I know a lot of these questions have been discussed in the past but wanted to revisit for those willing to participate. A list of buying habit questions for fellow beer advocates mostly centered around retail store purchases: 1) When you are looking to purchase beer (hoppy ales or lager) at a retail store do you check dates on the packaging? 2). If Yes to question 1, do you have some general buying standards on the age of beer based on the bottled on/canned on date (or some brewers use a best before date)? 3). Do you ever purchase beers from retail that has no canned/bottled on date? Please elaborate if necessary. 4). When you are traveling out of state and find a beer on the retail shelf from a brewer that you’ve heard great things about but never had their beers before, and the beer is either undated or has an older canned on date (beyond your usual age tolerance threshold), are you still likely to buy it or leave it sit? 5). Does your local stores have a “just in” section or post their new arrival beers on social media? Are those new arrivals mostly fresh from the brewery or frequently finding they just new beers to the store being delivered from a distributor that frequently aren’t that fresh (whatever your definition of fresh is? 6). Do you have a store in your local area that lets you break a single can/bottle out of a 4 pack or 6 pack to purchase most any beers from the store as a single? 7). For those that check dates in stores, What would be your best guess, for % of beer in your store shelves/coolers that is <3 weeks old from canned/bottled on date (as a % of beers that actually have dates on the label)?
1. Always. 2. IPA ~ 3 months, tops. Over 10%, Stout or Barleywine, 1 year. 3. Rarely. 4. Yeah, I'd probably grab one to say I had one,., 5. In the US, places like Total Wine have sections for Local Beers, New Arrivals and Seasonals. Here in France, my fave chain local (V&B Vins & Biers) sends email stock updates. 6. In the US, it depends on the retailer. Liquor stores, sometimes, grocery stores, never. Here in France, everything is singles available, no need to bust packs. 7. In the US, guessing 3% (or less,..,) overall, due to national distro. It takes Sierra Nevada products 2 weeks to hit Miami shelves. In South Florida, I could find Florida beers canned within days. Here in France, I get great French and Belgian ales on shelf within a week’s time. One of the great things about European beers is they ‘bottle condition’, so beers have a BB date of up to 5 years. I’ve wondered, often, why US breweries don’t do this, having seen DIPAs languish on shelves for months.
1-yes. 2-NEIPA(6 weeks), other ipa(3 months), standard ales/lagers with avg gravities (6 months), high gravity/wild(1 year). A lot depends on shelf/Storage conditions too. Especially for hops. 3-depends on the style. Hops-not usually. If it’s something not distro’d in my state and it’s reasonably priced, then likely yes. 4-see answer 3. 5- yes. If it’s a larger, well known brewery, freshness varies. Local is pretty much always fresh. 6-yes, quite a few. 7-because most beer on shelves are 80% ipa, I’d say that at least 85% are older than 3 weeks. More for all other styles.
In summary... most places I frequent let you grab singles (TW, Cas Pint, Earlybirds, etc) but I usually get 4/6 packs. Yes, I check dates (respect beer). I am not that concerned with dates unless its anything hoppy. I grimace at >2 month old IPA (figure in the time I'll get to them in a fridge). Anything high test and/or dark I typically do not care about dates. If I were to ever come across something I HAD to get a tick (Heady Topper, Pliny, hell, potentially even Daisy Cutter) I'd make a snap decision right there. More than inclined to just (attempt to) get it via draft vs. get an undated 4 pack. Yes, ppl typically have a "just in" section. Cas Pint + Earlybirds are pretty good (PLUS, they're largely on Untappd... looking at you, TW). TW is typically stocked by a combination of dumbasses and the distributors themselves, so YMMV.
1) Absolutely. Especially when places like Total Wine are charging $5-6 a can, and I can find cases of beer at the grocery store that are over a year old. If there's one thing worse than old beer it's overpriced old beer. 2). It depends on the style, if it's refrigerated, track record of the brewer, etc. 3). Yes, sometimes if a beer is a new release or if it's something where the age doesn't matter much like a bourbon barrel aged imperial stout. I can't trust undated seasonals anymore though because I've caught people re-stocking old beer (dated) from the previous year multiple times. 4). Leave it. I don't know how long a beer has been sitting, especially if it's at a tourist trap. I will buy shelf beer from a brewery I visit if it's undated because anything a brewery sells has been given their de facto seal of approval. If it's old and tastes like crap that's what they're comfortable selling. 5). Sometimes "just-in" beer arrives and it's a bit outdated but considering that things might have to travel from another state or country it's not a big deal. 6). Total Wine lets you separate packs even if they don't advertise it. You just have to keep an eye out when ringing up the beer that you don't get charged for a full pack. 7). 0-5%, It's very rare that I ever find beer that's less than a month old unless I buy it directly from a brewery. Sometimes I get lucky though.
1. Yes always 2. Depends on the brewery. Sierra Nevada and Firestone walker have figured out packaging so well where a 6 month old snpa tastes as good as a month old can. Imported lagers like urquell, ayinger, rothaus etc I buy often enough that I know how it’s going to taste and I’m fine with it being packaged somewhere in the 6-8 months prior. Mild I give a 4-6 month leniency and esb 3 months. 3. Typically no. There are local/in-state breweries that don’t add dates but I am insider enough that I know when they were packaged or just follow insta. 4. let it sit unless it’s a saison or mix or culture BA stout or wild ale 5. Lucky enough the retailer posts on social media new drops and they are always fresh enough (under a month old). I’ve had to deal with places that fresh meant freshly delivered from whatever distributor warehouse. 6. You can make singles 7. I’d say like ipa styles are 70% less than 3 weeks from can on date and then there are the nationwide brands from lagunitas to odell to firestone etc who are are 2-4 months old. There’s a lot of other brands that sit and sit and sit with a date code and some sit without a date code. I’ve not seen any correlation between people who chose not to purchase x brand with a date code and those who don’t purchase y brand without or if they are the same type of buyer. Just think it’s brands that aren’t getting attention. (North coast/ rogue) Thanks to the Op for a very well thought out questionnaire.
Excellent questions! 1. I’m part of the minority here as I do not usually check dates at the store. If the beer is marked down on price I will snatch it in a heartbeat without looking at the date, but if it’s full priced and at a store that I know has poor date keeping then I may look. 2. I’m very lenient. 7-10 months after the IPA has been packaged, or 3 months or so after it’s best before date is getting into my grey area. I’m not concerned with freshness when it comes to other styles. 3. Yes I do, regularly. 4. I’m very likely to purchase the beer regardless of the age. Out of market beer purchases are some of the major highlights of my life… 5. No, at least not the ones that I frequent. 6. Also no. 7. I would say 0-15% (I go to one discount store with pretty poor dates and one grocery store with absolutely hellacious dates, among other places) of the craft brews sold in my go-to stores are under 3 weeks of age. These will almost always be local beers from the greater Reno/Tahoe area. PS Not necessarily relevant here, but there are stores in my area still trying to dump cases of Sam Adam’s Winter Lager from last December but they’ve only been marked down by one dollar!
Ok, I’m ready to provide my input: 1) Yes most always 2) hoppy ales (IPAs) and lagers usually 3 months is my cutoff and won’t ever buy. 3) Yes to foreign imports with no dates or Belgian beers. Sometimes I gamble on American IPAs from brewers I really like if they are reasonably priced. Never on $20+ 4 packs. 4) I’ll probably be too excited and buy it anyway. Something about traveling and beer-buying smart decisions goes out the window. 5) none of my local stores do this. We had one locally that did but it closed down. (Best beer store in town). 6)none of my stores do this currently. The one that closed (see 5 above) used to let you pull singles from anywhere in the store, and another store used in my area used to as well for about 10+ years but stopped allowing single purchases a couple years ago. So now I have no options for single can/bottle purchasing. Need to commit to a full 4/6pack which means a lot less new beer sampling.
1. Yes for hoppy ales, no for lagers. I don't buy too many lagers unless they're on tap and it's something I really want to try. 2. I don't really have any standards, at least when it comes to canning/bottling dates for beer. 3. I often have. (See #2.) 4. If I see something I want, I'll get it without checking the dates. 5. AFAIK, no. As for what they post on their social media, I have no idea whatsoever. If they can't be bothered to update their web sites, screw them. And get the hell off my lawn. 6. I wish.
1) Very rarely check dates, but might for an IPA, or other beers out of curiosity 2). If it's an IPA I would consider 90 days my limit on a low-ABV IPA 3). Probably, rarely think to check 4). If it's a beer I really want, it's a strong dark beer, so no worries about date 5). No store I frequent has a “just in” section, though several post their new arrival beers on Facebook. It's a mix of new releases or just something the haven't had since the last seasonal release 6). I frequent three stores that I chose partly do to being able to 'cut one from the herd'. When we got a liquor superstore in the area a few years ago, I asked the beer manager if I could break a pack, and he said no, but pointed me to the singles cooler, which I hadn't found it in. I told him many stores in the area allow it, and if they don't do that, they should put up signs. They never did. 7). No idea
Specifically addressing question 4: In the past I have but that ship has sailed. Especially when referring to hoppy beers like Other Half IPA'S, which I have found on shelves past what I consider their best window (a month or less). Even if I see beers I don't get to enjoy often, I refuse to shell out top dollar for a sub prime product at this point
1) Sometimes 2). For IPAs and such, <3 months. Other styles like stouts or strong ales that tolerate ageing, it's not as critical. 3). Yes. Some of the local breweries don't date their beers, but I would hope they're fairly fresh. I might also make exceptions if it's a good price or something interesting I want to try. 4). Probably buy it. When I travel, I'm looking to try local beers and I hope they're doing enough volume in the local stores that the beer is fresh (though this may or may not be true). 5). Not labeled/promoted, but my favorite store does have what I call "the interesting shelf", which rotates more often than the rest of the beer section. That's where they have Bourbon County, uncommon Belgian imports, and whatever else they've managed to get a hold of. 6). Yes, advertised as a mix your own 6-pack, but you can just buy singles. 7). Very low, guessing 10%? From what I've seen, most beer takes about a month to make it through the distribution system even if the brewery is nearby. I consider myself lucky to find anything with a packaged on date < 1 month.
Yes, with almost no exceptions. IPAs in particular, yes -- if it's older than three months (and I don't have a reason to think that's OK, like my observation that Sierra Nevada's beers seem to hold up, as opposed to Lagunitas' which deteriorate faster), I won't buy it. Usually, "best by" is the same thing as undated for me, since I have no idea if a company uses 3, 6, 9, 12 months for the best by date. Lagers much more likely than IPAs. If staff seems knowledgeable and tells me something is good or fresh, despite being undated, I might buy it. Stouts and other beers that age pretty happily I don't worry much about, unless it seems excessive (tons of dust, sun-faded labels...). Exactly the same rules apply, though it might cause me more heartache. One of them does have a "just in" section. I don't really follow any social media. No idea if "just in" means actually fresh from brewery or just received from distributor. Several. Oh...three weeks...that's a tough one. I might guess as high as 10% or 15%.
The main reason I chose 3 weeks (vs 4) is it seems that most all feedback over the years seems fairly universal that even the most temperamental DDH NEIPAs or piney resiny West coast IPAs can hold at their optimal aroma/flavor for 3 weeks. Of course that 1st week after canning it can still be a little “green” with some. Most differing opinions on freshness start to creep in at the 4 week marker. But overall I think there is greater freshness tolerance amongst consumers today than say 5-7 years ago. Seeing a lot more 2-3 month age acceptance now on the forum, where 4-6 weeks was the historical max. amongst the discerning Beer Advocate crowd. Maybe people just aren’t as discerning now about their beer as in the past.
1) I check dates for all styles. 2) I try to avoid stuff that is less than 3 months old. If it's a brown ale or a stout, I would push that to four or five months, perhaps. 3). Rarely. I tend to go to the same stores, so if, for example, a German import with a date code I can't decipher easily shows up that wasn't previously there, I don't mind rolling the dice. 4). Probably let it sit. 5). One of my main spots (Nikki's) has a "new arrivals" section. I haven't considered many of the beers in that section as they are usually hazy ipas and pastry stouts, neither of which I enjoy. 6). Yes. 7). The amount of craft beer (not Bud Light, High life, etc.) that has a bottled on date AND that bottled on date is within three months of me reading it is no more than 10%. It's a real fucking problem.
A little late to party responding to this one, but here it goes: 1) Not at my usual shopping spots (small locally run bottle shops but then again I’m usually purchasing new stuff they just got in. When shopping at places I don’t frequent, I will sometimes check dates if it is a hoppy beer. 2). Hoppy beers less than 3 months, other beers less than a year (with the exception of lambics which can be older). Depends on warm vs cold and exposure to sunlight. 3). Sure but I usually know they are recent releases from brewery social media. 4). Still likely to buy it, just temper expectations. 5). Yes and in general they are very fresh and/or new distribution to the state. 6). Yes, most of the places I frequently locally have either most available as singles or all available as singles. 7). No idea, don’t check that often.
