Do you look for bottle dates?

I swear this latest $10+ six-pack doesn't taste as good as I remember it. I look at the date and is over 4 months old! I think this **** should have been in a clearance bin. I live somehwat remote (30 min to a decent beer store) so I am glad to have decent choices nearby. But this place gets new stuff in and it's already covered in dust, what gives?

Yeah, I always check the dates. I'm drinkin a Bells Oberon right now, with a brew date of 8/5/14.

I live close to there brewery but I can get it at Meijers. ( a local grocery store chain ) for $13.50 a 12 pack. ... it' always on sale! That's cheaper then what they sell it for at there Company store.

I've noticed Wal Mart sells older beer in my town.

harleybug88 said:

I'm drinkin a Bells Oberon right now, with a brew date of 8/5/14.

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Pretty sure that's the bottling date there.

I had a Firestone Walker IPA a few months ago that had neither hop flavor nor aroma. When I checked the bottling date, it was 3.5 months prior. Since then, I always check the date. I hadn't been checking because that bottle shop had always been great.

Speaking of that, how long can an IPA sit in your fridge before it loses significant freshness and hopiness?

W0GWT said:

Pretty sure that's the bottling date there.

I had a Firestone Walker IPA a few months ago that had neither hop flavor nor aroma. When I checked the bottling date, it was 3.5 months prior. Since then, I always check the date. I hadn't been checking because that bottle shop had always been great.

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Yeah! Your 100% right. I knew that, but I had a few brews in me. Kinda fogged things up a little.

Yes, unfortunately crappy beer stores will sell you old beer. Once I saw an IPA that was almost 2 years old. Wtf! I'm not paying a premium for that.

It also turns off ppl to craft beer when it's old.

I try to but I often forget.

I'll check if I'm buying something hop-heavy. On the flip side, I'll sometimes seek out something a year or two old if I'm getting a RIS, Abbey ale, etc.

Otherwise I usually don't bother.

I love finding old bottles of imperial malty stuff.

I guess it boils to to always. I sat in Costco today for about 5 minutes debating if 5 week old lagunitas IPA was worth it for $1/bottle. I decided it wasn't. Too old.

If I'm in a store I don't know, absolutely. If I'm at one of my local shops, I know that they are cycling through pretty quickly, so I don't bother.

jsberry said:

Speaking of that, how long can an IPA sit in your fridge before it loses significant freshness and hopiness?

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I am interested to see what others say about this. I generally don't make beers that rely on the hop flavour so have limited experience. However the few hoppy beers I have made seem to lose the hop 'smack' by the time the beer has been bottled for 3 months.

The beers remain good, but the hop flavour diminishes rapidly. I don't notice any difference between beers kept in the fridge and not, but then if they are out the fridge they are kept in sub 20C temperatures.

I usually check for dates, as everyone else is saying though its usually for things that age well..

jsberry said:

Speaking of that, how long can an IPA sit in your fridge before it loses significant freshness and hopiness?

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I think it starts falling out of it's prime 4-5 weeks after packaging.

jsberry said:

Speaking of that, how long can an IPA sit in your fridge before it loses significant freshness and hopiness?

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2-3 months is probably a good ballpark to drink it by for the freshest taste.

I have just started checking them more often. I got a bottle of Heretic Evil Twin that was bottled over a year ago and it was very bad.

I try to see how easy she'd be with a dinner date before I consider a bottle date. Wait, what?

I do check the bottle dates on the hop forward styles when I am in the stores that have slower sales.

sandyeggoxj said:

I love finding old bottles of imperial malty stuff.

I guess it boils to to always. I sat in Costco today for about 5 minutes debating if 5 week old lagunitas IPA was worth it for $1/bottle. I decided it wasn't. Too old.

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My Local costco has cut their craft beer section in half it was nice being able to get the big malty styles there. I think the IPA's took to long to sell and sadly had to be tossed. Hopefully they will change it back as the wine cycles out.

I'm sorry to hear that fuzzy! It is interesting to see the differences in beer selection from Costco to Costco. I float between 4 or 5 locations in 2 cities.

BarleyStanding said:

If I'm in a store I don't know, absolutely. If I'm at one of my local shops, I know that they are cycling through pretty quickly, so I don't bother.

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How do they cycle? You mean they only buy stuff that sells? Do they try new stuff? Do they discount it if it doesn't sell? Do they ship it to a partner store down the road from me to sell at full retail?

depends on what I'm buying, high gravity brews I'll check (the older the better..) and off the wall brews I haven't had before. We consume mostly Founders, Bells, Bridgeport (when it's around...) and the like, which rotate out frequently so I don't bother...

grathan said:

How do they cycle? You mean they only buy stuff that sells? Do they try new stuff? Do they discount it if it doesn't sell? Do they ship it to a partner store down the road from me to sell at full retail?

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One particular haunt brings in a lot of hard to find good beer, and off the wall beer. It seems like they buy in pretty small quantities because it usually goes really fast. They send out an email each week of what's just come in and what they expect through the week. They also will usually tell me if I'm buying an IPA that's been sitting for a while. Its small, so yeah, I think they limit their selection to what the clientele are asking for and/or buying, but they are beer enthusiasts, so they are always bringing in small quantities of new, different beers. There's another place across town that I believe is similar (only been in there once, but heard good things).

The local box store on the other hand, is a little more of a roll of the dice.

The store near me sells only beer. I know their inventory like the back of my hand, so when something new comes in I can spot it instantly. They have hundreds if not thousands of varieties and yet somehow they get old beer in new shipments. I should probably ask about it, but the owner isn't there very often.

I just need to be more careful next time. I figured because it was a beer they have always stocked and the fact that it was in the cooler that it was fresh, boy was I wrong..

I don't. I also don't drink hop forward beers. Honestly the last few purchases I've made were seasonal so unless they're a year old they should be on the fresh side.

i used to the not look for dates mainly because the place I get my beer from always had fresh inventory. One time I bought a case of flower power and was highly disappointed. It was about 8 months past date. The beer wasn't bad just not what it should have been. I talked to the place where I bought it and they told me to bring the empty case back I did and they gave me store credit for the price of the case.(let me keep the beers) So I def not complaining but since then I started making sure the dates are good.

There was a webpage that tracked which breweries used bottle dates and how to decipher the codes on packaging, but I lost the addy.

I stopped buying beer that doesn't have a date on it. To be honest, there are so many beer choices that I don't feel limited at all.

grathan said:

There was a webpage that tracked which breweries used bottle dates and how to decipher the codes on packaging, but I lost the addy.

I stopped buying beer that doesn't have a date on it. To be honest, there are so many beer choices that I don't feel limited at all.

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Yup. No date is considered "mystery beer" to me. I'll spend my good money on those that put a date on it.

In June I was at Savemart and saw an Xmas variety pack. Didn't sound very appetizing when it was 110 outside. Stopped shopping for beer there for sure

I recently bought and drank drank a 21A Hop Crisis that had past it's prime by a few months. Tasted like musty grapes and a little malt liquor-ish from the high ABV and the disipated hop flavor. Blech.

Bet you paid full price.

I ALWAYS check the date- I won't generally buy a beer unless it has a date, and won't buy outside of a good date. I wasted a lot of money buying terrible beer over the years that was spoiled, flat, oxidized, etc....

There are a few exceptions.
1. One of my local shops keeps everything refridgerated, so their stuff is generally good a little ways past the date- most places keep it in their hot back rooms until they throw them in the fridge section.
2. CANS!!!! I love cans! I have had IPAs several MONTHS past the date, and if the cans are refridgerated well, they have little to no deterioration!

grathan said:

Bet you paid full price.

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Luckily it was a single can and not a $10 4 pack!