In what can only be described as one of the most bizarre yet most awesome social experiments involving beer, Esquire writer Aaron Goldfarb wanted to see if and when people would take random beers from in front of his house.
It all started as an accident, when the Brooklyn native stumbled upon a case of beer he’d forgotten all about. So, in an effort to clear up space in the closet, he sat the beer outside with the trash to be collected the next day, only to find out, the beer didn’t make it to trash day, but was gone by the time he reached his apartment.
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The whole ordeal got him to thinking: what if he sat out various beers, of varying quality and varying quantities, to see how long it would take before someone took them? So, he did exactly that.
He kicked off the social experiment with a six-pack of Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy, which on a hot summer’s day probably would’ve been snatched up within minutes. But, on a chilly 28-degree day, the beer was taken from the snow-covered sidewalk in two hours and 11 minutes. Round two was Sam Adams Fresh as Helles, which was taken in one hour and 35 minutes. The third beer, an Alpine Windows Up, sat outside for nearly four hour before finally being swooped up. To round out the trials, he selected the fourth beer, the coveted and rare Other Half 3rd Anniversary Imperial IPA. It only sat on the sidewalk for 25 minutes before making some lucky drinker’s day.
With the different beers garnering different results, Goldfarb figured he’d try a different approach and set up a “free beer” box, consisting of beers of varying sizes, types and brands. Naturally, the box got a lot of attention, with the first beer getting taken in only five minutes and the final beer, a bomber of Stone W00tstout, getting taken about three hours later.
The takeaway from all this? Everyone likes beer, but not all beer is created equal.