Draft IPA age?

This is a huge myth, that draft is always fresh. If the details of that beer are correct then it isn't fresh any longer.

Kegs can sit at retailers, bars, distributors, etc. for who knows how long.

 

Please just drink and enjoy the beer.

 

A few years ago, I was thrilled to find The Oceanic Restaurant in Wrightsville,Beach, N.C. offered Bell's Two Hearted draft as we were ordering fresh seafood on the old Crystal Pier sitting out over a small piece of The Atlantic Ocean. The beer came and it was horrible and I left it sitting there and ordered a Sam Adams with my meal. The Sam Adams was perfect with the scallops and someone finally asked me about the nearly untouched draft. I simply said the beer was old or the lines were dirty. Next time the beer was just right! I never bitched at all.

 

You are correct. Kegs of Double Trouble suddenly showed up here in TN about a month ago. I know they have to be at least 4 months old by now. And this particular keg is still going after a month.

 

If you are really that concerned ask them to see the date sticker or tag (assuming there is one) on the keg

 

Wasn't Stone 18 a brown IPA or some such oddity? It won't be fresh, but it may be tasty nonetheless. See if you can get a sample before buying and report back afterwards.

 

Pick your battles. It will most definitely have changed, but if that's a battle worth tasting is worth the effort it takes in asking the bartender to pour you a sample.

 

Wrightsville Beach? Now that brings back a few old memories from my younger days....

 

Id try it. It would be worth the $5 gamble to me.

 

Same just happened to me, same beer. Unaromatic and really no taste. It was a lite beer place that had three craft lines. The dirt wolf was fine.

Enjoy

 

While its probably still fresher than bottled would be this long after brewing even refrigerated legged beer starts to lose freshness as soon as kegged. I'd suggest you might want to contact Stone as they do seem to be pretty responsive to questions about the freshness of their beers, and its possible that the kegging was done from the very last batch brewed rather than one of the first ones brewed which could make a few months difference in the age of the beer in the keg.

 

At a bar last week I rant into a guy I know who works at the local distributor that handles Southern Tier and was given a 10 month old bottle of ST 2xONE. He was doing his rounds at retail accounts and came across it still on the shelf and removed them.
For those who don't know, it's a late winter/early spring seasonal featuring a single hop and single malt and the new version should be released somewhat soon.

Anyway, he was going to drain pour them but tasted it first and was surprised by how well it had held up and decided to hang onto them. I went through 3 cases of this stuff last year (from at least two different bottlings), so I am obviously very familiar with how it should taste. I was amazed by how good it still was. Now I am looking forward to the new release even more!

Bottom line - I love and prefer super fresh IPAs like everyone else, but some can hold up with age much better than others and still taste damn good.

 

Had Hoptimum today from a local beer store that fills growlers and i couldn't even drink it because it was so bad. Prety much just tasted and smelled like booze the entire time. zero notes of citrus or pine no grapefruit flavors nothing that even resembled an IPA just a little malt, little hop, and fresh rubbing alcohol smell and taste. Guy swore to me that it would taste the exct same as if he tapped the keg 4 months ago. learned my Lesson. Luckily it was only $5 for a 32oz

 

When I am at a bar, I don't think about how fresh my beer is. I would like to assume the kegs are pretty fresh. I could be wrong. When I shop for beer, it is a whole different ball game. I am more concerned.

 

Fresh is fresh for IPAs and they are best within 3 months. Will it kill you at 6 months? No, it might just be a bit off. Different beers will be off differently. You might not mind the Stone, but an older Lagunitas may taste bad to you. Much discussion about $5.

 

I was up visiting my son in Watertown NY, and stopped at Bear World. Most of the good stuff is way over date to buy, but they did have Flower Power on growler. First time I've ever poured a $20 growler down the drain, no telling how old and nasty those line were. Low turnovers beer joints are a definite stay away.

 

Agreed - it is all about the turnover. If a place taps an older keg (say a 3 or 4 month old IPA) it will have faded a bit, but since the keg is light proof, unless they have been storing it on a sunny loading dock all summer it will still be pretty good. But, if the keg has been on for a few weeks or the place isn't really good about cleaning lines it is going to be horrible.

To answer the OP - I would think that since Stone 18th is a higher ABV, in the keg is should have held up pretty well - won't be the same as fresh but will still be very nice (assuming the keg hasn't been left somewhere hot). I would want to catch it early though - I think it will head downhill fast if the keg is on for more than a week or 2.

 

Great memories at that place