an actual physical address and (gasp) phone number. These two don’t interest me terriblly, but I’m gonna follow it and see how the bidding goes.

Also, Liquid Solutions has a large stock of hard-to-find beer from across the U.S and Eur0pe (and Canada). Mail order isn’t cheap, beer is heavy, but for a bottle or two, it can be worth it.