Too Much Inventory?

Dates don't bother me to get beers that are a bit "old". I do like to scope out any stouts that have been on the shelf for a year or more.

 

Very true - I guess it is important to differentiate between bright hoppy beers and imperial stouts / beers that actually age and improve. I found some Bells Expedition Stout from last year on the shelf last month and with a full year of age it was spectacular. much more integrated than fresh. I imagine a Zombie Dust with 3 months of shelf time would be pretty disappointing though

 

@Genuine I'm with you there. I see Stone RIS that was released back in March everywhere and it taste so much better with a little age on it so it's a great pick-up.

 

It depends what state you live in. Mass. where you have package stores mosy likely translates to the owners not understanding beer as well as states where stores sell strictly beer. For instance, I lived in RI for awhile and often saw old beers on the shelf in package stores but in NY where you have stores
Strictly devoted to beers they definitely pay more attention bc that is where their livelihood comes from. If you sell liquor beer and wine in a single store you might be less attentive to fresh beer.

 

I own a craft only store in a small market in CNY. I currently have an inventory of about 240 beers, because that's what my market can support. I do not have one beer out of code on my shelves and all of my hop driven beers are in refrigeration with uv blocking covers over my lights. I have several people weekly that come in and tell me how awesome certain stores in the area are and how they have over 1000 beers. I know these retailers and they are plagued with 2+ year old beers sitting on the shelf,including ipas. Unfortunately the average beer drinker is uneducated. Some customers prefer a store with more options regardless of freshness because they are not familiar with how age can affect beer. Hopefully with the rise of craft more retailers will do the right thing and provide their customers with a source of knowledge.

 

I agree, age is important and does have a correlation with expected taste. Don't overthink it....a good beer from a good brewery...usually doesn't taste like a skunks a** after the "best before by". I assume most of you don't drink milk a day after the expiration date. I'm a beer geek but I let my taste buds make the decision...not the date on the bottle.

 

A few months back I witnessed a customer at a store in NC tell the staff, "You should be embarrassed to have Two Hearted that old on your shelf." The age - 3 weeks. I remember a thread on here a year or so ago with a guy complaining because the Jai Alai he ordered and had shipped was approaching a month old. If you want the beer less than a week old, move next to the brewery or learn to like your locals. In my opinion, the expectations for distributors and retailers are becoming quite unreasonable. Don't get me wrong, I am certainly not defending out of date beer on shelves. That is a store issue.

 

Great discussion! I've learned a lot over the last year. I'd gladly take a fresh harpoon IPA over a month old ZD. Not a knock on FFF...I loves me fresh ZD...just an example. I've drain poured way too many IPA's so I try to focus on 1 month old or less with the Hoppy Stuff. That said I hate when I get "old" beer as an extra. It's like passing your trash along. Just sayin'.

 

Not to mention the clout that some of the larger craft breweries have with their distributors in buying year-round releases in order to even sniff the more limited stuff. I speak from experience, but the upside of this arrangement is the trend of sales reps venturing into places that were formerly craft beer deserts and stocking the coolers of gas stations, convenience stores and pharmacies with these flagship brews.

 

Actually i have noticed this more and more the past year and had never thought about it in those terms - the distributors pushing into new areas to shift huge amounts of the every day craft brews so they can keep their allotments of the special releases. I have noticed Dogfish 90 at the local Walgreens across the road, and thought to myself that it is great to have such good options within a minute walk, but I imagine it does sit a while.

 

Writing from experience, a beer drinker has to find the right bottle shop. I can walk into a dozen stores and find 'old' beer but I know about 3-4 bottles shops that keep fresh beer in stock and that's where I usually buy from.

 

True, and it should, except, inflation.
I bought a sixer of the January'14 batch of 2XONE last week because I'm a dumbass ..... there were 20 more sixers of the same on the shelf ....... the volume of out-of-code beer on America's shelves right now is massive. There are multiple 6pks of AndersonValley year-rounds sitting in my grocery store for 12.50 each .... there is no way that beer will sell .... do they just switch out the unsold case with a fresh-er one every 3 months? The better side is my local better bottle shop which for years was 40% craft and 60% BMC .... these days it's 60-70%craft, but they still sell near the same volume of BMC, but they just concentrate the floor space on the stuff they know will sell predictably. In that way, dead floor space with year old Natty has been replaced by newer craft distros like Allagash/CrookedStave/DarkHorse/Founders/Bells .... some of which flies out the door, but some of which sits quite a bit due to higher prices. Anyone think the margins in craft are due to narrow in the next few years?

 

Seriously folks?
Hey, instead of blindly demanding the very freshest IPA that logistics can deliver, why not stretch your wings and explore other [fresher] beers when faced with this dilemma. So the IPA at a pub is a tad over your [entirely self-imposed] threshold. Instead of standing around sipping it and bellyaching about how it could be better, why not choose the nice hoppy pale that was put on just yesterday? Or the porter for shit's sake--that's usually a good choice!

I swear, sometimes I think this IPA craze is an artifact of shops and distributors trying to swell the pants of presumptuous consumers who have latched onto it as a new skirmish in the Big Dick battle. I have yet to fathom what the fuck is wrong with a 6 week old beer that has been made well. If it goes off that quickly then you should be talking to that brewery, not the folks that are trying hard to keep your demanding ass in a tide of novelty.

 

1 month old beer is now trash. Jesus fucking Christ. My head hurts.

 

Lol! I should have defined those two sentences better. I will not buy IPA or PA off of the shelf if it is more than a month old...this is my privilege...making a choice. And, as a separate idea...I don't appreciate being sent old IPA or PA that is old/fallen way off nor do I send those beers without it being super fresh. I consider it courtesy and a contributor to good karma.

 

Less than 3 months for sure. Two years ago when I was in Chicago I bought a 4 pack and a bomber of Double Jack. It never occurred to me to check the dates. The bomber was less than 30 days old and amazing. The 4 pack was 90 days old and a total malt bomb.

 

I've found dusty World Wides in slow moving stores this way. Always a nice treat.

 

There have been times a bit earlier in my advocacy that I would buy some IPA's that have been on the shelf a while, I didn't notice a terrible difference but I did notice a difference. That's something I'm ok with. It's beer afterall, and I'll drink to that.

 

We get it. You got an old extra. The humanity. If one month is your cutoff you are going to get lots of old beer. Another contributer to good karma is not complaining about stuff a person didn't have to send you.

 

Totally fair point - If it counts, I did leave the store with fresh Zombie Dust and a bomber of Ballast Point Victory at Sea (new to distro in Chicago) that was a 3 months old, but it probably doesn't hurt (perhaps a tiny bit of coffee fade, but I couldn't tell, it was great) and it has to ship from CA. Three floyds is barely an hour drive away - I have different expectations of the 2 beers. The Zombie Dust right next to it was bottled 2 weeks ago, so I left the dreadnaught and took Zombie (so, I actually DID take the nice hoppy pale instead...).

Also, Victory at sea is $8 a bomber, and an extra month or 2 isn't as big a deal as it doesn't rely on fresh hops to be amazing. Dreadnaught is a $14 bomber and does rely on hops - without freshness I am not getting $14 worth of beer. A month ago I picked up a 6 pack of Bells Expedition Stout thinking that it was back for the winter - when I looked at the date, turns out it was from last year - I did a happy dance, grabbed a 2nd 6 pack and have been thoroughly enjoying perfectly aged Expedition for the past month - in this case age was a good thing!

I think the point is that beer stores need to understand what it is they are selling and treat it appropriately for the style. Particularly for big spend items like a bomber of specialty IPA which is $10-15 - that is a lot of money for a couple of beers so it is reasonable to expect fresh when it is local, and even if it is from the opposite coast it still needs to be decently fresh otherwise you aren't getting your moneys worth. Also, the beer I buy isn't going to be drunk today. If I buy a 4 pack of dogfish 90 it might take me 3 or 4 weeks to drink all 4 because it isn't a 'have one every day' beer for me. I am looking forward from my purchase to when I actually drink it, so the Zombie Dust for example that is 2 weeks old will probably be 4 or 5 weeks old by the time I finish the 6 pack.

Put it this way, there is a really nice specialty bakery in town. They do fantastic baguettes and other baked treats. At 6am when the bread comes out of the oven it is amazing. At 4 in the afternoon the bread I get to go with dinner is still great, and at 7pm when I eat it I am perfectly happy. BUT, if the baguette I bought had been baked the day before it would be sub par - it would be nearly 2 days old and I would have spent $3 or $4 on something a bit crap.

I have different expectations of the brownberry loaf I get at the store for my week of sandwiches - it doesn't have to be still warm baked today, but it does still need to be decently fresh or it won't last the week.