Beer and Pavement

No matter how many records I buy, I can’t fill this void.

When I was younger, I collected baseball cards. I bought some complete sets and some valuable rookie cards¹. I kept my cards in plastic sheets, locked in binders. To an outsider, my collection was an obsession. To someone who obsessed over baseball cards, my collection was a nice, little hobby. I collected those cards to fill time, shoe boxes, and to connect me with a community of collectors. I suppose the hobby filled a void, a void only Eric Davis could fill.

The same can be said about my two current collections. I collect beers and music with the same tempered affection² with which I collected baseball cards in order to fill some sort of void or need/want. Collections do not rule me or put me into great debt. They are hobbies that provide me some enjoyment and something about which to talk. If that so-called void is filled, that’s OK too.

The music collection has gone on for a while. I gathered cassette tapes and records in my early days throughout the eighties³. This eventually shifted to CD’s as labels switched formats. Aside from the random 7″ or LP, I gathered hundreds of CD’s⁴. I also collected concert experiences which included ticket stubs, t-shirts, or just memories. As the LP came back into fashion, I’ve come full circle in limiting my collection to just vinyl⁵.

The beer thing hasn’t been a hobby until the past couple of years. Sure, age and availability was a factor, but I didn’t really get into craft beer until I started trying more kinds of beer, spending a little more for something a lot better⁶. Now, I even have a beer cellar⁷ where some beers have sat for nearly two years. Some bottles contain beer that is actively evolving into a drinkable beverage⁸. And I collect through drinking⁹, not just holding. There are beer dinners and tastings. I break open something that’s been sitting around all the time. Beer is to be consumed not contained.

The key to collecting is the enjoyment. It’s not the conquest or filling an emptiness. It’s not compensation for something you’re lacking. A collection is only worthwhile if you can enjoy it.

That’s why I’ve taken more to the collecting of experiences rather than things. With music, I love the experience of placing the needle on the record only to get up twenty minutes later to flip the record and do it again. Although I love the ritual of playing an LP, nothing beats a great live show. Similarly, sampling a rare beer at a nice beer-centric bar with a buddy makes it all the more enjoyable. I also don’t believe in holding onto a beer too long just for the sake of the collection. If it’s been in the cellar for a couple of weeks¹⁰, it needs to be consumed.

With boys and men, the quantity is often the goal. We one-up each other all the time with the number of beers in our cellar or records on the shelf. Whole rooms are dedicated to collections. This, however, is not usually my goal. Sure, I am running out of room for records, CD’s, t-shirts¹¹, etc. And there are more beers in my cellar than I can realistically consume on my own over the next several months. Any collection is about quantity, but the key is not to let that rule your life.

More importantly, a collection is about quality. I only buy the records I believe are good and that I actually want to hear¹². I choose rock shows that I really want to see¹². The beers I buy anymore are primarily because I know the style and/or brewery is good. I only want my collections to represent what I feel is the best. Quality also has its limits. I don’t own every record I want or think I should have¹³. There just isn’t room in my basement nor wallet to buy all those records. Same goes for the beer. Most of the beer I can’t have costs almost as much to ship as it does just to buy. So, I temper my beer mania and join a group order now and again or go without¹⁴.

If the size or character of a collection is too much, it ceases to be enjoyable. I’ve gone through periods where this was the case. Most of the credit card debt in my life is directly attributable to spending sprees at record stores, sometimes for a bunch of material I don’t even listen to anymore¹⁵. At times, my beer cellar is overflowing with beers of a shelf-life of six months or less. I’ve since learned to limit these sorts of brews as I stock up on beers that can stand to sit on a shelf for a year or two.

I could go on and on about the specifics of my collections. I could inventory my entire vinyl stockpile, but I won’t¹⁶. I could do as the guy below did and record my beer cellar⁷ for all to see, but I won’t do that either.

My collections pale in comparison to those mentioned above, but I’m OK with that. My music and beer collections are what I can handle. It’s all I need for enjoyment outside of my family and friends. There’s still that Flaming Lips t-shirt from 1995 to remind me of one of the two or three best shows I’ve ever seen. All of my Dogfish Head 120-minute IPA’s have been consumed and savored¹⁷. There are records still to play and some beers to drink in the near future. The enjoyment is not over.

Consume your collections. Don’t let them consume you. That’s what I’m trying to do anyway.

Notes:
¹Eric Davis was my favorite. Too bad he was so injury-prone.
²I don’t love them any less than the next guy. I have just learned to control my obsessions.
³Of which I have almost none. Between selling them to used record shops and being redistributed to my family, I have very little to show for this period of my life.
⁴Which, oddly enough, are kept in binders much like those still holding my baseball cards.
⁵And the digital downloads which accompany the vinyl.
⁶This is the obstacle for everyone to get over when starting a hobby in craft beer. You will spend more than $4 for a sixer of a good beer. You may even spend $10 for a bomber which is the equivalent of two beers. Think about that for a moment, PBR drinker.
⁷Really, it’s just a closet under the stairs. Did I mention this before?
⁸Homebrewing represents something I was never able to do with music: create my own.
⁹as evidenced by my expanding belly.
¹⁰Or up to two years if the beer is cellar-able. This would primarily be anything imperial, stouts, barley wines, certain Belgian brews, Lambics, etc. Beers to drink ASAP, for me, are primarily low ABV and highly hopped. Hops lose their potency as a beer ages.
¹¹I recently retired a pile of rock concert t’s to a bin for my daughter to have when she gets older. How cool will it be when Lucia shows up in art class with an Archers of Loaf t-shirt featuring the hockey player from Vs. the Greatest of All-Time EP? Actually, no one will get it. I better just hang on to that one.
¹²Although, this does not always work out.
¹³I really wanted that vinyl copy of Gentlemen I found on eBay last year.
¹⁴Or empty the local shelves.
¹⁵Shuffle reveals embarrassing material all the time.
¹⁶There is nothing wrong with Nardy’s list. I am amazed not at just the breadth of his collection, but the depth as well. He not only has one Marvin Gaye album, but three; Led Zeppelin occupies six spots; and the Beatles – yes, those Beatles – provide 12 LP’s. I’ve seen it in-person. It’s quite impressive.
¹⁷I’ll get more.