Good beers that turn fast.

I just came back from Bevmo I brought in my reading glasses and went through a bunch of bottles and dates. Most of there IPA's were well past what I consider fresh. It is truly difficult to find beer that is less than a month old. The bottle of sucks had a julian of 070 today is 150.Where the hell is this beer sitting for so long before hitting the shelfs. I am having a similar issue with kegged beer. I will only buy kegs from a store that I can go back into the cold room and check all the dates. First Keg I bought was a sculpin whenI got it home I seen the date was over four months old. It went back the next day. Sculpin fresh on tap is sublime!

 

As it's been said. Sculpin, Sucks, Smuttynose Finest Kind.

 

Probably started the turn when they got pasteurised at bottling

Lets take a delicate beer and cook it briefly, that'll really help

In the UK we need a shake up of how bottled beer is treated by retailers, sadly they are still wanting longer and longer dated bottles (18 months is the aim now) and refuse to refrigerate 95% of them, so breweries all have to accommodate the big retailers if they want shelf space.

You'll never get decent distribution in the US of good british bottled beer until that happens imo

 

In my experience, FBS doesn't turn quickly. I have a couple bottles in my fridge from the fall, and last time I had one (maybe a month ago) it was fine--maybe a minor drop off but nothing major.

 

Hoppyum by Foothills

 

I saw 4-5 cases of Nugget Nectar sitting on the floor at Total Wine. A bit late , no? Wonder where they found those lonely aged cases. If anyone wants malty brews here they are unfortunately at full price.

 

I don't mind paying a premium price for a premium beer. What really sucks is when you buy a premium beer at a premium price only to try it and it tastes like shit because it's old or been in a hot truck sitting on a hot loading dock in the sun.
We as consumers need to demand that craft beers be as fresh as possible and treated like any other perishable food.

 

Agree with others on ZD. It's not usually a problem because I can never find it to later be disappointed anyway. Hopslam too.

 

IPAs are the obvious choice, for most, I would say. Stouts can range from delicious to barely palatable if the aging hasnt gone the right way.

 

The can six packs have a Julian 5 digit date code stamped in black on the top of the top of the box. First 2 digits are year, last three are the numerical date of the year. Ex., today would be 15154. Bottles are coded the same way but are stamped individually in white ink on the bottom right hand corner of the label.

 

Duvel doesn't hold up too well, It wasn't great after a year.

 

Any lighter bright IPA seems to fall more quickly than a piney resinous Beer. Pliny, Sculpin, ZD, any IPA heavily hopped with Citra. The only hardy IPA I've had has been Heady, for whatever reason cans I bought 6 weeks out were as good as the day I bought them. I know these threads pop up and there's a lot of opinions here, but I think we can all agree the fresher the better. It's better fresh than a month old, better at a month than two. There's no magical point it dies, cans IMO are better, beers kept cold and dark last longer. Lots of factors come into play besides raw age.

 

Sahti.

A unfiltered, unpasteurized Sahti has a shelf life of about 2 months.

Almost every DIPA I've ever had. As well as aggressive IPAs.

 

Sucks and Two Hearted. Both amazing while fresh, but from my experience fall off VERY quickly.

 

Cigar City Jai Alai. This beer is amazing fresh but get a few weeks on it and it really goes down hill.

I think any of the IPAs/DIPAs with a big malt bill tend to turn very fast.

 

Anyone can make fun of the whole fresh beer thing if you want, but for me it is critical even now more so on certain beer styles. I can list you over and over again the beers I have purchased and consumed that were "less than fresh" and there is no doubt you can taste it.

Case in point, (I won't name the brewery because I truly believe it's just a blip on their otherwise stellar reputation) I just recently purchased a keg that was not date coded. Instead it listed a batch code. This is a special release beer that is made only occasionally and one I absolutely love and one that needs to be fresh to be best. It never sits around and gets bought up right away. In this instance I know it did not sit at my beer store since their keg stock is online and I peruse it pretty often. I grabbed it as soon as I saw it. Anyway, I take it home and from the first pour I notice right away the lack of flavor. Muted hop aroma and flavor, stale bready malt and almost no bitterness (there is normally a ton of drying bitterness on this beer). It's to the point that it tastes so "stale or off" that I email the brewery. Guess what, after I give them the batch number I find out the beer is over 6 months old, it's a 2014 brewed beer. It tasted NOTHING like it should, nothing after only 6 months. After communicating with the brewery representative, who was very apologetic, they are making restitution to me on their own volition.

So for those that continue to make fun of us freshness geeks, go ahead if it makes you feel good. All I'll tell you is to me it is the utmost important and something I look at each time I buy date sensitive beer. I've been burned too many times now and it's my money so I am free to make my own beer buying choices.

 

Colette, Great Divide. Even looked different in the bottle after a few weeks.