adjust a thermostat or have functioning cellar. Haven't had one of those since Colorado thanks to AC & insulation.
Fair point, but in the summer are these stores not air conditioned anyway? So you’re cooling the beer from an ambient temperature of 72 degrees, not 90 or more.
The top beer store in my town keeps 80% of their beers on shelves and only about 20% in the fridge. It seems most of the local stuff is in the fridge. The local stuff is so/so and $20 4 packs. Stuff on the shelves is a mix of locals and regional/national/international beers and generally better beers and lower cost. I’ll check dates (8 weeks is my general cutoff), but I almost always buy from the shelves just because of the factors I mentioned above.
In France, and I suspect much of Europe, there are no beer coolers at stores, everything is on the shelf or in brewery "milk crates" stacked up on the floor. I remember stopping at a store in Belgium and seeing palettes of beer, including several Trappists, sitting out in the parking lot is the summer sun. And many of my family members in France store and drink their beer at basement temperature, not even cave temperature.
Some retailers simply have more cooler space than others. That's easily understood. Many folks might be shocked to know that what they buy from the cooler has been sitting stacked in an unrefrigerated back room for an unknown amt of time. Sometimes coolers get restocked from a floor display, end cap, etc. I personally usually see big Imp Stouts on isle shelves and not in coolers. But not always. It's hod to beat those Tree House beeahs. They know how to potty.
I bring a large cooler or multitude of cold coolers whenever I make my beer runs, and almost always purchase cans cold. I don’t really drink hoppy beers either, but even in the winter months the beer goes from brewery/distributor cooler to my cooler to my refrigerator. I’m definitely OCD about it.
Unfortunately it is true that as the end customer there is really no way to know if a beer has been continuously stored cold: "Some beer consumers tend to gravitate to the beer refrigerators to purchase those beers (and cold beer is indeed better) but you never really know how long those beers were stored cold at the retailer; maybe that x month old beer was just placed in the refrigerator a day earlier and was warm on the shelf the majority of that timeframe." https://www.morebeer.com/articles/Beer_Freshness Cheers!
I've worked in retail and in liquor stores. Many times when a product isn't moving fast enuf and there's another shipment of it comin' in (enter limited space), time for a markdown or sale price. Out with the old in with the new. It's now on the floor and in the cooler.
That is indeed a good way for a retailer to move stock. Unfortunately at my local beer retailers they do not discount product. It just collects dust and for the unwitting customer they pay full price for old product. Cheers!
I only shop the sale beers at my beer distributor. Been going there over 30 years. End of season they put stock on sale at a bit over cost. Monthly they bring in pallets of beer and these are much less than other spots. Last purchase I made there was 2 hearted and 2 hearted ipa mix at $26.99 a case of cabs. Pretty fresh. These also sit on the floor in all weather and I can’t say I have noticed any difference. Enjoy
