Oh, okay! I'll give it a try and see how it is. I'll definitely have to seek out a fresher bottle. Thanks for your help!
But they don’t do best by right. Don’t they do bottling date? So isn’t that beer at about 8 months old? That’s not great but far from horrible I guess.
There's been a lot of back and forth here, so just for clarity, Jack already provided the info you needed (the cans are different): @WCKDVBZ - There's a decent chance you'll probably still enjoy the Kristall at that age if you enjoy beers of that type, but I would drink it soon rather than hold onto it for more months.
I’ve recently come to find some beers that are quite old can still taste okay. Like you said, maybe drink it sooner than later but could definitely still enjoy.
Do I need a Native American code breaker for some of these German brewers WW2. Keep it simple please Deutschland
Yeah, the concept that out-of-code beer of recent vintage is "bad" or "spoiled" is, in most cases, myth. It's simply not fresh - it's not what the brewer intended, it's dull and lifeless, after some time develops a toffee-like sweetness (as noted in this thread, IIRC) and loses hop fragrance and bitterness. To accurately judge an old beer it should be compared to a fresh sample of the same beer. Unfortunately, the latter is usually not available (or you'd have bought it ). Well, at the risk of sounding paranoid (brewers' quotes on the topic are available on request ), some brewers, importers, distributors and/or retailers would rather the consumer didn't know how old the beer is. It's complicated for a reason...
Yes it’s been noted in a few threads now and I have actually come to find I don’t mind that taste, although as you stated it’s obviously not what the brewer intended. I’m gonna keep drinking old beers until I can find new ones.
Needless to say this is a matter of personal perspective but for me "dull and lifeless" = "bad". Cheers!
I personally didn’t find any of them dull and lifeless but I don’t really have any “perspective” because I have yet to drink any imports less than 5 months old but to that end, when compared to the American brewed German styles I’ve had, they didn’t stack up terribly. Flavors were a bit muted but it wasn’t undrinkable or terrible by any measure.
Hopefully fortune will smile upon you here and you will luck out and find some fresh(er) German imported beers. Cheers!
But using that example you're at the mercy of a wider interpretation of styles than what you get direct from an origin country. I've had German Pils from a variety of different German breweries; many can be different from another, but they're all close within style range. Unlike many American takes on German-style Pilsner that are very Americanized and share no resemblance to actual German versions other than color. And don't even attempt to compare an American version of Munich Dunkel to an import -- I've yet to find an American Dunkel that stands up to-style.
Incredible work, thank you so much! Unfortunately I was looking for Schlenkerla when I saw the title of the thread, but oh well
I’m not saying one is lesser, greater, or equal to the other. I’m just using the only context I have at this point to provide me with a (positive) outlook on drinking a bunch of really old beers. Whether the comparison is valid or not I guess will come with more experience with the styles.
Understood, and I'm just pointing out the complications and pitfalls of learning about beer and beer styles -- takes some time and deliberation.
