Heady Topper Question

I think the question you're ACTUALLY asking is, "Is it okay to warm up cool beer while transporting it?" The answer to which is, "Yes, of course it is." It might hurt something to be warm for weeks or months, but a few hours or days won't do anything to your beer.

I've had plenty of Heady shipped to me from Vermont, where it was warm for at least several days, and it's always been delicious. You'll be fine.

On the plus side, now your brother has a cooler for camping, etc.

 

Glad you asked the right question and answered it for him. Misconception that warming cold beer and re-chilling it will ruin it, since I've had to do this several times with no problems. Just don't do it a million times or let it get hot as hell.

 

Well, it's only sold cold because otherwise it could end up sitting around warm for quite some time. Although Heady might not need to worry about it since it sells so quickly, sitting on a shelf at the store at 80* in the summer for a month would probably be bad for a beer (I've never done it, but I definitely wouldn't want to). So that's the main difference, the duration of the storage.

That said, I brought a cooler to Kern River to keep my bottles/growlers of Citra cold when I went down there, so it's not like it's crazy to do that. Just probably not necessary.

 

It does say keep it cold on the can also. I'd imagine the idea behind it is that it helps preserve the beer a bit, and while hops will fade over time regardless, keeping the beer cold with at least slow the process down a little bit.

 

i've always assumed it was fine if it warmed for a few hours as well, but curiosity got the best of me. I asked the guys at the Alchemist, and they said they've noticed differences with fresh HT that was warm for 12 hrs.

 

Mmmmmm Heady Topper

 

They also say to drink it from the can...

 

I found a 6 pack of Lagunitas Sucks in my garage that had been there for at least 2 months. I live in TX and we had an unusually warm stretch in February (including a few 90 degree days) and it was just as good as fresh from the shelf. A quality IIPA will certainly stand up to warmth and I think Heady Topper definitely fits that bill. I've had a few HT 4 packs shipped cross country and although I've never experienced it held cold in it's distribution area...there's no way you can convince me that the HT I had "dropped off". I can't imagine it being any better than what I had...every time it's still the best IIPA I've ever laid my lips on.