Beer on the shelf

If you always do the pick six and you always do it out of the cooler, why do you ever go to the other liquor store? Logic fail.

 

I would always pick a six out of the cooler so I could chug a few on the way to the car.

 

False. You want your IPA's/DIPA's to be stored in fridge to preserve hop flavor/aroma though. It fades much quicker when stored at room temperature.

 

"False"? In reference to brewers of unpasteurized requesting their beers be refrigerated? There are countless examples of such statements on craft beer labels and cases. Just because they are routinely ignored by ignorant retailers doesn't make it false.

Breweries, regardless of beer style (or even pastuerization), would prefer refrigeration for all their beers - not just IPA's and other hoppy styles - since it preserves ALL of beer's flavor components, not just hops flavor/aroma, and prolongs shelf life.

Take for example, this common "rule of thumb":

“Shipping and storage temperatures are important to beer flavor. Beer contains a variety of compounds that are capable of autoxidation if temperatures get high enough. In practical terms, beer that has been held at 100° F for two weeks will have the same loss of freshness in flavor as beer that has been held for three months at 70° F or beer that has been been held for more than one year at 39° F.”​

--- Handbook of Brewing By William A. Hardwick, 1995​

edited/changed Celsius temps to Fahrenheit​

 

When I worked in liquor retail many years ago, we'd cycle the stuff about to expire INTO the fridge because the fridge stuff sells faster - so sometimes the freshest stuff can be out on the (warm) display.

Caveat Emptor!

Your best bet is places with 100% refrigerated stock (like a Whole Foods) or places with such high turnover that the stock is always fresh (or out of stock).

Of course the simplest solution is just check the expiration/freshness. But... pathetic brewers still refuse to give us this.

 

I was going to say the same thing: I've often found older beers in the cooler while the fresher stuff is out on the shelves. Not everywhere, but often enough that I try to be vigilant about checking what freshness dates I can find regardless of where they are located.

 

Between the time it's packaged, warehoused, transported, warehoused again, and finally delivered to retailers, the beer is going through 3-5 cycles of cold to room temp and back again. As long as it's fresh I wouldn't worry about whether it's on the shelf or in the cooler.

 

Any beer, micro or macro, pasteurized or not, is going to stay fresher longer if it's been refrigerated the whole time. Just about all beer will experience some temperature fluctuation as it travels from brewery to retailer so just do your best to try to find stores the keep most if not all of their beer in coolers and check for freshness dates.

 

This is pretty much my view on things.

 

I only shop at this one store that keeps all of the beers in a lit brick oven.

 

Tastes like Burning!

 

Who buys beer of the shelf anymore? If I don't wait in line in the cold for 7+ hours it isn't worth drinking

 

Freshness is the main consideration for my choices. I can't believe that now, after hanging around BA and learning stuff, I now hit the TW with a small LED flashlight and my reading glasses.