![]() “ People now scroll through Instagram, see users showing off their beer, and say ‘Hey, I want to try that’,” says Mark Iafrate, co-founder of The Beer Exchange. According to the Beer Exchange’s guide to shipping beer, it’s common knowledge that thousands of people are shipping beer anyways by simply stating it is something else when asked (artisanal olive oil, anyone?). For UPS and FedEx, it isn’t necessarily illegal, but it is against their policy to send alcohol without a license. Shipping laws are ever-changing and somewhat complex, but here are the need-to-know details: It’s illegal to ship beer via the United States Postal Service (USPS). “Beer trading has allowed people to become friends with someone on the other side of the country simply from an affinity to want to try new beer.”Īnd while making a new friend thousands of miles away sounds lovely, it leads to the elephant in the room – the gray area of shipping beer. “People now scroll through Instagram, see users showing off their beer, and say ‘Hey, I want to try that’,” he says. According to Iafrate, there are tens of thousands of registered users that have traded more than 25,000 unique beers from 5,000 craft breweries. “The more connected we become, the easier it gets to trade beer,” says Mark Iafrate, co-founder of The Beer Exchange, an app and social network where people can trade beer. There are also regional groups, such as Beer Trade Chicago & Burbs with more than 3,000 members and Oklahoma Beer Trader with about 1,500 members. Other groups include BEER TRADE 4 YOU with almost 5,000 members and Beer Trading 101 with more than 7,000 members. The Craft Beer Trading Society has more than 11,000 members that published 700 posts for trades in 30 days. Facebook groups devoted to trading beer are in abundance. (A spokesperson said the site updated its content policy to forbid transactions on alcohol.)īut the true fuel to the fire came from the rise of social media. Until earlier this year, Reddit had been a prominent hot spot for beer trades since 2005. Websites such as Beer Advocate and RateBeer have seen trading activity since the late 90s. As the number of breweries, beer styles, and beer options increased and drinkers’ interests grew over the last few decades, the practice of trading beer skyrocketed. ![]() People have been exchanging goods and services for centuries. ![]() The concept is simple enough: Trade a beer you have for one you want or one that might not be as readily available in your area.ĭespite that simple definition, there is much, much more that goes into this popular hobby – knowing the etiquette, learning the language and navigating some of the legal and ethical challenges of trading beer. I’m speaking, of course, of the beer trading scene. In the world of craft beer, there is a thriving subculture that continues to grow beneath the surface, impacting the entire industry.
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