New England IPA - Release Only When "Ready?"

I would not say they don't care because I think they do. But yes, they also want to make sure their beer sells. I think any brewer worth a shit wants his beer to be loved, just my 2 cents but its sort of a reflection of their hard work and skills. If you are serious about your craft then you want to leave behind a legacy of great product.

 

This feels like a "problem" that doesn't need solving. Understand OPs point of some beers not being ready for prime time, but as others mentioned there is a simple solution. Also, more beers released quicker results in the local brewers prospering which benefits all of us.

 

I'm really excited for this day

 

There's already a lot going on with this thread, but since we're originally talking about a beer that was canned on the same day it was consumed let me throw it out there that there is something called "bottle shock" that occurs when beer is packaged. I have no idea how it works, what could possibly change chemically, especially enough to change the flavor of the beer, but I've seen it many times - tasting the beer from the bright tank in the morning and then later that day after bottling the beer tastes different, and after a day or so it returns to what it once was. I'd imagine in a NE IPA there'd be plenty of that going on.

 

I think another factor for some breweries, is there is some much hype and getting beers is not easy, when people do get them after waiting in line they are swept up in euphoria of getting them that day and fresh from the brewery. This is changing perception to "drink that day", when if fact they may or may not be better that day or two weeks later.

 

To make that generalization is not only inaccurate, but it is insulting to those of us that do put quality first. Maybe SOME brewers don’t think of it that way, but don’t put all of us in that category. When I was hired at Tombstone, I was told I could brew anything I wanted as long as it was the best representation of what we wanted to brew. I have taken that to heart and our brewery has done very well after 15 months with that philosophy.

Edit to add—— our cans, properly stored, have a far better shelf life than kegs for this style.

 

Weedy, could you please expound on this:

• What is the definition for "properly stored" (I presume refrigerated?)?
• What is the shelf duration for your cans?
• What is the shelf duration for your kegs?
• Why do the cans hold up better than the kegs?

Cheers!

 

I don’t even really drink ipas that much. I’m a stout fan do age doesn’t bother me. Just contributing to the thread.

 

Change "brewers" to "brewery owners" and you'd have a much more accurate statement. Not completely accurate, mind you, just more accurate. Obviously there is some overlap in those two groups.

Too competitive of a market to be screwing people out of money by giving them a less than optimal product on purpose.

Why would they have to "eat product" if they told people that?

Kegs are not magical, brah. There's some oxygen involved when beer is packaged in them as well.

 

When I say properly stored, I mostly just mean refrigerated. We go through a lot of care to make sure our beer is always refrigerated including in the delivery truck. All retailers that carry our cans have signed agreements that they will keep our beer cold as well.

For cans, the big drop off is noticeable at about week 6 for most of our hazy IPA’s. I know some of our customers buy cases and finish them months later with good reports still, but I don’t recommend that. Sure, the beer might taste good, but it is not as intended.

For kegs, I would say generally the same six weeks, but the drop off after that is much quicker.

Cans come to the brewery in a sanitary condition. Using an ATP luminometer, I typically see our test cans turn up 0 RLU or occasionally 1 RLU. Because of that, we don’t use a sanitizer or ozone in the twist rinser so there is nothing oxidative coating the can when it’s filled. Our cans regularly test below 25 ppb Total Packaged Oxygen (13 ppb is about average with the lowest can tested being 9 ppb). In a keg though, most breweries (myself included) use peracetic acid for sanitizing which is an oxidizing sanitizer. In addition, even with a co2 purge of the keg, I’m willing to bet that it is not purging 100% of the oxygen. Our keg washer manufacturer recommends 20-30 seconds for the co2 purge cycle (I purge for 1 minute instead). When testing small (15 bbl) tanks for oxygen purge, it takes about 20 minutes to be nearly oxygen free and then a normal beer transfer to that tank picks up about 10 ppb dissolved oxygen. So between the sanitizer and the keg likely not being purged as well as a tank would be (no way for me to actually test the oxygen content coming out of the keg washer), it makes a lot of sense to me why our cans seem to decline slower.

 

I agree with you 100%

 

Good distinction, Brewers: probably right, stakeholders in the brewery: don't give a damn

That's a really derivative way of looking at it, if they put a Best By: 12 months in the future then, in your words: they are "screwing people who buy it at 9 months out of an optimal product, ON PURPOSE!"

"This beer should be drank within 60 days, if you see it on a shelf after just leave it and pick something else. Eventually we will replace the expired product on the shelf with something fresher, free of charge for the retailer, indefinitely." You do realize retailers discontinue stuff all the time (2x a year in many chains) items that are not going through the register at whatever their desired rate is? If they encouraged shoppers to only buy their beer when it was 30 days or under, or skip, they'd be doomed. When WF or Wegmans brings in 40cs of Enjoy By, they get stuck with it if they aren't right on the money with forecasting.

You're really arguing that kegs AREN'T the best storage medium for beer? ::That's my cue to exit the conversation with a troll::

 

That's just not true. I know silent partners and majority stakeholders who are strictly investors in their respective breweries who are just as proud of their production quality as the men and women who brew the beer. What you're insinuating is that somewhere someone is selling shitty beer for huge profits, that's just silly.

 

When Trillium sold Never and Again, it was about two weeks after canning date if I remember correctly..... Between the mangos and hops it definitely burned. I keep waiting for some cans to be released on a cellar Sunday..... maybe it is now ready to drink after two years!

 

That's not what I said, at all, I'm amazed that's what you derived from what I've said.

If you want beers that are primed for consumption, 10 days after canning, then talk to a local brewery about when the beer you like is going to be canned , and head there for the release/ tap room and grab it, and condition at home. I like fresh beer as much as the next guy, but the distribution system in the USA simply cannot get beers on the shelf of grocers, and promise they are under 60 days from packaging. It's impossible, which is why breweries use 180 day or 365 day BB dates, to help with product rotation and inform people like us, who happen to care. Tons of consumers don't

No one is selling craft beer for 'huge profitzz' but I was stating that no brewery in the world including INBEV can afford to be haphazard with distribution and merchandising, and then swap out constantly beer that's out of date for newer stuff, if "out of date" is uner 60days old. Budweiser wholesalers are meticulous in their FIFO when is why their stuff, schwill as it may be, is often the freshest stuff in a retailer.

 

None of which seems to jive with your statement that all stakeholders care about is money.

 

This thread makes me want to stick a fork in my eye....

 

I will bite and take exception with your statement. Bananas and to a lesser extent brie are very intentionally managed in this way. I guess we are to treat beer this way now? I can tell when my bananas are ripe. Same with the brie. Beer in a can--not so much.

I agree with the statement said earlier in the thread that beer should be released and at a good time to drink it when I buy it. I guess I can't argue that if a beer legitimately the beer has such a short window as bananas. If so, you can have it.

If there is the potential for it to change/evolve (thinking predominantly big stouts), then great.

 

Just so we're clear, you wish to have stores not put out bananas until they are the perfect ripeness for you? And beer also?

And what does intentionally managed mean?

Are you also suggesting that folks who like beer one day out of the fermenter should have no option to get it that way? Why? To save you from having to wait a few days? And just how are breweries supposed to standardize their releases around when you think their beer is ready?

Just sayin'

 

Agree