Bayernbiere Bought and Drunk

Check the code on the back label -- will look like this: L 045 R

If there's an "R," as above, it was bottled in 2018. Bottles filled in 2019 will have an "S."

 

Thanks, looks to be an S. For once in DC this import is fresh!

 

Also good to know it's out there. My local distro is probably sitting on his allocation... for next year.

 

Unfortunately, I believe it. That's really disappointing to hear but I can't say I'm surprised.

That's great that the retailer was sending back the old stock. I wish every store was as diligent. I can't blame retailers for not knowing how to decipher date codes on every import, but it's nice to know that some of them actually give a shit when they do find out the beer is past its prime.

 

Credit where due, this guy didn't take my word as gospel -- he checked out the dating on line (their own site, someplace he knew -- dunno) for confirmation -- as well as the 045 part of the code that said it was bottled on Feb. 14, 2018.

I think the real kicker was that no other stores in the whole chain had the HB Maibock -- except those served by this one distro.

I used to know a guy who worked for that distro, wonder if he's still there..?

 

If the 2018 was clearanced under $1 a bottle would you buy it?

 

Is this query directed at everyone? My personal answer is no -- I've had "aged" HB Maibock before; the flavor turns to oxidation and sharp, near astringent bitterness.

Besides, I can get Lakefront or Sprecher Maibocks (both drinking nicely this year) for $2 less per six -- and they were bottled this year, about an hour up the road.

 

Just to close the loop on this... I picked up some HB Maibock this week. Sure enough, it has a "L 036 S" date code so they are fresh 2019 bottles. The label on the box had a date of "05.02.2020."

 

Thanks sharing. Haven't seen it on the shelves in the Twin Cities yet, but hopefully it will be here soon. So that's another bottling code cracked: it was bottled on the 36th day of the year- February 5. Two months old? Quite fresh for an import!

 

It also confirms what I saw on the older cases that were dropped here in Illinois -- the date outside the case is best-by, the date on the bottles is bottled-on.

 

Whoa. Weihenstephaner's USA account just posted this on Instagram. Looks like the old thread we had for the 1516 Kellerbier is locked down but I'll start a new one if this is indeed making a return. Loved that stuff!!

 

Glad to see it back, but I have to say that I got a chuckle out of them saying the 1516 was 'new.'

 

Oh boy, I see they’ve jumped onto the hazy train with the marketing.

Nonetheless, two very welcome additions to the US market. Now next for their Dunkel Lager!

 

In the separate thread announcing the 1516 I posted:

Marketing goons go wild.

2 questions come to mind first: Will it be the same recipe? Will it be the same price tag?

 

Yeah, a very odd and vague post overall calling the beer new and pandering to the haze craze. Funny thing is, I went back and checked my review for the 1516 and, if you decanted the yeast at the bottom of the bottles, you actually ended up with a relatively bright and clear body.

 

I always wonder about these hazy lager beers. Apart from not filtering the beer, do breweries actively try to bring sediment along from the lagering tanks which they would otherwise not do with other beers? Maybe in modern tanks they do not so much decant the beer away as much as they filter it away (from a lagering tank), in order to get as much beer out of a batch as possible, so that by "not filtering" the beer they might bring along alot more sediment from the bottom of the tanks? It just seems weird that a filter would be the only thing standing between the typical beer drinker and yeasty beer.

 

Revisited the same retailer today and, low and behold -- newly bottled HB Maibock in stock!

Admittedly, when I saw the stack of cases I honestly expected to see the same year-old beer, but no -- new stock and on sale. Bought 2 six-packs in my gratitude.

 

Saw this great video on FB...for those who are unfamiliar, Radi is short for "Radieschen" or radish and these guys are slicing and adding salt. The guy who pours his beer on it says he's making "beer soup", whatever that is.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10155557920273014

 

I tried the spiral cut radishes with salt at Oktoberfest a couple times for the "when in Rome" aspect -- can't say I was a big fan and didn't really care for how it paired with beer. Big deal in Munich, though.