I'm in Utah and Total Domination is one of few good out of state IPAs that the Utah State liquor carries. But the six pack I purchased was definitely off flavored and not fresh. I tend to chalk this up to distribution and the State's storage practices/non-refrigeration. I checked the date stamp on the bottle and it was 01/29/2015; I am curious - in the Pacific NW, how far out do you see this beer on your shelves? If I walked into a PDX bottle shop tonight, what's the date stamp on a bottle of TD ?
Where I live (Spokane), Ninkasi is distributed by the same people who handle Bud. They push the hell out of it, so it sells really well and is usually fresh. I'm not a huge fan. Used to love it, but I find it too malty now for some reason.
Can't really answer your question since I live in Eugene, and drink it on draft at the brewery with the founding brewer I do know they take quality and freshness seriously, so any out dated product is on the part of the store or distributor.
Man, I'm in Arizona, and I just picked up a 9-day old kolsch from them, as well as a 19-day old Dawn of the Red, and a Total Domination under 4 weeks. To be fair, they're somewhat new to the market, so maybe they're easing the stock in and, therefore, keeping things fairly fresh.
I've never checked dates around me, but Ninkasi's beers are such strong sellers in my area, both bottle and draft, that I can't imagine any age issues. YMMV.
