Anyone else think this sucks?

I went to a local shop this past week and told the main beer guy I was in the mood for something fresh & hoppy. Emphasis on fresh. He recommends the FW Union Jack (a beer I've had before and appreciate) and tells me it 'just came in' from the distributor. Right in front of him - I pick up a bottle out of the 6 pack, hold it up to the light, look at the bottling date and place it back on the shelf. It was over 6 months old.

I agree, it sucks.

Sidebar: After the guy finished 'helping me', I wander two sections down and found both Troeg's Perpetual IPA and Schlafly's AIPA both bottled within a month. While I love a west coast IPA, they aren't worth buying if I can't drink'em fresh.

 

except for the part where the 7 month old one barely even tastes like an IPA, and the fresh one is fantastic. just a minor difference.

 

Maybe I'm not being clear enough. I am not talking about what you think, you are not the target customer I was speaking of. You may very well be able to tell me after tasting a year IPA vertical which one was brewed in each month.

I am talking about non BAs. If the guy refused the shipment he now doesn't have that new beer on the shelf to sell, and who knows when he would get more in? Is he duping people? No, the date is right on the bottle. You guys do know there are IPAs out there without dates on them right? I'm sure you avoid them...but someone has to buy them....and I wonder who is.

 

I'm four hours from Green Flash, and the distributor delivers out of date and stale west coast. I learned that the hard way. Just grabbed a pack, went home, poured a bottle, and promptly poured it into the sink. Thankfully the shop owner was cool and refunded my money and informed me that the distributor will take rejected/out of date product from one store and deliver it to the next. Shame on the distributor, not the shop.

 

I've seen the same in Arizona.

One Safeway got a new craft beer section and I counted quite a few that were multiple months in expiration. The stuff was clearly delivered like that. We shouldn't kid ourselves, distributors want to sell expired stuff.

 

wo, wo, wo, stop the press dude, what's the point of trying to get our friends to learn about the good beers out there if we're the ones leading them to the slaughter? aren't we the ones trying to lead others away from the BMC stuff? It's us who have reviewed and tasted a vast marjority of different styles and brands/companies that should be leading people away from BMC stuff and that is the right and unselfish thing.

 

If a brewer thinks their IPA will taste terrible after a certain date and don't want customers drinking it, they should put a "best by" date.

The WCIPA in question was just a bottled on date was it not?

 

He may not have a "new" beer to sell, but he is sending the message to the distributer that old IPA is not desirable. I as a cook regularly send produce or seafood back the seller if it isnt up to par. While one bottleshop owner turning down one order of beer isnt likely to change the way people make or distribute beer, i believe that collective practice will send a strong message and in the long run, will lead to higher quality.

 

Fair enough.

What's the age cutoff for sending back? There are people on this site that won't buy IPAs over a month old.

 

Cutoff? Bottled 11/20/11. That was 7 months ago. I would say thats a pretty good starting point.

 

Even if people may not be able to tell the difference between the two, it can certainly change their perception of the beer. My point is a gut feel about a beer is probably better than the average craft beer drinker's ability to do a side by side comparison.

 

Right, my point was where does it stop? What if next week they get in six month old product, or maybe 5 month do you just let it in?

 

so... because you can't figure out "where it stops," IPAs should never be sent back due to being past their prime (e.g. @7 months, per this thread)?

 

i was being sarcastic. I guess if i had to make an executive decision, i would only want to receive the most recent batch. Especially if I were the owner of a bottleshop, where you separate yourself from the regular store by having the best quality in your respective market, which is beer. Save old batch run-off for grocery stores and gas stations.

 

If they accept something 3 - 4+ months after bottling (or within 2 months of best by), price it to sell. I'm not suggesting the store take a loss, but realize it won't just 'sell it self' and it's only going to get worse.

 

That's not at all what I said, my point was it is BA's opinion any given IPA is past its prime, the majority of the craft buying public may not think so. Otherwise that seven month old product would come in the store and not a single bottle would be sold.

 

Why don't you move? You got the golden handcuffs or something?