Old Beer from outside the state.

My feeling is canned beer should be solid for at least 6 months. 7 months, you might see a dip in quality. That being said when Jai Alai first came to CA, I grabbed a sixer of cans. It was about 90 days old, and I don't feel it lived up to the hype. Maybe My expectations were out of wack, but it just didn't do it for me.. I realize I'm probably rambling, but that's where I'm at.

 

We got a big drop of Cigar City stuff, say July-ish last year. Everything still on the shelves seems to be from the same drop.

Avoid.

 

Yeah, I've had the same experience with Jai Alai and several other "name" beers from elsewhere. My default beer store, the Vashon Thriftway, has a terrific selection, probably 300 or 400 different beers. I like to browse. And every so often, something new shows up from out of town. Last year, Jai Alai. Before that, it was the Founders IPAs. And before that, Sculpin. Melvin made a splash for a while. And a few others that I forget. So, being a curious beer geek, I always get the new stuff. And then, it's "HUH?" "That's what the hype is all about?" And I don't buy it again. Not that these beers are bad. Just that they are average.

These days, I am most often defaulting to the local favorites, Bhodi and Lucille, Crikey and Bits and Bobs, Lush, Bale Breaker, etc. Why look for something new and be disappointed? Stick with the Hall of Famers. And go for Fremont Fresh Hop classics in the fall.

 

Re: the OP seeing 7 month-old IPAs on the shelf, I have noticed this becoming more and more of an issue as the craft beer market has slowed. It's not that distributors are trying to unload old product in certain areas; they're just trying to unload old product wherever they can get away with it. I've generally been a fan of the Luponic Distortion series from FW. A couple years ago it was easy to find them here in OR, well within the 90 day shelf life recommended by the brewery. Now, the releases don't even show up until they are way older than 90 days out of the brewery- I suspect because previous releases are not moving like they used to.

 

Hoppy beer should be solid for 6 months? Not sure if you're joking or not.

 

Damn, I miss Victory Moonglow! 8.7%, yet so delicious and drinkable. We used to get that up here in the Seattle area about 10 years ago, in fall or winter, I believe. That was back in the glory days of Malt & Vine for me. We're absolutely spoiled now (weizenbock absence excluded), but there were some good beers and good memories from back then.

 

Right? So I don't know what's a reasonable expectation. End of the day, I don't want to be it again. Maybe that isn't a fair judgement on the beer, but it's just what works for

If it's bottled I'd say 3 months, but, yeah, canned should be good for about 6 months.

 

On the topic of weizenbocks, I had a German one at Stammtisch the week before lockdown and thought it was good (though I had little to compare it to). It was from Michael Plank. I just looked at their site and they're doing beer to go, with the weizenbock still on tap.

 

Plus, that series used to be numbered (#1, #2 , etc), a friend shared some with me a few nights ago, and, no way to tell where in the series it is. Shrug.

 

Doesn’t it say on the front of the can? This pic on the FW site shows #14 on the front.

 

Maaybe? It was a hippie, psychedelic looking green can. Recycling has happened, so.....


Ooops, just noticed the link. But, no, that was not the beer we had.

 

Founders is majority-owned by Mahou San Miguel, a Spanish brewing conglomerate which owns the San Miguel brands and appears to have regional licenses for various AB InBev beers including Bud, Stella, and Carlsberg.

Which is why they're easy to find in various Kroger affiliates like Fred Meyer and Ralph's (Southern California).

Which is why Founders beers qualify as "meh beers...associated with large corporations."