Jever - The German Pilsener

I like Jever every now and again but as others have said, it seems to be much pricier than bit/radeberger here in the US. If I'm going to pay $13 a six pack for an imported Pils, Weihenstephan is my first choice.

Stiegl makes a nice Pils too for a good price (I know, I know.....Austria is not Germany). Ideally I'd be purchasing lots and lots of Trumer Pils but unfortunately they don't distribute here.

 

Very lucky you!

 

There is a canned on date on those beers?

Cheers!

 

In my area (and all of America?) I only have Jever available in bottles. Those bottles solely have that stupid 15 month best by date. Utilization of a timeframe like 15 months is a travesty.

Cheers!

 

It's a shame that anyone think 15 months out is a best by date, I wouldn't buy any beer at 6 months old let alone a year plus.

 

Yup!

I made the assumption that the timeframe was 12 months and I would purchase beers that I thought was 'only' 6 months old to find out they were actually 9 months old.

I am guessing that this dating scheme is done at the request of the importer (Raven Brands for the US) but needless to say Jever (Radeberger Gruppe) acquiesces to this request. A very unethical business practice IMO.

Not every beer consumer regularly visits beer forums (e.g., BA) and they will be basing their purchasing decisions simply based upon the best by date on the bottle. I am disappointed in both the importer and the brewery.

Cheers!

 

As am I. I've also made the mistake of buying imports that were simply too far past their prime. Spreading the word about beer freshness is my way of combating this practice.

 

Ain't that the truth!

 

Supermarkets here always push for longer best before dates, a year is typical but some breweries have started using 18months for standard strength beers. Some are also 9months as well, making it rather hard to know how old they actually are as they never use production dates. It's one of my chief annoyances

 

And I am annoyed right there with you!!

Cheers!

 

I just had my first Jever and i liked it a lot! Very fresh and drinkable.

 

To the Pennsylvania folks (maybe other regions too), based on my and @JackHorzempa's observations there appears to be a shipment of Jever bottled on 7/18/17 hitting SEPA shelves, so if you want some fresh Jever go find it now. Unfortunately the price seems to have gone up some too... my case was $42, up from ~$35 about a year ago. For a beer I love and buy only 1 or 2 times a years it's still worth it to me. YRMV.

 

Can you (or @JackHorzempa) give me a tip as to where in SE PA specifically you found fresh Jever? I've only had Jever once or twice largely due to its higher-than-average price tag but I'd love to have a fresh one sometime.

 

A 20% price increase in just a year...ouch. But if that 7/18/17 batch is also hitting NY I'll definitely make an effort to find some as I've never had it before.

 

@JackHorzempa told me he bought his at Wegmans, which have many locations and probably your best bet if you don't want buy a case. @KOP_Beer_OUtlet might have some inside information about distribution. Many PA distributors will hold cases aside for customers, so you could try calling some distributors near PA-NJ border near you to see if they will help you out. You could also try contacting Jever's importer, Raven Brands, but I don't know if they are responsive. I think I heard someone say once that Raven is based in Philadelphia.

 

I bought my 6-pack at the King of Prussia Wegman's. Each Wegman's store is 'serviced' by local Wholesale Distributors so even if one Wegman's store has it does not necessarily mean that others will. Your best bet is to call the Wegman's that is most convenient to you to see if they have it available (also ask about the bottled on date to ensure they have the 18.07.2017 batch).

Cheers!

 

Randy, to the best of my knowledge Ed Raven operates in NYC.

I have sent him a few e-mails and his responses to me were hit or miss. My guess is that if somebody sent him a message concerning purchasing Jever he would be responsive.

Cheers!

 

The import selection at my local Wegman's (Mt. Laurel) is incredibly lacking. I think the only imported pils they have is Warsteiner and Radeberger. I'll have to check out the KoP selection sometime.