Out of Code Beer and Etiquette

Thanks Jack. I saw it and read it and liked it. Truth to power as he speaks of old beer still happening even with the best efforts to mitigate it, and he speaks of distributors cycling the same old case(s) back to him over a 9 month period. It's an uphill battle in which he's doing a very good job, but it's never ending and the burden shouldn't be on him or other retailers.

Was it this thread, or another, where it was mentioned that breweries calculate "sales" based on what goes out their back door to wholesalers (not what's purchased and consumed by retail customers)? That supports my theory that there is more beer being produced (and "sold" according to brewery balance sheets) than the market currently needs. That, right there, is the bottle neck in the distribution system. And so when the shit gets dumped on the retailer and the end consumer is impacted, that's a negative aspect of system.

 

Rob,

It was Shane (@Sixpoint) who pointed this out previously in this thread:

“…breweries don't count "sales" as when the customer buys their beer. Rather, sales (revenue) is counted when a brewery ships the beer to the wholesaler. 100% of the sale is accounted for at that point.”

Cheers!

Jack

 

Regarding the stores and turnover - by what I see in the bigger shops I frequent, this would leave very few beers for us to choose from in some stores. There are too many beers to pick from and not all of them can be selling through. I would hazard a guess the vast majority are not. If the store managers were "culling the herd" based on turns, I hate to think what that herd would look like... I agree with the premise, but fear that if it were put into practice in my area there'd be 30-racks of whatever and a case or two of SNPA...at least in my "second choice" stores and the bigger chain stores.

That said, the two "high end" smaller stores I shop seem to have a different approach to inventories - they may have a lot to pick from (ie, many breweries and many styles) but they don't have hundreds of bottles/multiple cases of any one beer in particular unless it moves volume. Those two store owners seem to have cracked the code at least partially, so to speak, but most haven't. They aren't going to load up on tons of expensive Maine Beer Company IPA's when they know they can sell out every can of Captain's Daughter each and every week, for example.

Using the proverbial "we", we want everything. Large number of choices, all of the "best" beers, limited releases and what-have-you, but then we want it fresh too. It's a seemingly impossible task to manage - I think it great that @JackHorzempa gave the shout-out to Stone who seems to be managing the situation in their own way. Also, I think @Sixpoint raised a great point - sometimes less is more.

 

Larry, there is no doubt that "we" (i.e., consumers) are part of the problem.

Maybe a 'good' way to manage this issue is via delayed gratification? Rather than retailers having a HUGE diversity of product on their shelves they could 'special' order the beer you (or I) want. You would not be able to just walk into your local retailer to buy the particular brand you want but hopefully within a week (or two) they could obtain this beer for you. As a consumer would you be satisfied with this sort of purchasing experience or would you only be satisfied with an immediate purchasing experience? Have you ever requested one of your local retailers to 'special' order a beer brand for you? If so, how was that overall shopping experience?

Cheers!

 

I am also interested in the answer.. is there a thread for this topic already?

 

Excellent question; not to my knowledge.

Maybe a thoughtful poll to accompany a new thread on this topic?

Would you be willing to start this thread since you came up with idea?

Cheers!

 

On the other hand, if despite the current fad one doesn't like the "grassy" taste of many modern American IPA, letting them "sit around" actually makes them better.
It all depends on what you like.

 

To me, it's up to the brewer to put a reasonable "best by" date on their product and for the retailers to make sure they aren't selling anything past that. Nothing pisses me off more as a consumer than to get my purchase home and realize it's past the best by date. I know I could do a better job checking in the store itself, but I feel like an a-hole turning over six packs, potentially dropping cans out of them, searching for hard-to-read dates stamped on bottles in dimly lit stores, etc. I don't need straight from the brewery, week-old product -- just something that still tastes like it was intended to.

 

We are drifting from the original topic a bit, but no. I have not tried it, but it would be interesting with a retailer willing to co-operate. It isn't the same as "when it comes in hold BCBS for me". It's more like the old Western Auto or Sears where you filled out your order, then picked it up at the local branch office a week or two later (before Amazon Prime drone drops on your steps in 12 hours...another symptom of the same thing). I'm never in that much of a hurry, and if I do want something immediately, there are a bunch of good breweries within easy driving distance, including my kitchen. (You know I am a proponent of the good local brewery, and I think that concept can extend further as the industry continues to polarize). I'd have no problem waiting even a month or two for an order.

Anyhow... My favorite store has the easiest policy - nobody is special, so don't ask any favors. Everything goes on the shelf - somewhere (and that is key) and everybody has the same opportunity (yeah - I know the whine but I have to work and somebody got my beer first because I can't afford to hire the poverty stricken to mule beer for me). Basically the owner knows that too and says tough titties. But he also handed me a bottle of MBC Lunch one day, and pointed out where his on the shelf but ever so slightly obscured stash of Allagash 350's sits. And that is a perfect example - he only gets a couple six packs of them, which is what he knows he can sell. Point is, same rules apply for all, inventories of an individual beer are short and if you miss the "window" you are SOL, but there is damned little stale beer on his shelves.

I did have one store tell me they could get an Allagash brewery only release for me "no sweat"...the beer manager was like a mosquito and continually asking "what do you want", so I told him knowing the answer. Yeah - I guess I can be a bit of a punk sometimes. And he still insisted "no problem...I'll have it in a couple of weeks"...so when I showed up and said where's my Allagash he had learned the correct answer!

 

And nothing is more local than your kitchen!!

Cheers!

P.S. Did you take the poll yet on the other thread: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/ordering-specific-brands.388973/

 

I suppose. I'm happy to tell lay-people, "drink what you like," but I love battling beer nerds.

To me it's almost like, "you could eat this really fresh loaf of bread that just came from the bakery OR you could let it sit on your counter for a few days to get stale and then eat it." You might enjoy eating the stale bread and it won't be bad per se but it's not the way it was intended to be eaten and the people who are true to bakers craft will eat it fresh.

 

I get it, and I see your point. It's just that I've always personally been more partial to the traditional well aged IPA (and traditionally well aged strong ales/beers in general). I totally get it that American IPA is more about the fresh hop character that is popular these days and timely consumption is key to that. When done right, I do also enjoy those as well.
It's all good.

 

"The shelf life of craft beer is a complicated topic. [Brand x] beer will never “spoil,” however, all beer does change over time, and the rate of change is influenced by things such as temperature and handling practices.

Furthermore, some styles of beer change more rapidly and more dramatically than others, even under ideal storage conditions. For example, flavors and aromas derived from hops tend to change most dramatically, so hop-centric beers typically age less gracefully than malt centric beers. However, some people prefer older beer to fresh beer, and some people can’t tell the difference at all.

Most [brand x] beers have a shelf life of 6 months. This means that, ideally, they should not be sold more than 6 months after their bottling date, which is printed on each bottle below and parallel with the label. We feel that while these brands may still meet our quality standards after 6 months, they become less and less reliable as they get older.

Some [brand x] beers hold up better over time. Most of these brands, in fact, can be aged for years and still maintain what most people see as positive aroma and flavor development. The 12 month shelf life for these brands is simply to indicate that once they get older than 12 months, they should be clearly marked as “vintage” so that the consumer can differentiate between vintage and fresh beer.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me."

I pulled this directly from the shelf life guide of a reputable mid-size craft brewery I distribute. I omitted the name so as not to single out one brewery, but be assured that many breweries adopt similar policies. Listed on the sheet were many IPAs and hop forward brands that many of you would not buy outside of 2-3 months. I post it to give you guys an idea of the attitude many breweries (and consequently their distributors) adopt concerning beer freshness. These beers are not considered out of code until they reach 6 months is age, and as a result the distributor will not pull them from the warehouse until then, and often won't pull from retail until then either.

If your idea of "fresh" differs from this, then it's your prerogative to seek beer within your preferences. Communicate well with your retailer and hope that they in turn communicate your desires to the distributor. Realize that a distributor may have pallets of beer that is not within your freshness preferences, but well within code. They will not restock until that supply runs out. That means it could take quite a bit longer than 1-2 weeks to special order a case that suits your preferences.

I don't expect the average craft consumer to want to jump through all these hoops. They will likely want to take the easy route; walking into a store and walking out with an impulse purchase.

 

Here's the man himself enjoying his own "stale bread."

 

The same man who also writes, "Drink this beer immediately" on the can and like everyone's new favorite brewer Lauren Grimm says, "Hops are flowers after all, and their volatile aromatics quickly fade." Then again, these gentleman drink a year old topper and don't seem to hate it.

Like I say to my Bud Light drinking friends, "drink what you like," so if you don't like fresh hops then drink IPAs and APAs when those flavors have fizzled out.

 

That's been my point all along. Find out where your preferences lie and then drink according to them.

You seem to have taken a pretty hard 180 though. Earlier you were really pushing the über fresh agenda, which is your personal preference and may not be someone else's.

 

A beer that is more than 9 months old is out of code.

 

In my experience distributor and brewery reps very rarely check beers for being out of date and just rather check what brands of beer that we are stocking. It is nearly entirely up to the individual store to keep a good grasp on their out of date beers.

As a sidenote what I used to do was go around the store and check every single, 6 pack and case of beer to see if any of them were out of date. And if any were within 3 months or closer of the out of date code on the beer that I would make a note of them to know at what stage I needed to clear them and how much discount I needed to apply.

 

Quite simply the blame falls on the shoulders of the brewery warehouse for brewing too much of the product to sell and not getting sufficient promotions out there to sell it and also having a competitive price.

It is never the fault of the distribution warehouse as they are only holding the product for the decision of the brewery warehouse to brew it all.

Whilst regarding the consumers, they can only form part of this equation where the brewery warehouse has provided a sufficient promotion of the beer or sold it at a competitive price.