Weihenstephaner Shortage?

They let you see the date on the keg?

 

Ok . . . no. I was commenting on the taste, which was fresh to me based on taste. Sorry if my comment was misleading.

 

Nah -- just throwing red meat to the Freshness Fascists.

If it tasted good to you, I'm sure it was fresh!

 

What I've done before is give the bartender my phone to take a pic of the keg tag.

 

Before you order?

This brings to mind sitting at a cozy restaurant bar with a friend in mid-November, drinking Spaten premium. Ordered a second round and the keg has kicked. Bartender says it'll just be a second to switch kegs. No prob.

Bartender comes back and starts to refill our glasses, out of the corner of my eye I see the beer being poured is not light gold, but copper-amber. "Hmm. That's not Spaten Helles."
"Oh, sorry -- it said Spaten on the keg, would you like something else?"
" Not at all!"

Needless to say, we spent more time at the bar that night than planned.

 

I would have spent more time there too!
Great story.

 

Was at my favorite pub and the Paulaner Hefe kicked. Waitress says . . . it will be a few minutes while we tap the new keg. I look over and see that my new glass of Paulaner is coming out but it is half head! My waitress grabs a napkin from the bar and dunks it in my glass to remove some foam. Ech! She arrives at my table and I inform her that I saw what she did and do not appreciate it. Got a new glass and beer.

 

Reporting witty non shortage news…Went over my dads last night cause we were celebrating his birthday. He had some weihenstepan original, bottle March 1, 2021. Not too shabby so wherever he purchased there seems to be no issue with supply for now i guess.

 

Gahh!

Waitress, or the bartender? Most bartenders will use a separate glass to pour of that first hit of foam from the keg -- wonder what her experience is?

 

Hey, that would be nice info up on the chalk board*, along with ABV, calories, ingredient info (and price for !@#$'s-sake**):
"Keg Racked on Date" and "Keg Tapped on Date"
(I'm really dreamin' now, ain't I? )

re: Chalk Board or printed Beer Menu (I mean, now excuse for not having one or the other or both. With PC's and printers common, EVERY place should have a up-to-date printed menu).

I stopped into the auditorium-sized joint one day(quaintly and oxymoronically named "Tavern") and it was packed - on a workday afternoon. I couldn't believe the noise (I kept looking around for a big party screaming at the sports on TV or something. Nope - just a lousy acoustical-designed building interior I guess). When I finally found a seat at the bar (besides looking for quiet neighbors, I need one with some light to read my magazine ) I found a claustrophobic one right up against a plexiglass pandemic guard next to the waitstaff station. Bartenders stopped watching TV and chatting with one another long enough to have one attempt to serve me. Hands me a food menu.

"Yeah, uh, can I see a beer menu?" I yelled.
"Mumble, mumble, mumble." He didn't yell.
" 'Cuse me?"
Hands me a table tent with computer hieroglyphics. "You can see our beer menu by scanning this QR code with your phone."

Wait. MY phone? I need to use MY phone to find out what's on tap in YOUR !@#$ing bar! My phone's in my truck (sometimes - sometimes it's even charged up) I don't walk around with it like some idiot (aka "everybody else"). I go out to get away from phone calls. Of course, I didn't say any of that - too many words to shout. Instead I just waved him off and shouted, "TOO LOUD IN HERE ANYWAY" and split.

** Stopped into a new liquor store in a neighboring town the other day and was surprised to see that they have a little bar in the back (once common in NJ for stores that held an state "PLENARY RETAIL CONSUMPTION LICENSE WITH “BROAD PACKAGE PRIVILEGE". Seems most of these licensees dropped or never had a bar but some jumped into the growler market a few years back, though that seemed to be dying out, speeded up by the pandemic).

Their beer menu only listed prices for growlers to-go (what?) and as a result the on-premise prices were way out of whack, and unknown until the bill came.

F'r'instance - my two draught choices, menu price and what I was charged in brackets.
Kane Head High - 32 oz. growler - $10 [shaker pint on-premise - $8]
Bonesaw Helles - 32 oz. growler - $8 [a large pilsner glass on-premise - $9!]

Yeah, I get that on-premise prices are normally higher but growler fills aren't exactly brewery packaged bottles/cans. Plus, they don't even make sense - why is a growler of HH higher than the Bonesaw but the reverse is true on-premise?

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who are the true authoritarians in the this scenario? Those who want the knowledge and freedom of choice to determine on their own how fresh a beer is to purchase/consume it or the 3-Tier Oligarchy, led by the IBC (International Brewing Capitalists) with their secret codes and/or commands "DRINK BEFORE" and "BEST BY"?

As a long time Red (as in Leftist - not Cincinnati nor Red-Stater - how the Fuck did the latter even happen? I blame the MSM) I particularly resent that sobriquet!

We (well, I ...) prefer the term - "Freshness Fanatic".
Alternately, "Date Code Devotee", "Code Zealot" or "The Antista" (Anti-stale beer).

 

C'mon, you know that I know that you know the difference between the fascists and the fanatics.

 

I went to Woodmans in Oak Creek, WI, and the store had just about every Weihenstephaner type available. I love the Dunkleweisse!

 

Denny's in Bellingham Mass. has the new Helles and the Hefe in the big cans. They also have some 6 packs that are turning into shelf turds as I write this. Cheers.

 

Have yet to see the new Helles in my area.

 

It was the waitress. Ya think the bartender would have taken care of it.

 

I've yet to see the cans anywhere.

 

Use their beer finder, very accurate in my experience. If you’re in south jersey there are plenty of places to find.

 

No new Helles near me. I need to research the Weihenstephaner distro in my area, but I have a bad feeling...

 

Went to the aforementioned German restaurant/bar last night. Weinhenstephaner Hefe was on tap. Aventinus still flowing. Only kicked tap this time was Salvator Doppelbock.

Some of the bar staples were not there (nothing from Ayinger which they always have at least one tap of, for example). Bottle selection seemed a bit thinner than usual. Not sure if either were due to shortages or just random variation.