Who's responsibility

I think anytime the FT isn't offering reasonably fresh beer for the style it is on them to make that clear. Considering they are that old I assume its a style that someone might age on purpose but to throw 5 year old beer undeclared into a trade is on that person. I would feel the need to tell a potential trader that some beers I had were 3 or 4 months old if we were trading for anything fairly light, hoppy, and local to US

 

It's in the Grey area, but I'd say it's on the FT unloading.
5-6 years old, isn't cool unless it's bourbon County stuff.

What bottles did he try to unload on you? I'd say OP should get neutral feedback for pulling a fast one.

 

OP, I'd put a little responsibility on you. I try to ask for the latest batch if I am trading for a specific beer or if someone is trading for IPAs, ones that are within specific range of freshness they are comfortable with. I then confirm batches and dates when we finalize the trade. That way everyone is on the same page with what beer is being sent.

Of course, not knowing the beers or styles you traded for, even then, unless you specifically asked for aged versions, I'd always want the freshest and as a trade partner I would try to ensure that is what I was sending. That said, sending retired, very old beers, even if they are a style/beer considered okay to age, is completely unacceptable especially if that wasn't discussed and the FT sent them without disclosing that info.

It's a bummer, but try to be as specific as possible with dates and batches, etc. Did you ever reach out to person after and ask what the deal was with the bottles they sent?

 

If I was sending them I would make sure my trade partner knew the age, but I do see how this could occur differently.

If the beers truly had not been brewed for 5-6 years, and they were named and discussed in the negotiating process, its possible the trade partner assumed that you realized they were retired beers and knew about the age. By this I mean that it could have been an innocent mistake.

Personally I always try to communicate as much as possible and not assume that my trade partner knows everything about every beer that is involved in the trade. One example from my experiences is when Tree House puts some of their core beers into the old school can designs with the sticker label. I made sure my trade partner knew they were not old and that this batch was put in the old style cans. (some people collect cans and may prefer one style over the other).

So I didn't really give you an answer, it could have been a jerk move or could have been an assumption that you knew the beers were last made 5-6 years ago. I would be interested in knowing what beers you are talking about.

 

You explicitly agreed on the specific beer? Would have been nice if trader told you it hadn’t been brewed in 5 years. But you should have done your homework on this. What’s the saying, let the buyer beware.

But your post says older labels, so there was a batch of this brewed after the bottles you got? You need to be more specific on this trade here for people to give a more informed opinion.

 

I agree that it's hard to weigh in without more info here. My view, like what @jrnyc said, is that if the beer hasn't been brewed at all in 5 years, then it's your responsibility to know this. If it's been brewed more recently, then I would have expected the trader to let you know that they were sending an older batch. Even in that case, though, I'd say that you bear some responsibility for knowing that there are multiple batches and for inquiring about which one the trader has.

 

Do you mind sharing what style of beer it was?

Regardless of that, my personal opinion is that the majority of responsibility is on your shoulders here. You're always responsible for knowing what you're trading for and if that specific beer hadn't been brewed in over five years, it's probably something you should have been aware of heading into the trade.

 

One piece of advice that I would give is to always as for pictures. If there is any doubt, a quick picture or two will clear everything up. With that said, if the beer hasn't been brewed in 5-6 years, then I think it's the OP responsibility to know what you are trading for. However, if that beer is a yearly release and you got a 2015 vintage instead of a 2020 vintage, then that's on the OPs partner.

 

I'm gonna lock this up. Looks like there was enough advice for OP from the community.

Cheers!