Buying Beer: Lit Fridge or Dark Shelf?

I would go with the beer in the cooler temperatures. I would grab the bottle in the back, farthest from the light. Majority of craft beers are not pasteurized, which means the beer needs to stay cold. I avoid warm craft beer, it's not made to be at room temperatures. I think it takes a lot of time for light to change a beer, but temperature can change the beer dramatically.

 

Say the beers were in a can, that would eliminate the light issue. Lit fridge vs. shielded from the light at room temperature as long as the temps aren't extreme it doesn't matter (at least to me), it's splitting hairs IMO. To me, it depends on the style of beer and when it was bottled.

 

Depends on how important freshness is with that particular beer. Usually I'll pick cooler and try to grab from the back but I have no problem grabbing a shelf-temp stout if I'm not drinking it right away.

 

For something like a brown-glass ipa or stout, I would choose the cooler.
For something like a green-glass saison or gueuze, I would choose the dark shelf.

 

I usually buy the room temp shelf beer if both options are available.

 

Fridge. And if the glass is green I'm not buying.

 

At most retailers I frequent, the beers on the room temp shelves are exposed to much more light than those in the coolers which are loaded from the rear via the walk-in - save for the front sixpacks/bottles next to the vertically-mounted florescent tubes. But I'd never buy those front beers.

"They're all just as cold!" the clerk will sometimes yell as they see me grab the second six on the rack and put the front one back in its place.

"I'm not worried about temperature, I'm concerned about the beer being light-struck..." I mutter underneath my breath, and then smile innocently as I bring my beer to the cashier.

But since most of my beer is bought in sealed cases that have been stored in walk-in coolers, the either/or OP situation doesn't apply most of the time.

 

unless in drinking it that day I always buy the room temp shelf beer.

 

I have yet to purchase a light struck domestic craft in a lit cooler. I go for the cold stuff every time.