What happens to 'old' beer?

Check this out for some insights.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/what-happens-to-old-beer.102720/

 

So many posters on that thread that I remember, and don't see posting anymore.

 

Not to stray from the OP but: What happens to old B/A members when they expire?
Despite the what the song states, I believe there IS beer in heaven. Or it wouldn't be heaven!

 

Old beers are not returned to Wholesale Distributors by my local beer retailers but instead they just ‘clog’ the shelves and thereby keep fresh product from being there.

@Alefflicted works in the beer retail industry as I understand it. Maybe he can provide additional insight here.

Cheers!

 

They are shipped to the Oregon Coast

 

Many years ago when I ran a store that sold beer, my distributor took back expired beer, destroyed it, and wrote it off. Granted, I was a big account, but it seems reasonable. On a side note, I always keep some old IPAs around. They're great to give to visitors who don't know when to leave.

 

LOL

 

OP they usually remove any date codes and toss back into the mix 6 area...

 

Or they don't remove the date codes before tossing them into the mix 6 area...

 

Or they're shipped to Iowa...

 

Some places mark them down. As if 3-4 bucks off a 2 y/o bomber/4 pk of DIPA is a good deal (just one example I've seen). Tricky tho', and probably works wonders on the uninitiated.

 

Old beers end up at my local Fine Fare supermarket where they are overpriced and I guess people buy them...Not me.

 

They get put on clearance.

 

John, I have zero recollection of what you are mentioning here. I can state that I personally never have an issue with 'old' Sly Fox beer at my local beer retailers. In contrast there is plenty (too much) 'old' Sierra Nevada beers at my local beer retailers. I have tagged both Bill and Terence about this in numerous BA posts but the status quo exists in this regard.

Cheers!

@SierraTerence

 

After it's written off, "disposed of" sometimes means "called my buddy to get his ass over here with his truck"...

 

I think it was the SlyFox 113 IPA that was bottled in bombers. I think all the bombers were being sold for $1-2 each and were out of date. I think you had to buy a case at a time.

Enjoy

 

There is no 'writing off'.

The hard truth is, in some areas at least those breweries that you are wanting to support bear the entire brunt of this. The distributor gets a credit, yes. Pretty much 100%, they are off the hook. The brewery then pays to have it shipped back to them, and then either pays to have it crushed and destroyed by a larger brewery or other facility that has the capability to do this (dumping beer on a large scale is an incredibly costly and time-consuming endeavor, and crushing requires special equipment) or they pay yet again to have it shipped somewhere else to be destroyed by a facility that will turn it into a product such as usable ethanol fuel. Either way it is all accounted for by barrelage and destroyed under watchful eyes because of legal accountability and the taxes that may be avoided.

Next time you turn your nose up (not you particularly John_M, all of us) at a beer that is maybe a couple weeks past your personal freshness threshold, keep in mind that you may have just cost that brewery 3x the cost that they had anticipated in making the product. The repercussions of the fickle demands of todays drinkers can have devastating effects on the small breweries they claim to love.