Sorry if this was the wrong forum for this question, but I didn't know where else to post... So, I just returned from a California weekend and upon returning to the house I discovered that 3 of the beers that I had packed in my checked baggage leaked slightly into the Ziploc bag and packaging in which they were being contained. The leakage was pretty minimal and the liquid level still appears to be similar to where it would be for a brand new bottle. It appears that there was some seepage from the top of the bottle through the air travel process. I'm afraid to ask this question, as I feel I already know the answer, but are these beers done? Do they have any cellar-life left? Should I just toss them. Any advice is helpful. (Beers in question are Avery Mephistopheles, Avery Tweak, and Dogfish Head World Wide Stout- all of which I was hoping to age.)
I would definitely not toss them. Are they actively leaking? If you can store them on their side without them leaking, think they would be cellar worthy.
Don't believe they are actively leaking. I'll check when I get home this afternoon. No cracks in the glass that I could see. Think it just seeped through the cap.
i wouldn't toss them, but i wouldn't age them either. clearly the seal isn't very good on those bottles. over time you'll get stale beer. they'll be fine for a few months but i'd plan on drinking them within the next half year or less.
I'd drink them asap. That really sucks cause those aren't cheap bottles and actually get a lot better with age. (Tweak shouldn't go more than 6-12 months anyways)
Drink fresh, if air can get in/out they will oxidize/lose carb. They may even be bad already if they were leaking.
I've been told that sometimes a bit of beer can seep through if it's really getting rattled or jerked around. Did you bring it in carry on, or was it checked in luggage? The luggage gets tossed pretty bad. When I came back from Germany my bag actually got destroyed with ripped out zippers from being thrown so bad. I had to use tape and wrap it a ton so that I didn't lose stuff when switching over. I had Cantillon bottles in there and none got ruined luckily.
There was another thread pretty recently where Sierra Nevada was mentioned and their QA program tried tasting beer that had travelled, and that their tasters did notice a difference. I believe one of their people referred to this stress being created as scalping. I'm more of the opinion that they got banged around pretty badly. The bottles themselves at present should be fine for flavor, but some of the co2 came out of solution creating a foamy head in transit and which is more than likely why they leaked and as such are probably not cellar worthy beyond a year. I'd also go back and check all of them again for stickiness and feel around the necks of each to be sure. I'm not really up for believing all of them had the same issue of a slightly out of spec seam and all of them leaked.
I brought them in a checked bag, so they probably were (violently) tossed around. However the other beer (Parabola, Bourbon County, Pliny, etc) weren't affected as I tried to package them pretty well. The Mephistopheles and World Wide Stout were in the same Ziploc and were individually wrapped. So technically only one of those could have leaked. The Tweak was by itself in a Ziploc however. I wonder if it has anything to do with the wrapping on those Avery bottles, as they are the common denominator.
FYI You couldn't carry those on as they exceed the maximum in ounces per carry on. In answer to OP's question I 'd agree with others and drink them soon.
I fly beer back on most my work trips. This last time I had beer leak in my zip lock bag. More of the label and bubble wrap being wet and i could smell it. I tried to find the leak and couldn't , seems to only leak during the filght. I had it once it got cold. It was odd and the only time it's ever happened to me, maybe a bad seal or something.
Whenever I fly I'm flying with beer. My brother in law had this happen recently with a bottle of Avery Black Eye. I noticed when I pulled it out of the packaging he wrapped it in that some had seeped out (about an inch). He wasn't going to be in town for a few weeks to crack it with me and had another bottle. He said to crack it. It tasted great and I wasn't expecting much carbonation for that behemoth. There was definitely plenty in it. Don't pour it out. That being said he has brought other Avery beers with no problem.
