A Pox on "Born On Dates"

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McCall St. Brewer

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The "Born On Dates" ad campaing by A-B a few years ago has, IMHO, probably set brewing back 1000 years by brainwashing everyone that beer is better if it is freshly made.

Today, for the umteenth maddening time I noticed a batch of my homebrew that is postively OLD finally getting good-- only to also notice that I have less than half the batch of it left! Most of my batches take months not weeks to reach a stage where I am satisfied with them.

Call me a cynic if you like, but I suspect that the good folks at A-B found that they could save zillions of dollars if they could adapt the Japanese "just in time" methods to the manufacture (yes manufacture, not brewing) of beer. I suppose if they were to bring all the ingredients in just in time to throw it together to make their BMC and then just as soon as it is passably drinkable, bottle it and ship it out to stores, they would really save on warehouse costs.

The genius in it all was to so successfully persuade so many people that this was a good thing to not age their beer more.
 
I think BMC beers are made to be consumed quickly. Especially when most of it gets stored in less than ideal conditions.
I agree with you. My home brew gets better with age. Especially of I keep it in the fridge. :mug:
 
well, I agree that it is a marketing ploy on their part. However, I think BMC beers probably does not get better with age considering the amount of adjuncts they use. Not all beers and only to a point for others do beers improve I would argue.

But I see your point. I still have a hard time leaving beers to age. Cellaring big beers for more than a year? Oh, the agony. If it is tasty, i want it now. :D
 
Also keep in mind that they have killed their yeast, so there is very little left to improve the flavor.
 
It's amazing how non-beer AB has made their beer.

Rice...?

Fusel alcohol...?

Green beer being passed off as "fresh"?

August the 1st is turning over in is grave.
 
While I agree the ad campaign has set beer appreciation back, but that style of beer does not last long. I made a czech pils back in January and now tastes like Pilsner Urquell bought local, that is no hop flavor or aroma and heavy oxidation.
 
McCall St. Brewer said:
The "Born On Dates" ad campaing by A-B a few years ago has, IMHO, probably set brewing back 1000 years by brainwashing everyone that beer is better if it is freshly made.

Well in a way they are correct, more often then not beer is better when it is fresh. If you have a real hoppy beer or a high gravity beer then that is an exception but most beers that are in the 5% alc range should be drank quickly. A-B doesn't care if you know about all styles of beer, only thiers.

Milds are one of my favorite styles but they just don't last long before turning south due to the low ABV. I also brew a lot of CAP's and euro lagers last won't last over a year.

That is why I always brew a low gavity beer and then a high gravity hoppy beer with the same yeast, while I'm enjoying the lighter beer the bigger beer has time to age properly.
 
But don't they still age it to an extent? I saw a documentary with the workers shoveling loads of beechwood chips into the tanks. They also taste about 2 dozen batches and then mix them according to what will yield the most standard Bud flavor. My understanding was that 'born on' was when they were mixed and bottled.

I still refuse to get moralistic about BMC. It is what it is, and it's still beer. Are my burgers, made with ground sirloin, topped with bacon and pepper jack cheese...grilled over a mesquite flame better than McDonald's? Of course they are. But when you get a Big Mac, you know what you're going to get, and it is available all over the world. There's something to be said for that-even if it means watered down standardization.
 
I have a friend who swears by the born on date. All he drinks is Budweiser too. He is convinced that if his beer is more than a month (heaven forbid 2) over the "born on date" it old and tastes bad. I'm sure it doesn't store very well, but if its at a constant temp in the refrigerator, I don't see how any BMC can go "bad" in that short amount of time. He was also horrified when I told him how long I age some of my beer.
 
Edcculus said:
I'm sure it doesn't store very well, but if its at a constant temp in the refrigerator, I don't see how any BMC can go "bad" in that short amount of time. He was also horrified when I told him how long I age some of my beer.
I'd be willing to bet that, if stored correctly, BMC will stay good much longer than the expiration date. The problem is the brewery loses control of the beer once the distributer gets possession of it and they have to assume the worst. I'm sure this applies to small breweries as well.
 
Edcculus said:
I have a friend who swears by the born on date. All he drinks is Budweiser too. He is convinced that if his beer is more than a month (heaven forbid 2) over the "born on date" it old and tastes bad. I'm sure it doesn't store very well, but if its at a constant temp in the refrigerator, I don't see how any BMC can go "bad" in that short amount of time. He was also horrified when I told him how long I age some of my beer.


So mix and match a few Bud bottles to make up a 6pack of various "Born On" dates. Then give your buddy a blind taste test. That oughta stop him from talking out his ass about stuff he doesn't know anything about.
 
I've had day-one fresh beer from Bud at a special promotion. Say what you will about those dates, but that was EASILY the best BMAC I've ever had and I don't even like Bud.

Freshness is extremely important in macro-brews. Ask any distributor and they will tell you the same thing; they WISH it wasn't so because it would make life easier on them.
 
I've got a case of Hair of the Dog with born on dates ranging back 4 years at least. It makes for a useful tool in comparing beer from batch to batch and cellaring on the sort of beers that HotD is known to craft.
 
Edcculus said:
I have a friend who swears by the born on date. All he drinks is Budweiser too. He is convinced that if his beer is more than a month (heaven forbid 2) over the "born on date" it old and tastes bad. I'm sure it doesn't store very well, but if its at a constant temp in the refrigerator, I don't see how any BMC can go "bad" in that short amount of time. He was also horrified when I told him how long I age some of my beer.


Friends don't let friends drink Bud!:mug:
 
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