How old is this bottle?

Discussion in 'Cellaring / Aging Beer' started by Victory_Sabre1973, May 14, 2019.

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  1. Victory_Sabre1973

    Victory_Sabre1973 Grand Pooh-Bah (5,445) Sep 15, 2015 Minnesota
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I found this at a garage sale for 50 cents. I have no clue how old this beer is, and I was wondering if any of you could tell me.



    Grolsch Lager Beer - 15.2 oz bottle.
     
    #1 Victory_Sabre1973, May 14, 2019
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  2. Bitterbill

    Bitterbill Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,036) Sep 14, 2002 Wyoming
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    Looks old to me, no idea how old and quite frankly, if I had that bottle, I would be hesitant to drink it but I would.

    The only swing tops I see are smaller bottles in 4packs.
     
    #2 Bitterbill, May 14, 2019
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  3. youradhere

    youradhere Initiate (0) Feb 29, 2008 Washington

    Yeah that’s a rare one for me. I used to be a Grolsch aficionado in my early 20s (mid shift and Taco Bell hello), that looks like nothing I recognize. Is it a holiday bottle perhaps? Sorry the photo is wonky for me right now.

    Do you see any etched numbers on the bottle?

    I loved the skunk that Grolsch had at that time (in Anchorage AK), I wonder what something that old tastes like? Drink it! Or at least let me so its flavor can be posted here. Science demands it be drank! :slight_smile:
     
    #3 youradhere, May 14, 2019
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  4. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    If memory serves, I think that was the intent of the brewer. The brewer wanted to give customers the impression they were drinking an "old world" beer. I'm fairly certain it's from back in the 80's (but could have been late 70's), as I recall buying a bottle back then and trying to drink the beer straight from the bottle (which didn't work all that well). My recollection is that it was a pretty light tasting lager, that wasn't all that great (and didn't seem to have as much flavor as Heineken back then, which I assumed was whom they were trying to compete with).

    At this point, I would expect it to pretty much suck. I'm not sure it's something I would want to try to drink.
     
    #4 John_M, May 14, 2019
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  5. jesskidden

    jesskidden Grand Pooh-Bah (3,145) Aug 10, 2005 New Jersey
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Here's an ad with the same bottle and label that ran in US newspapers in 1978-80.
    [​IMG]
    Other articles suggest the beer was on the US market by 1974-75 - one mentioning that it was a favorite of President Ford, and was served on Air Force One. A snarky mention of the beer in the Detroit Free Press in 1975 pictures the bottle, poking fun of it ("save it for vinegar, bath oil or paint thinner...") and of the price - $1.39 ("...you could buy a whole sixpack of Stroh's for that...") also gets the ABV wrong "It is 10 percent alcohol..." likely based on a misunderstanding the beer's OG expressed in the Degrees Plato scale.

    Some of the ads for Grolsch at the time stressed that it was unpasteurized, even for export:
    which in some cases led retailers or distributors to claim it was the only unpasteurized beer sold in the US.:rolling_eyes:

    Not sure when Grolsch went to green bottles, which they were using by the early 80s in the US, at least. Also the stopper was eventually made of plastic, not porcelain, IIRC.

    But, yeah, this thread would probably be more appropriate in "Breweriana" - not a beer that one would cellar for 40 years.:astonished:
     
    #5 jesskidden, May 14, 2019
    Last edited: May 14, 2019
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  6. Victory_Sabre1973

    Victory_Sabre1973 Grand Pooh-Bah (5,445) Sep 15, 2015 Minnesota
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    It's just like the bottle of Crown Royal that my parents got for Christmas 1973, but never opened: I'm tempted to open it, but also scared at the same time.
     
    #6 Victory_Sabre1973, May 14, 2019
  7. unlikelyspiderperson

    unlikelyspiderperson Grand Pooh-Bah (3,966) Mar 12, 2013 California
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    that should be legit. Probably some of the best crown royal in existence
     
    #7 unlikelyspiderperson, May 14, 2019
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  8. jesskidden

    jesskidden Grand Pooh-Bah (3,145) Aug 10, 2005 New Jersey
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Well, I'd say a ~40 year old unpasteurized lager beer of around 5% ABV in a "swing top" bottle sealed with a likely dried-out rubber gasket is a LOT different that an unopened bottle of an 80-proof whiskey...
     
    #8 jesskidden, May 15, 2019
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  9. deadwolfbones

    deadwolfbones Pundit (795) Jun 21, 2014 Oregon

    This reminds me I have a bottle of Chivas Regal 12 I need to date.
     
    #9 deadwolfbones, May 15, 2019
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