A Man, a Cabinet, and Too Many Bottles

[Logan G.]

At some point the cabinet outgrows memory.

What started as a bottle or two for the weekend, a few standby bourbons, the wife’s favorite from that winery I was to sloshed to remember and the occasional “this looks interesting” pickup has slowly turned into something that actually needs managing. Not in a precious way, but in a practical one.

I’m not chasing rarity or flexing a collection. I’m simply at the stage where I’d like to know what I already have before buying another bottle of something I forgot was sitting on the back shelf. Same goes for wine, what’s meant to be opened soon, what should be left alone, and what’s been quietly waiting its turn longer than intended.

So I’m curious what others here are using, if anything, to keep track of their cellar or bar inventory? I’ve seen a few apps dedicated to one or the other and maybe that’s the better approach then say a universal…. I know with my cigars I keep a journal… but looking for some first hand feedback.

But maybe one of you has cracked the code on keeping it straight without having to sacrifice more brain cells.

 

[fast510]

I'm interested in this too; I used to use Untappd for keeping track of beers but it forced a habit and got out of hand, (never drinking the same beer twice.)

Curious if there's a similar app or site for whiskey/bourbon/scotch ...

 

[Godfather]

@logangrantgray

Great call out.

I use Cellar Tracker for wine and have for years.

Optical character recognition (easy to put in new wine), flexible cellar design (you can organize the way you want), good filter a sort options, and affordable, makes it a great app for tracking wine.

 

[Logan G.]

I'm interested in this too; I used to use Untappd for keeping track of beers but it forced a habit and got out of hand, (never drinking the same beer twice.)

Curious if there's a similar app or site for whiskey/bourbon/scotch ...

I’ve used untapped as well. Never reached your level of discipline, beer I’m pretty consistent in the same old thing…ie our local brewery and a few trusted standbys. But the liquor and wine is where gets complex. The wife was using Vivino…. But it’s more of a rating tool and it bombards you with purchase behavior…. Like let me get through a review and a description of the wine before trying to sell me some cheap bottle.

 

[Logan G.]

@logangrantgray

Great call out.

I use Cellar Tracker for wine and have for years.

Optical character recognition (easy to put in new wine), flexible cellar design (you can organize the way you want), good filter a sort options, and affordable, makes it a great app for tracking wine.

I’ll have check this out. The customization piece is appealing. As I mentioned above we had been using Vivino but it’s not terribly feature rich and is really just a sales tool disguised as a reviewer.

Appreciate the suggestion

 

[Godfather]

This has reviews embedded but no selling you anything.

I have an offsite, and then several onsite cookers, I moved from my last house where I had built a dedicated cellar. This allows me to designate location (bin, cooler), the inbound gives you simplicity by just taking a pic and it does most of the data entry, and then I can sort by varietal, maturity, etc when I go to consume.

I checked out Vivino years back when choosing this and passed.

I’ll have check this out. The customization piece is appealing. As I mentioned above we had been using Vivino but it’s not terribly feature rich and is really just a sales tool disguised as a reviewer.

Appreciate the suggestion

 

[Al "Shifty" Schultz]

At some point the cabinet outgrows memory.

What started as a bottle or two for the weekend, a few standby bourbons, the wife’s favorite from that winery I was to sloshed to remember and the occasional “this looks interesting” pickup has slowly turned into something that actually needs managing. Not in a precious way, but in a practical one.

I’m not chasing rarity or flexing a collection. I’m simply at the stage where I’d like to know what I already have before buying another bottle of something I forgot was sitting on the back shelf. Same goes for wine, what’s meant to be opened soon, what should be left alone, and what’s been quietly waiting its turn longer than intended.

So I’m curious what others here are using, if anything, to keep track of their cellar or bar inventory? I’ve seen a few apps dedicated to one or the other and maybe that’s the better approach then say a universal…. I know with my cigars I keep a journal… but looking for some first hand feedback.

But maybe one of you has cracked the code on keeping it straight without having to sacrifice more brain cells.

I mounted old wooden wine or scotch cases to the wall. Plus I have an old wooden wine barrel that I set some up on top of, but I've toyed with the idea of cutting the wine barrel in half and making it a cabinet as well.

 

[Al "Shifty" Schultz]

I mounted old wooden wine or scotch cases to the wall. Plus I have an old wooden wine barrel that I set some up on top of, but I've toyed with the idea of cutting the wine barrel in half and making it a cabinet as well.

But then again I don't keep more than a dozen or so bottles on hand.. except wines, which I keep the wine chiller full, the rack upstairs and the racks downstairs.. but some of you sound like you have "closets" full of bottles.

 

[Jeff Forrester]

I mounted old wooden wine or scotch cases to the wall. Plus I have an old wooden wine barrel that I set some up on top of, but I've toyed with the idea of cutting the wine barrel in half and making it a cabinet as well.

Very cool!

 

[Ron Dan]

I mounted old wooden wine or scotch cases to the wall. Plus I have an old wooden wine barrel that I set some up on top of, but I've toyed with the idea of cutting the wine barrel in half and making it a cabinet as well.

Dude, when are you going to invite us to the house? This looks awesome.

 

[Al "Shifty" Schultz]

Dude, when are you going to invite us to the house? This looks awesome.

Thanks I am seriously thinking about "hosting" a regional FE rendezvous maybe this summer.. (inspired by the rendezvous being discussed down Texas way in the rendezvous thread)

The house is just an old farmhouse, pretty basic and simple. Just me and the kiddos.. but I frequently host some decent get togethers.. had over a 100 people out here before, and a couple dozen is no big deal.

I'm kind of out in the sticks on a ten acre hobby farm so no one really cares if we have a big bonfire and get a little loud. I have a half mile of trails down in my creek bottom, for riding horses or quads, a small 3D archery range with a few targets, a 30 yard pistol range and a 100 yard rifle range.. (I usually only shoot suppressed firearms around the farm because my buddy down the road has a 200 yd rifle range and no one cares what we shoot out there...

If it works out, I'm envisioning a family affair where local FE society types (and those that want to fly in) are welcome to bring their fam..

I'll keep you all posted with tentative dates.

 

[Ron Dan]

Thanks I am seriously thinking about "hosting" a regional FE rendezvous maybe this summer.. (inspired by the rendezvous being discussed down Texas way in the rendezvous thread)

The house is just an old farmhouse, pretty basic and simple. Just me and the kiddos.. but I frequently host some decent get togethers.. had over a 100 people out here before, and a couple dozen is no big deal.

I'm kind of out in the sticks on a ten acre hobby farm so no one really cares if we have a big bonfire and get a little loud. I have a half mile of trails down in my creek bottom, for riding horses or quads, a small 3D archery range with a few targets, a 30 yard pistol range and a 100 yard rifle range.. (I usually only shoot suppressed firearms around the farm because my buddy down the road has a 200 yd rifle range and no one cares what we shoot out there...

If it works out, I'm envisioning a family affair where local FE society types (and those that want to fly in) are welcome to bring their fam..

I'll keep you all posted with tentative dates.

Looking forward to hearing more on this!