Why are all the store bought beers Crappy?

[cosmo]

This seems to be more prevelant in the Summer and Fall months. They just turn nasty. Astringent, oxidized, chunks of stuff floating in them. This is the case no matter where I go; liquor store, grocery store, big wine warehouse store (which by the way has a huge selection of craft beers). It doesn't seem to matter if they are kept in the fridge or shelf. I'm talking some great beers like Lagunitas, Bells, Rogue, Sierra Nevada etc. in the Winter/Spring months they are great and on tap at a bar they are great. Is it that they don't refrigerate them in transit and they get to 100F sitting in the back of a truck or warehouse for weeks? Granted most of these have a long trip from the west coast to the southeast, but can't they put them in a refridgerated truck? Crap beer like bud light is no problem since it is pasturized and filtered. Anyone else have this problem? Is it just in Florida? Done ranting.

 

[H-ost]

That sucks.

But you are right, the beers you listed are from the opposite side of the country so shipping/packaging may be the culprit.

It sounds like there is a market over there for craft breweries if all of the "good" beers you want to buy are from the west coast. Open a brewery and solve your problem!

 

[krenshaw]

maybe its just the area you live in.. i've never had a problem with refrigerated and non-refrigerated craft brews

 

[Krovitz]

I've had similar issues in the northeast. I think liquor stores are stocking craft beers because they're so popular but have no idea they can't be treated like bmc. I have seen out of date firestone beers sitting on shelves when they specifically say to store cool and drink fresh. Another time I didn't check dates on a 6 pack of hop devil. It expired 6 months before I bought it and it was disgusting. They replaced it for me with fresh ones but I learned a valuable lesson. Always check the dates and if you know what it should taste like, bring it back. I have never had a problem returning bad beer. I feel like a jerk when I do, but for the price of craft beers, I want what I paid for.

 

[unionrdr]

Well,that's the thing. They aren't rotating their stock. You need to find a place with good turnover,just like brewing ingredients. I go to the local Giant Eagles that have good turnover what with all the beer snobs & wealthy folks around. Or a beverage store like Bundy's that does a good business.

 

[ChessRockwell]

I've had similar issues in the northeast

Me too, just this past weekend I came across a whole shelf of Ommegang Witte that was bottled in 2009, expired in 2010. No kidding.
You've really got to check the dates. I just found a cool website with info on deciphering hidden brewed on/best by dates from all kinds of breweries:

https://sites.google.com/site/freshbeeronly/

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

Sierra Nevada ships everything cold. Don't know about the rest of em.

 

[alchemedes]

Come to Oregon and you will never have a crappy beer again!

 

[cosmo]

Sierra Nevada ships everything cold. Don't know about the rest of em.

I love Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, but I have never had a good one in a bottle in Florida. The range from just okay to undrinkable. It almost always has chunky stuff floating in it. Kind of like one of those snow globes. Never anywhere near the quality of the same beer on tap at the local bar. How is the SNPA in Key West?

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I love Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, but I have never had a good one in a bottle in Florida. The range from just okay to undrinkable. It almost always has chunky stuff floating in it. Kind of like one of those snow globes. Never anywhere near the quality of the same beer on tap at the local bar. How is the SNPA in Key West?

Are you checking bottle dates?

The chunky bits make me wonder how aggressively you pour, or how aggressively you are handling teh bottles. Most all of that should be settled on teh bottom.

I was in the PCB area last month. Had Magic Hat, SNPA, Bells, and Stone.

All were in bottles. All were fine.

 

[Mongrel]

Come to Oregon and you will never have a crappy beer again!

Sadly, I have found some crappy beer here in Oregon. I'm looking at you Frankenlou. Fortunately, crappy beer is rare.

 

[cosmo]

Are you checking bottle dates?

The chunky bits make me wonder how aggressively you pour, or how aggressively you are handling teh bottles. Most all of that should be settled on teh bottom.

I was in the PCB area last month. Had Magic Hat, SNPA, Bells, and Stone.

All were in bottles. All were fine.

Even before pouring, you can hold the bottle up to the light and see fluffy chunky stuff either floating arround in the beer or a half inch of fluffy stuff at the bottom of the bottle. Now I check the bottles in the store by holding them up to the light. I should also check the dates. Thanks for the tip. If they were subjected to very high temperature, I don't know if the dates will matter. I think I have resigned myself to only buy beer between November and April. I sent a complaint to Publix Supermarkets from their website. I'll see what the response is if any.

 

[b-boy]

I was in a local place yesterday. They carry 1500 different beers. The shelves go to the ceiling and it's about 4 aisles deep. Easch beer is broken down by country/state of origin. The variety was awesome, but all I could think about was how old some of those beers are or are going to be before they're sold.

I'm thinking there is a pretty limited market for IPAs brewed in Botswana. That bottle might sit for a while.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Even before pouring, you can hold the bottle up to the light and see fluffy chunky stuff either floating arround in the beer or a half inch of fluffy stuff at the bottom of the bottle. Now I check the bottles in the store by holding them up to the light. I should also check the dates. Thanks for the tip. If they were subjected to very high temperature, I don't know if the dates will matter. I think I have resigned myself to only buy beer between November and April. I sent a complaint to Publix Supermarkets from their website. I'll see what the response is if any.

All the beer I bought while in the PCB area were bought from Publix.

The date will matter to how fresh the beer tastes but won't mean anything about the dregs. That would be more a condition of handling both by the store and by the consumer.

I doubt tempurature will matter much considering where I am coming from. In Oklahoma high point beer cannot be sold chilled, therefore IIRC, it's not even kept cold conditioned by the distibutor and the few beers cited that are available in OKC (SNPA) all taste fine, unless the dregs are stirred up into the bottle.

I don't personally have an issue with drinking the dregs but, it does change the beers flavor moderately.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I love Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, but I have never had a good one in a bottle in Florida. The range from just okay to undrinkable. It almost always has chunky stuff floating in it. Kind of like one of those snow globes. Never anywhere near the quality of the same beer on tap at the local bar. How is the SNPA in Key West?

I'm a bit late on the response but.... All Sierra Nevadas stuff is just fine down here. No yeast floating in the bottles in there Pale or Torpedo that I've ever noticed and I like a pretty rough pour.

 

[brewmaster12]

I'm in FL too and I haven't had any issues with the breweries you mentioned. What specific beers are you talking about?

 

[cosmo]

Mybe it's just a bad distributor in Central Florida since you guys don't seem to have the same issue. The only beers that I don't have a problem with are the belgians, Pilsner Urquell and Jai Jalai IPA (From Tampa FL). All others are virtually always bad in the summer, but great in the winter. The dregs taste the same as the top of the beer (like turpentine). I just had to dump out most of a sixer of Bells Two Hearted last week. About a month ago I returned a 12-pack of SNPA to the store since it was obviously bad. I guess I'll just drink homebrew until November.

 

[alchemedes]

I was in a local place yesterday. They carry 1500 different beers. The shelves go to the ceiling and it's about 4 aisles deep. Easch beer is broken down by country/state of origin. The variety was awesome, but all I could think about was how old some of those beers are or are going to be before they're sold.

I'm thinking there is a pretty limited market for IPAs brewed in Botswana. That bottle might sit for a while.

We have a place just like that in Eugene, Oregon. It's called, "The Bier Stein." I also wonder similar things such as how long those Japanese Hitachino Nest Weizen bottles sit on the shelf warm. Mmmm.