Asking for fresher beer.

For an IPA or anything really hoppy, they should either be okay with you asking, or you should take your business elsewhere. Don't feel weird about trying to get what you want. Just be friendly when you ask. If they ask why, tell them that you don't drink a lot of this stuff, and you have noticed a difference if it's past a coup,e of months.

 

you are the customer - I don't see asking if they have something fresher as an issue, they should be happy to help you .

 

I felt awkward when I asked if I could a fresh growler fill from a brewery in Chapel Hill. I just really dont want my hoppy PA sitting in a clear growler in a clear doored cooler for a day or two. Maybe if they didnt pre-fill , this wouldnt be an issue, but alas this isnt happening. I miss Great Lakes!

 

freshness is key for alot of products... we do it with bread,meats,chips, fruit, cheese, and many other items at the grocery store, so i say why not with beer as a knowledgeable consumer?

 

I agree, if they want your business, they will do what they have to to keep it. If it's letting you pick from the back.

 

I took this a tiny step too far back around thanksgiving... I was in the mood for 60 min IPA.. On the shelf in the cooler, they had some that was 2 months old, but at the back of the rack there was one 6er that was 2 weeks old. In the storage area behind the shelves in the cooler, I could see that there was more 6ers of 60min. So... I sorta let myself into the cooler and started rummaging through their back stock of 60min... the manager came back there, a tad annoyed, asked what i was doing. I simply told him that I was looked for 60 min that was more fresh. I looked at me like i had 3 heads and said "more fresh?!?!?".. then he shook his head and walked out of the cooler. Looking back on it, it was kinda a dick move on my part, but I am also still surprised that he had no clue that people gave a shit about the bottling date.

 

I do this sort of thing.

 

Often they're insulting with the question (especially since it is retail where the customer is right, regardless), so respond in kind and make up something like "... it takes me forever to finish a sixpack, so I wanted something with an expiration much further out". This avoids the debate about freshness in which you're most likely having with someone who knows little to nothing about beer, other than maybe something like IPA's are meant to be old because they survived long voyages to India.

 

Honestly, I probably would have escorted you out of the store if that had been my place of business. Nothing personal, that's just sketchy behavior.

I have no problem asking for fresher beer. That is my right as a paying customer, and if they don't like it, they should either rotate stock or find another job.

 

I dont think theres anything wrong with it, but I agree its definitely awkward being the guy in there picking up random bottles and 6 packs and holding them up to the light to check the date and putting them back.

 

I was kind of expecting to be escorted out are really wouldn't have blamed the guy... I had a few before going in there, so my judgement was not as sharp as it normally is.

 

If brewers would date their IPAs they wouldn't put us in the uncomfortable situation of trying to get fresh beer.

 

Yeah if only everybody could date a la Founders and DFH with a clear, yellow inked, straight forward bottled on date located on the neck of the bottle.

 

Unfortunately the date on Founders rubs off pretty easily.

 

Definitely nothing wrong with asking, but yeah, I know what you mean about it feeling awkward.

 

If I am looking for a fresh IPA and I know they got a new batch in I have no problem asking for it. Have never really ran into a store employee/owner that had an issue with me asking.

 

I usually try and ask what is fresh/new but often also kinda rummage through IPA's looking for dates. It makes me feel like a dick and a bit of a weirdo. But as long as your not being obnoxious its your right as a paying customer/patron.