Do best before dates matter with higher alcohol beers?

The flavors will still change over time -- not always for the best. Laying down any beer is always a gamble.

Check out this forum:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/forums/cellaring-aging-beer.41/

 

People generally consider dark beers with high alcohol to be less susceptible to the effects of aging, but they will still change with age. So best by dates “matter” in terms of providing the consumer some info regarding the window in which the brewer thinks the beers are still acceptable.

Keep in mind that best by dates also involve a degree of fiction. In some cases brewers come up with a window without any actual insight on how the beer ages. In other cases brewers might state different date ranges for different markets depending on market or transportation realities. A beer also won’t “fall off a cliff” when it hits that specific date.

You ask if you should be worried. Worried for what? If you are worried that this porter will make you sick because it is expired, then I wouldn’t worry about that. If you are worried that you won’t like it and that you wasted your money, then I wouldn’t worry about that if you can’t return the beers for a refund. Just try them and see if you like them.

 

All beers begin changing as soon as they are packaged, and sometimes it's for the better because 'green' beers that occasionally get released too early need a couple weeks to reach best flavor. However, age is mostly a critical concern for hoppy beers, so I wouldn't worry about your Baltic Porter.

 

What would you have done if there was a "Best before" date that was close* or had already passed?

Pretty common situation for the import shelves where I shop and * IIRC Zywiec is one of those Euro imports which, for the US market, gives their beers a 1½ year shelf life period so even when I see them with, say, 4 months to go, for example, there ain't no way I consider that "Fresh". (I know I'm often ripping a small hole in the heavy plastic shrink wrap to view the base of the cans and seldom buy them but I'm not sure of the 1½ year period).

 

Ballast Point Victory at Sea - Coffee and Vanilla, a 10% imperial porter, was one of my favorites 10 years ago - until I got two 6-packs in a row that were straight soy sauce. Haven't had one since.

I was told here on BA that they were just really old, but I've often wondered why they went bad when other high-ABV beers are stable for years.

 

I consumed a bottle of Stone Xocoveza that was 8 months past its best by date. It still tasted really good but flavors were definitely more subdued than that beer tastes when fresh. 8.1%

 

Buy 2.

Drink one ASAP and then age one if you want.

People swear that "cellaring" changes it, and it does , but RARELY for the better.
Those who usually say it are lying .
(Sours and all that green bottle , basket beer, overpriced in the US stuff excluded cuz those beers are made to be awful)

 

I do not have a decoder ring for the Zywiec code but the last four digits is not the year of production. I recently purchased two bottles of Zywiec Baltic Porter at my local Retail Beer Distributor (for a total of 5 bucks) and the code on the bottles is L2235616B2044.

My guess is this beer was bottled the 356th day of 2022. If this guess is correct your bottles and my bottles are from the same day/batch.

Cheers!

P.S. It has been my consistent experience that Zywiec Baltic Porter is a very resilient beer. A combination of both the high(er) ABV and dark malts I reckon.

 

I'm thinking based on some reviews listing a date code for this brewery, like this one and this one, that it might be LYDDD. Not a huge difference anyway between 23 Aug and 22 Dec dates, assuming it is accurate.

 

That is a reasonable guess as well I suppose.

Wouldn't it be nice if the brewery would just list: "Bottled on December 22, 2022"? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Cheers!

 

ALL beers deteriorate after a certain time. I've become a "drink fresh" advocate.

 

I more worry about hop content than alcohol content. As in, less hoppy beers will age better (or not deteriorate) compared to a nice, fresh IPA.

 

No matter the beer I always check the “canned on” or “best by” date on the can or bottle. And if it does not have it on the box the beers are in, can, or bottle I pass. I have bought way too many beers that are in a box that had no date written on the box got it home and they are over a year old and they all taste like shit. Beer is not getting any cheaper either.

 

Dates matter even when you are aging beer. That way you can figure out a beer's "sweet spot" -- a.k.a. an age that appeals to you (it's all about personal taste}.

I generally do not age single bottles. Rather I get a four pack (usually) and set a baseline by drinking and reviewing a fresh bottle. I then take note of the age of the other three beers as I taste them over time. All of this requires a decipherable "bottled on" date so I can compare and contrast with some degree of accuracy.

 

Not to me they don't.

 

Even past dates on hoppy beers?!