I'm moving to Visalia in June, and am curious about how seriously beer freshness is treated in the area. I currently live in a town of about 500k people, and we never seem to have fresh beer of certain styles here. Many IPAs from far away will set on the shelf for months, unless they're the super popular kinds. It's not a total loss here, at least there are good IPAs to choose from. The bigger problem is with hefeweizens. It's pretty much my favorite beer style, but I have the worst time trying to get it fresh. Even 2 month old Sierra Nevada Kellerweis is stale when it gets here, leading me to believe our local distributor is to blame. Considering Visalia is only a few hours from Chico, and that California is a huge market, do you think beer freshness might be better there? What about Fresno? Or, because it's a smaller town (150kish I think) am I going to be stuck with bad German imports and bad Kellerweis, considering they aren't very popular styles for the region? Is ordering beer online legal in CA? It's not in KS. Would that even help my situation?
Ordering beer online is legal here. Some breweries like Rare Barrel and Bruery will even ship direct to in-state customers, but you can also order from any store in the US that ships. There was a customs issue for a while with international shippers but I think that's resolved. As far as freshness, it's a struggle even in the Bay Area and the Central Valley is not really known for its beer scene so it's likely worse there. You will find tons of old stock at Bevmos and Costcos anywhere in the state.
I feel like I never once had a bad hefeweizen in KC. Only issue I had there were skunked lagers, which is going to happen with product that doesn't move anywhere. What products have you had problems with where you are?
Finding fresh beer on tap will not be an issue there. http://www.pitakabob.com/homepage/beer/gastropubbeer/ Great selection of rotating taps (and bottles for that matter) and they do a great job of curating a solid beer list and bringing things to the valley from all over the state. Distro is getting better and better although for whatever reason you still manage to find the occasional old Sierra Nevada beer or Firestone Walker batches stinking up shelves. That being said I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. When you get into town if you have any questions or just want to grab a beer shoot me a message.
Seems like a decent place, however, I'm not sure it's a great selection for me. It's what I expected though, lots of IPAs, stouts, and other styles I've been bored with for years. Good thing I still enjoy those beers, because I'd still rather only drink those than not drink at all! I still bet it will be my favorite place in town to go for a drink. The food looks pretty awesome to boot. Are you in Visalia, or nearby? Sucks about old SN. That's really freaking disappointing. I'd like to be able to get Kellerweis somewhere that still resembles a hefeweizen. I wonder if they can more easily order fresh cases for me than what can be done here in Kansas?
Everything that doesn't fly off shelves like Pliny or anything special could be very very old at those bigger stores. You really do have to be hawkish about bottle dating. I once found a Prima Pils, which is one of my favorite beers, that was almost 3 years old at a Bevmo. I would say in most parts of the US you're going to have trouble finding good German styles or imports that are less than 6 months old.
I definitely did not have this problem in KC, but I do where I am now. Looks like more and more I'm going to need to rely on homebrewing once I'm there.
