Bottled beer at restaurants

Where is the date on that one, btw?

 

I'll have to check that out. Thanks. Either it's new or I somehow missed it before.

 

he should have brought you a julian calendar and magnifying glass as well

 

how insulting. the nerve of that waiter

 

It's beer!

I love beer, don't get me wrong, I mean I'm on this site, so I obviously do, but really, who cares if they open, and maybe I'm not upscale enough for craft beer, but I sure as hell don't need a waiter presenting it to me for approval. I wouldn't feel good about it, I'd feel awkward.

 

I work for a distributor and with my 10+ years experience, restaurants have the worst rotation in the business when it comes to package beer, so I always order draught when eating at a restaurant. I would be reluctant to trust that a restaurant is serving the freshest beer possible when it comes to bottled beer, but if they show you the code date, that's a way to convince me.

 

Some people are over the top.

 

My Chili's always has Two Hearted on tap.

 

I wasn't being sarcastic. I just haven't checked out that beer in a long while because it always seems to be the same ones sitting there. Plus, it's on my mental list to revisit when I see some fresh ones, so knowing where to look will be a big help.

 

I feel like it's mostly a waste of money to get bottled beer at a restaurant, unless it's some rarity, or the draft list is terrible. I once had a really bad experience of drinking a Summerfest...that was from the previous summer, at a VA Beach beachfront restaurant.

 

Kinda like when they bring the wine bottle over and show it to you before they open it?

 

A restaurant has a responsibility to serve what they offer fresh, and its telling of the general attitude towards beer that past-their-prime bottles are routinely served. Kudos to the OP for being discerning, it's something that needs to be done if beer is ever going to get the respect it deserves.

 

I am very mindful of dates on my IPA purchases in liquor stores but not in restaurants. The problem is , what if you are not happy with the date on that bottle? How many 12 oz bottles are you going to make your server check so you can get a fresh IPA? And everyone assumes if they are drinking draft that it's fresh but who knows how long those kegs have been sitting around. If you go out you are sort of at the mercy of the establishment unfortunately.

 

Having worked in bars/restaurants for several years, I can say that kegs are generally stored much better. Between the brewer and your table, who knows how the distributor treated the bottle/can or how long it was sitting in a storage closet at the restaurant? Meanwhile, even crappy distributors keep their kegs refrigerated all the time. Plus, although there are exceptions, draft beer generally tends to move much more consistently, so it usually really is newer.