Tap Beer Freshness

By 'same offerings' I presume you mean the same brands, not the actual same kegs that were tapped last year. I suggest you ask first, then sample and compare. I'm less concerned with selection than I am with freshness.

 

Asking is really the only way to find out when the beer was racked into keg/"best before" date (info that should be on the keg itself) and when it was tapped - which only the bar knows. There are, I'm sure, bars that have had to same beers on tap for decades (probably some that have had Budweiser, Coors, Miller High Life or some of the remaining post-Repeal brands on tap since 1933). The same beers on tap for years was once pretty much the standard.

Heck, some bars even printed their taplist on the free matches they gave out (the 1940's version of a website).



Many customers want to be able sit down and order "I'll have the usual...", some distributors, where legal, give quantity discounts for the same beer based on either how much is ordered at one time, or how many kegs a bar uses per month, etc.

Not sure how sampling them is going to give you any idea of freshness without a verifiable fresh version to compare.

 

I can predict the taps at one beer bar here in town , they're always the same , but the beers always cold and always tastes fresh. Another bar in town has a massive tap list, they rotate a good many with a few dedicated taps as well. Sometimes they guess wrong and a beer doesn't sell, it might be on forever before it kicks. Both places have their lines professionally cleaned. The kegs are dated if your curious ask, at the second place it's easy the kegs are under the taps, the first bar I mentioned not so much the kegs are in a central room.

 

Like everyone else has said, ask about the freshness of the beer. However, also look at the body language and the eyes of the bartender that is responding. Much like in every other aspect in life you can often tell if a person is lying or withholding information.

 

Bartenders have reason to be cautious. Newbie beer geeks who learn a little information about beer freshness related to bottles/cans, like checking dates, often think the same applies to kegs, but there are more variables at play for freshness of a tapped keg than just the keg's date. A 6 month old keg kept refrigerated and dispensed on a high-quality well-maintained tap line could be fresher than a 2 month old bottle/can. But try explaining that to an know-it-all, suspicious beer geek in a noisy bar before they finish tapping their scathing review of your place on their phone and post to social media (Yelp, Facebook, Untapped, Beer Advocate, etc.)

 

Randy, you might be interested in knowing that AB states a 2 month shelf life for their kegs of Bud:

“Draft Budweiser has an even shorter shelf life (60 days) because it was not historically pasteurized.”

https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...eshest-before-date.294482/page-2#post-3965588

Cheers!

 

Yes. However, the vast majority of craft brewers are not making different versions of keg vs bottle/can beer (I know SNPA is an exception). I also think A-B is a bit of an outlier [in a good way] for their emphasis on freshness.

Another way to look at my statement above... Bar X and Bar Y are next to each other, competitors, and have similar tap lists:
Bar X: invested in a high-quality, professionally-installed tap line, is meticulous about cleaning their lines, and has ample fridge space for all tapped and "on deck" kegs.
Bar Y: has a cheap tap line they cobbled together, they do not clean the lines regularly, and sometimes runs out of fridge space for on-deck kegs.

When a customer asks "What is the keg's date?" the answer does not reflect any of the investments Bar X has made over Bar Y that make their beer fresher.

 

They clearly are not serving from the same kegs they did last year. That's ridiculous to think that. A half barrel holds roughly 124 pints, if they can't knock through that in short order on X number of taps they wouldn't still be open.

This isn't suspicious in the least, they found a mix of offerings that work for them and rather than put in the extra effort to constantly rotate, they stick with it.

 

I would imagine that they go thru the kegs like any other place and replace as they do. Are you assuming they don't sell much and their kegs sit and get old because of the same beer is always for sale? I doubt that is the case, I would think they just keep the selection simple but are selling enough to be rotating in new kegs in decent rates of time, give them a sample and see, if they taste bad you know.

 

Yes, how the draft system is maintained is a consideration as well. Needless to say but this is difficult (impossible?) to quantify.

Cheers!

 

There are so many variables in what you are asking, if you ever tried to follow up getting all the information you need before ordering a beer you would die of thirst and the bartender would be saying last call.
All things equal, I'd go draft. Kegs are kept cold and don't get light struck. Could the keg have gotten warm, yes. Could the lines be dirty, yes. Worth the risk, yes. This isn't like some unrecoverable issue here. If it tastes bad, send it back.

 

One thing I've learned recently (i.e. just last weekend dining out and got an "off" tasting Fresh Slice), is that even very fine or higher end restaurants aren't reliable for delivering fresh tapped/kegged beers or possibly clean lines. I think really that is only a fairly safe in a true high-end craft beer bar. Bottles may be better option at restaurants, especially chains, but also for higher end places as well.

 

Eli Cannons in CT used to write the keg tap date on their beer list. It is a brave move on the part of a bar, but I think they have enough turnover that they never got too screwed and it was a great showing of honesty to the customer. Sadly, this year they switched to the BeerMenu service and the keg dates are gone. End of an era.

 

So true, I think a ton of this comes from money and ignorance. I am willing to bet most in charge of the beer are clueless as to methods to keep lines clean, etc. I feel most restaurants are focused more on bottom line than quality. I have gone to many a fine restaurant and I walk away thinking it was average at best. It all comes down to education and management. If you know your business and teach it down stream you will be a great joint, otherwise you have a average place with people who are there for check only, care is not a thought they come to work with.

 

I would request a sample pour of the draft beer. If I enjoyed drinking that sample pour I would order a draft pint. If the sample pour was not tasty I would order the bottle.

Cheers!

 

Nice to do, but overall meaningless because the kegged date is what matters, not the tapped date. I think places do that so it seems like they are on their game. Tapping doesn't change a keg one bit - it is stored with CO2, and when tapped it is stored with CO2. It could be a week old keg, or a 6 month old keg, tapped tells you nothing.