Früh Kölsch Bottle Date

Still no answer from Früh and I probably won't be getting one anymore now, great customer service... Here's a funny little story about the German consciousness when it comes to freshness though.

A few days ago, I took a wander into Malzmühle to inquire about their best-by dates and if it was possible to purchase bottles fresh at the brewery. The conversation with 3 different Köbesse went a little like this until I finally got to talk to the brewmaster/owner or whoever he was:

How long do you set your best-by dates for?
The best-by date is on the back of the bottle.
Okay, but how many months is it set for?
The best-by date is until the end of Juli.
No, how long is set for so I can tell the bottle date?
It's good until the best-by date.
Thanks, but I'd still like to know the bottle date.
Why?
Because I like to drink the beer fresh.
*looking at me like I'm a madman*
Ask this guy *points*

When I finally got to the brewmaster/owner, he seemed genuinely impressed that there was someone standing in his brewery that actually cared about freshness and he proudly proclaimed that the beer could be bought by the case at two weeks old directly from the brewery. Please note that Malzmühle is one of the very few, I think the only one actually, Kölsch breweries where you can actually buy cases from the brewery directly.

The above conversation really gives you a fascinating insight into the German mindset when it comes to freshness, it's a concept that is completely alien to people around here. If it's within the best-by date, it's good, end of story. Keep in mind that most commercial breweries set their best-by dates for 9-15 months in Germany.

 

I've also managed to buy a can of Früh at Aldi at about 2 weeks old recently, which kinda proves my theory that you can generally buy cans of beer a lot fresher in Germany than bottles, which I already mentioned in other threads.

I think this is because cans are a lot less popular, therefore get bought in lower amounts by distributors and sit around in warehouses less. Kinda ironic that most Germans think of canned beers as inferior when they probably taste a lot better than their bottled equivalents at 6+ months old...

I'm gonna have to do a fresh can vs. old bottle blind tasting at some point, when I get around to it.

 

It's simply an old fashioned way of spelling "Köln", which was actually the official spelling until the early 20th century. I guess they are simpy trying to appear very traditional...

 

I just stumbled on this thread, so please forgive me jumping in so late, but I just wanted to say that the response you got from S&H incenses me and reminded me of the bullshit response I got from Shelton Brothers when I asked about the bottling/freshness date on the bottles of Kulmbacher Edelherb Pils. At first, I just asked how to read the code on the bottles ...

Initially they responded:

So when I pushed back and asked how I'd know if the beer sitting on the shelf in the small liquor store in Southern IL was fresh or not I got this response:

I am in no way a "freshness freak" and will happily drink "older" imports, but I'd like to know exactly what I'm getting myself into ...

 

Are you expecting the same Kölsch at the same freshness to taste much different from a can and bottle?

 

Well, it might make things more interesting to do a three-way blind tasting between a fresh can and an old can/bottle, but it would require a little planning ahead.