How do you educate people about hops?

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by HuskyinPDX, Sep 7, 2012.

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  1. HuskyinPDX

    HuskyinPDX Initiate (0) Jan 23, 2011 Washington

    I stopped at a store today to grab some soda, etc. I of course have to cruise past the beer section. I notice a cart full of DFH 90 min and Old Raspy. The first thing I do is check the date on the 90 min. It's dated March of this year. Then I think this stuff must be on close out, the Raspy wouldn't be bad if the price is right.

    I see a lady working in the wine section so I ask her if the items are on close out. She informs me that they are not. I said ok, but you know that this IPA is six months old. She thinks for a minute and says, well it's good for up to ten months!

    I about lost it. I tried to tell her how hops fade, you lose taste, etc. Her response was she has been selling beer for 20 years, so she knows what she is talking about.

    Ok, it's your store, I say. She says it's not hers. Well, you are representing it. Then, she asks me if she did discount the ipa, would I buy it? Nope! There are way to many good beer spots around to waste my money there.

    Sorry for the rant, but how do you get this across to people? Is it even worth the effort. As a BA I feel like it is my duty to help educate the naive.
     
  2. WYVYRN527

    WYVYRN527 Initiate (0) Jan 8, 2007 Minnesota

    Rasputin will hold up for a long time. The 90 Minute might be on it's way out. As long as you explained it in a polite manner, there's no problem with your gripe. When beer gets close to date or is at date at my store, I close it out, usually under cost just to get rid of it.
     
  3. mychalg9

    mychalg9 Pooh-Bah (2,123) Apr 8, 2010 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah

    I carry a couple of graphs around with me at all times: One shows hop degradation over time and the other shows the correlation of a persons ignorance of hop fade to my personal level of frustration. Usually by the time I have explained the graphs to them the store is dark and no one is around, so I chalk up a win for myself.
     
  4. hoplover888

    hoplover888 Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2010 Illinois

    i would say it is not worth the effort, especially if there are way too many beer spots around your area.
     
    JrGtr likes this.
  5. superspak

    superspak Grand High Pooh-Bah (10,927) May 5, 2010 North Carolina
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    This is why I drink Belgians so much now, they are good for at least 2 years! :stuck_out_tongue:

    Regardless, I don't "educate" people about anything unless they are looking for recommendations. All of the stores I visit are "BA Certified" and I am cool with the owners and clerks lol :grinning:. If they don't keep fresh product, they aren't worth your time so forget about it. Ignorance exists.
     
    terrapinfan88 likes this.
  6. ShiftBeer

    ShiftBeer Initiate (0) Aug 9, 2012

    This is why I drink Belgians so much now, they are good for at least 2 years! :stuck_out_tongue:

    Its cute when Unibroue and some Belgian beers put best by dates on their beers. I recently drank a couple that were 1-2 years past their "best by" date and they were delicious.
     
  7. sandiego67

    sandiego67 Initiate (0) Feb 25, 2008 California

    I made a similar Youtube video. I run around with my iPad and show it to random shoppers at the local liquor stores.
     
    udubdawg likes this.
  8. mychalg9

    mychalg9 Pooh-Bah (2,123) Apr 8, 2010 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah

    I can only imagine the look of horror on peoples faces as they shield their childrens eyes....
     
  9. fox227

    fox227 Initiate (0) Nov 19, 2010 California

    It sucks, but retailers want to sell the beer, no matter how old it is.
     
    yemenmocha likes this.
  10. hopsputin

    hopsputin Grand Pooh-Bah (4,403) Apr 1, 2012 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah

    I find being polite to people (even who don't agree with you) helps a bit.

    Not saying you reacted harshly
     
  11. JohnB87

    JohnB87 Zealot (673) Mar 14, 2011 Michigan

    Well then, you should probably find it.

    No beer, or beer vendor for that matter, is worth losing your shit over, especially if you weren't planning on buying any in the first place. Just because an IPA is old and hasn't sold yet doesn't mean I should see the pulsing vein in your forehead.
     
    MLucky, crushedvol, albertq17 and 3 others like this.
  12. ColdPoncho

    ColdPoncho Initiate (0) Jan 9, 2009 Ohio

    If retailers would just keep their hoppy beers in coolers, life would be much better. But 6 months is still kind of screwy. I think this is one of those battles that isn't going to be won. I guess it's best just to buy your IPAs et al. at stores you know and trust.
     
  13. HuskyinPDX

    HuskyinPDX Initiate (0) Jan 23, 2011 Washington

    I tried to be nice, and approached it as an FYI. I guess it just surprised me because most places I shop at would either thank me for pointing it, or say that they knew, but had to try and sell it anyways.
     
  14. HuskyinPDX

    HuskyinPDX Initiate (0) Jan 23, 2011 Washington

    True, somebody did just send me a hopslam from January or so as an extra. I hope it was a joke.
     
  15. WYVYRN527

    WYVYRN527 Initiate (0) Jan 8, 2007 Minnesota

    Many breweries have a general time limit for their beers across the board. Not saying they are accurate by any means. For instance, Great Lakes has a 90-day limit on all of their brews. I know that many will have tired to some point in that period, but Ed Fitz and Blackout will both hold up longer than that. The latter holding up much longer. I can definitely see the frustration with a store still charging full price for six month-old IPA. However, when a beer like that is sitting on the shelf for that long, the distributor of that beer should give some sort of credit for it so they can blow it out, replace it with fresh product, or simply take it back at original cost. Most of the distributors in my area are pretty good about that. It might not hurt to contact the distributor that handles the beer, or if that doesn't help, contact the brewery.
     
  16. jzeilinger

    jzeilinger Grand High Pooh-Bah (8,847) Dec 4, 2004 Pennsylvania
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I feel your frustration. I purposely kept a 90 in my fridge for over a year and as much as I love my hops, I was pleasantly surprised by the nuances after a year, not hoppy by any means, but then again, this isn't a really hop forward beer. I wouldn't pursue the issue with a discount and just move on to something else.
     
  17. drtth

    drtth Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2007 Pennsylvania
    In Memoriam

    You'll want to have your discussion with the brewery. They give that beer a shelf life of a year. While its true that the bitterness from the hops is gone by 7 months or so, there's still lots of other hop flavors in there playing around the strong malt backbone as it comes to dominate the beer. And, there actually are people who like that beer with a bit of age on it.
     
  18. Homebrew42

    Homebrew42 Initiate (0) Dec 20, 2006 New York

    How would you feel if some random person walked in off the street, came in to where you've worked for 20 years, and started telling you how to run your business? Would you take kindly to that?
     
    MaxSpang, Ejayz, EdTheEdge and 6 others like this.
  19. cavedave

    cavedave Grand Pooh-Bah (4,157) Mar 12, 2009 New York
    In Memoriam Pooh-Bah Trader

    I think it is a noble idea to try to educate, but given the level of ignorance about beer in general it is likely that 24 hour days and 77 years avg. life span will be woefully inadequate.
     
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  20. strictly4DK

    strictly4DK Initiate (0) Mar 26, 2009 Pennsylvania

    Well she was right that it's still "good" but that's not really the point. I look at this way as along as we as consumers are educated to check dates, eventually that beer sitting on their balance sheet as inventory will affect their bottom line. At that point, they'll change their tune. If they notice of course, or if craft beer even makes a decent enough margin for them to care.
     
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