quality control issues in commercial beer

I'm only 23, so I don't have a huge dearth of experience, but I've drank a decent number of beers and one thing I've really come to notice is that a lot of breweries seem to have some pretty major quality control issues. Maybe it's not on their end, perhaps it's the distributor or retailer, but I've noticed that many pale ales or IPAs really taste like garbage sometimes. Repeat offenders are sierra nevada, hazed and infused, and loose cannon. Sometimes they taste great. Other times, though, they taste like cardboard. I tend to stick to buying maltier beers now because the taste is way more consistent.

What's the deal? I know freshness is an issue but I've checked the dates sometimes, and they should be fine. Other times, they have been past due though. There's nothing worse than buying a six pack of bad beer. Once my pipeline is reestablished I can forget about the issue for the time being, but it's inevitable that I will have to turn to a supermarket for beer eventually.

I find that my pallet is usually to blame. Yes, I have noticed changes over the years in some beers but rarely case to case. Think of it like this.... A wheat beer taste awesome on a hot summer day but on a cold January night it'll taste like crap to me. Also depends on what I've been eating etc.... There very well may be some issues with the distribution process, who knows? Sierra Nevada has never been a favorite of mine, but I've never had a bad Clipper City from the bottle. Of course from the tap....they have no control over that.

+1 on Sierra Nevada. I've always found their pale ale and IPAs to be hit or miss. But they're maltier Tumbler is always right on the money!

If I get a bad six pack, I'll take it back. Most liquor stores will swap it for something else. Although, one time I returned a pack of beer after opening one and found the beer was cooked (probably stored at too high a temp for too long). When I went back to the same liquor store a week later, there were the remaining 5 that I returned, back on the shelf!

Ernst-Haeckel said:

+1 on Sierra Nevada. I've always found their pale ale and IPAs to be hit or miss. But they're maltier Tumbler is always right on the money!

If I get a bad six pack, I'll take it back. Most liquor stores will swap it for something else. Although, one time I returned a pack of beer after opening one and found the beer was cooked (probably stored at too high a temp for too long). When I went back to the same liquor store a week later, there were the remaining 5 that I returned, back on the shelf!

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Ha that's unfortunate. Kwik-E-Mart policy right there.

I don't think it's my palate. Anyone would notice this taste difference. I'm not a snob and this is too hard to miss. I'm going to start returning bad cases from now on.

I don't think its so much bad quality control at the brewery as it is bad storage/location in the liquor stores. I've been in stores that have beer sitting in direct sunlight...

IffyG said:

I don't think its so much bad quality control at the brewery as it is bad storage/location in the liquor stores. I've been in stores that have beer sitting in direct sunlight...

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+1 on this. I have friend that ones a brew pub. A couple years ago he contracted with a wholesaler. This summer he told me some stories about the ignorance out there on how to handle beer. There were stores that would stack the beer in front of the storefront window essentially cooking the beer, other places that would leave it in the back by the furnace and others that never rotated stock.

I've had the same issues with Sierra Nevada's PA, it really seems to be hit or miss for me lately. I also had a six pack of Mirror Pond from Deschutes that tasted off, not enough bitterness and something else that was just...off. I blame my pallet for the Deschutes but I've had problems with the SNPA too many times, though I certainly don't blame the brewery.

It could also be the store. I used to work at a beer store that had a fairly large selection of quality beers and there were some beers that were there before I started working there and were still there when I left 3 years later. And these are sitting out on the shelves in the light and they didn't control the temperature in that store all that well. Who knows how long some of those beers have been sitting in the store.

that's why i only drink bud...always the same

(j/k)

I would second "it's the store".

There's one here in town that has Lakefront IPA. I love that beer, but won't buy from them. They're notorious for putting the beer in the cooler, then moving it to the shelf, then putting it back in the cooler, rinse and repeat.

I've definitely had a skunk SNPA on more than one occasion.

But if it's the store's issue why are there a fair number of us saying SNPA has had issues?

The last SNPA I had that was bad was from a store that had just opened and gotten their inventory the week before.

Goocher said:

I've definitely had a skunk SNPA on more than one occasion.

But if it's the store's issue why are there a fair number of us saying SNPA has had issues?

The last SNPA I had that was bad was from a store that had just opened and gotten their inventory the week before.

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I wonder this myself. Just the past week I got a sixer of SNPA while visiting my sister outside of Washington DC and they definitely tasted off. I figured it was a rare occasion but now that I see this thread, can't help but wonder how often this is.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but hoppier beers are more prone to skunking. If this is true, it would make sense that there would be more complaints regarding skunked SNPA as its one of the most popular pale ales around.

Commercial brewers are going for uniformity in their products and I can't imagine they let anything out into the wild that doesn't meet there expectations. Once it's in the distributor's and retailers hands all bets are off.

I think the reason you get the problem with a beer like SNPA so often is because it's produced in the largest quantities. Like someone else mentioned, some stores/distributors do not rotate their stock as often as they should, so they could be putting cases out on the shelf that have been sitting in storage for the past year.

It's easier to distinguish with other releases. If you see a 6 pack of Celebration Ale in March, you know it's way past it's prime and don't buy it, but you can't really tell with the Pale Ale. That's why I'm appreciative of breweries that put bottling dates on their bottles.