Saving Beer Bottles: Makes for a Hard Move

I just moved into a new apartment this weekend and didn't realize the amount of beer items that I actually had. Glasses, posters, bottles, bottle openers, wooden signs, growlers, glass stands, the list goes on and on. I managed to part with some of the collection, like most of my Alexander Keith swag. When I first started drinking beer I dove head first into Keiths, collecting memorabilia as I went and yesterday I could have filled a pub with all the stuff. I have a ton of stuff from some of the OCbrewers that I can't part with though.

But what I really need to scale back on it my collection of beer bottles. It turns out (without me even realizing it) that I save every bottle of beer that I throughouly enjoy and every growler that I have ever come across. My fiance gave me the evil eye as I started to unpack the boxes and load the bottles on the kitchen counter, so I knew I had better act quickly and discard some. I don't know why I had empty bottles of Robert Simpson or Old Speckled Hen, but I made the homeless guy down on the corner a little happier when I unloaded a box of empties on him.

It's a hard decision. I think every beer geek has battled with this dilemma sometime or another. What bottles do you keep? Which to you toss? Is it based on availability? Taste? Design? Stephen Beaumont once warned me about this and I should have listened.

I had a friend helping me load all my worldy possessions into the back of the moving van and he commented that every box he seemed to move had glass in it. I have a growing collection of pint glasses, snifters, tulips, pilsner glasses, jugs, pitchers and thunder mugs from past brewery tours or events. I have enough that we don't have to buy any glassware for the place and wouldn't have to even if we broke half of them. Again, my fiance rolled her eyes and commented how the apartment was already starting to look like a beer museum.

I stood my ground, sucked in my gut and boldy stated that 'beer' is my hobby and she should support it. I'll let you know when my black eye fully heals. Just joking. The move is done, the place is starting to shape up, so time for a beer. Only this time I am going to get rid of the bottle; unless I absolutely love the beer.