{beercakes} terrapin liquid bliss

Photo by Mollee Sullivan

I have had a bottle of a beer called “Liquid Bliss” in my refrigerator since December. Can you imagine having something with the words liquid and bliss written on it and not drinking it for months? I plead temporary insanity.

So what is Liquid Bliss, you ask? It is a Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter brewed by Terrapin Beer Co. A quote directly from Beer Street Journal describes it as a beer that will “please your inner fat kid as much as the inner alcoholic.” I could not agree more.

The occasion that got me to break out this beer was a batch of cupcakes I made for a fellow blogger, Mollee of Mollee Made. I had put a feeler out on twitter asking for photoshop assistance in exchange for beer.  I am clueless when it comes to photo editing and needed help editing a picture taken of me at New York Fashion Week. Mollee responded that she would be happy to help in exchange for my beer cupcakes that she had read about here on the blog. A completely perfect trade!

She fixed up my photo and I whipped up a batch of chocolate beercakes with the Liquid Bliss, topped with cream cheese butter cream and a chocolate covered peanut. (You can check out the photo on my about page.)

This little exchange got me thinking. How fun would it be to bake for goods and services? I have sold my beercakes for actual money and it kind of stressed me out. In both cases the buyers were happy with their purchase, but the whole concept of baking for money makes me anxious.

Baking for trade, however, is a whole other story! I always seem to feel better about an even exchange rather than dollars and cents. So far, I have made three trade deals with my beercakes and in every case I felt great about the transaction. I have traded for photography, traded for Hardywood Gingerbread Stout, and now traded for photo editing. I think I might just be on to something.

This idea deserves a little exploration and I would love to hear from you. Could I make this beer baking bartering system work?