Would you buy old imported German beer or fresh locally brewed German style beer?

Fortunately we have two local breweries who do German styles very well. I (almost) always choose them over imports. East Rock and Counterweight both do them VERY well.

 

I went with the fresher local examples, but that's mainly because Bierstadt Lagerhaus and Westbound & Down are in town. Before those cans were on shelves, I would have gone with option 1. I think the "right" choice varies a lot depending on where you live.

 

I chose fresh locally brewed. If I really want one, I’ll still buy a true German if I see it but there is more variety/faster rotation with the local brews.

 

This is hard for me to answer. My assumption is that “old” means an age I personally consider too old.

If that’s the case, I’ll pick local fresher options all the time.

But come Oktoberfest season when the beers are fresher, I’ll buy lots of imports…but it’s not an either or scenario for me.

If I see Jever within say, 3 months, that’s a no brainer purchase because I hardly see that. If I see a new beer from Schilling though, that’s another no brainer. Depends what I’m in the mood for and what’s available.

If I see both, I’ll just buy both!

 

Kinda how I am. I include winter when doppelbocks are around. Most American doppel bocks are too sweet.

If it's apples to apples on the style, if it's a local brewery I trust (for lagers, this is pretty much limited to Silver Branch and Port City, now that Landmade is gone), I go local.
But if they're the same age, I go for the German/Czech.

 

The last time I saw Live Oak Hefe or Pils on the shelf around me, they were getting close to six months old. The "fresh" "craft" beers around me aren't that much fresher than the "old" imports anymore. So, eh. Local breweries will definitely have German style lagers on, and some of them are very good, but I have to make a trip to the brewery to have those. If I'm just at the store, I'm more likely to get Vitus now, while not the freshest, it also has a better shelf life...at least to me. Or if it is Oktoberfest time, then its pretty easy to get a fresh import.

Or, for other imports, around March, I can get super fresh Guinness Extra or Foreign Extra Stout. A new batch of Samuel Smith Stingo hit shelves here right before Christmas, so I got several of those when they were available, which I hadn't seen for years. Wish Fullers would have Vintage Ale available again, but oh well. Since I'm on the English imports here, I haven't even seen JW Lee's in a long time either, but one of the few that I'll look for the older bottles ha.

I haven't bought a lot of Belgian imports lately, more than the other imports available they have sky rocketed in price. So an occasional Orval or single of another Trappist on occasion is it.

When I'm drinking local, I try for their lagers, or like Saint Arnold their seasonal Spring Bock is really good. If Live Oak is fresh, of course.

So the answer is, it depends ha.

 

like others in this thread, I am fortunate to have a few good to very good breweries locally that brew German Lagers. Between Olde Mecklenburg and Gilde in Charlotte, and Red Oak in Whitsett I am spoiled for choices.

 

this shouldn't even be a question.

Jack, I'm putting on time out. No youtube video threads or polls for the rest of the month.

IN HERE WE ALWAYS CHOOSE 'MURICAN BEER!

Cheers, you bastards

 

I chose the American options, but I'll occasionally pick up an oldish German import because I think these beers age well for some reason. (Probably risky depending on how they have been stored, but I don't take that gamble very often.) The German seasonals are usually not so old so that I don't hesitate to buy those. I have a good German-inspired local brewery that does a good job; however they are slowly adding more IPAs and cutting back on the German styles.

 

Depends on what you mean by old. As long as its not "expired" i would take say a Celebrator or one of the Weihenstephaners over any of their US counterparts. Not even close for me.

 

I put fresh local. Have plenty of great quality options in NYC. Also have a bunch of options for reasonably fresh imports on tap in the area if I’m looking for something specific.

 

I do like Troegenator, but it's no Winter Spezial or Celebrator!

 

In a time not so long ago, people didn’t really give a crap about six months on a beer.