Old beer in bottle shops...

We have one who does. Not regularly, but several times a year they bring in a pallet they bought for a discount and price it accordingly. Sometimes it's not even out of date, just surplus. Last time it was Yuengling IPL for $3.59 a six pack.

 

When I first got into craft beer about 8 months ago, I did not know that dates mattered for IPAs, which I usually bought. Stouts it doesnt matter, but with IPAs it does. I thought the beers tasted ok, sometimes too MALTY but still ok. I then learned to check the dates on the beers and soon realized that FRESH IPAs tasted AMAZING. I have not bought an IPA older then a month since then.

 

Not older than a month? Seriously?

 

Yes! You should. Perfect example.

Wish I had my phone so missed out on a picture. I was at a little liquor boutique shop in LA and saw a Sierra Nevada estate ale. I thought damn that's pretty old, so I turned the label to find out how old, thinking this year old....It was a 2015!!!!!!

 

I love to find old beer thats ages well. Higher abv, stouts, barrel aged, bretts, trippels, quads etc. I've ran across a 6 year old three philosophers, 5 Year old chimay yellow, 5 year old blvd saison brett and they were fantastic.

 

Yes sir, makes all the difference with IPA's for sure

 

I've learned (through disappointment) that I need to either buy ipas that sell quickly and get restocked often, or ones that are seasonal (and not buy them 6 months after they're released. Nothing worse than an ipa with floaties... imperial stouts hold up like a bitch tho. You're good with them.

 

From my experience, Northern VA has a very different "beer-related ecosystem" from the rest of VA. Fresh beer is available in various parts of VA but the shelves are also lined with old beer from in-state breweries. I can go to Green Flash or Beach Brewing Co. and get fresh beer but I shouldn't be seeing old beer from Alewerks, Legend, Hardywood, or Stone. I can empathize with the OP in that the shelves can be a veritable minefield at times.

 

I have to admit Stone does a very good job. When I go out I always check their items and 9 out of 10 times it is fresh and within reason. So kudos to them, rarely do I see their stuff way to there. Just wanted to toss out a good vote. Also Firestone Walker, I don't see old beers from them very often. Maybe it is a turnover thing not sure, but good job to them.

 

A distributor near me has cases of other half beers just sitting there.....still 8-9 bucks a can!

 

Some of the stores in my area do a terrible job, I'm at the point where if there's no date, it isn't a new release, or the brewery didn't just do a label refresh, I do a hard pass. There was one beer store last year that still had a 6-pack of Founder's Red's Rye on the shelf.

There are a couple of stores that do run clearance specials though. I did manage to score a case of 2014 Victory Old Horizontal bombers for $3 a bottle.

 

Saw an Atwater Bloktoberfest single for $1 today that looked ready to explode. Pointed it out to the owner, offered him a quarter to spare some unlucky bastard from making an unfortunate purchase.

He agreed, took it out to the parking lot and dumped it. This same gas station has been notorious for selling stale product. Only stop in for gas when I'm in the area.

Anybody want a can of deviant dales that has been sitting inside of a cardboard box for three years? Haha

 

I only care about dates when buying IPAs or Pale Ales and to be honest i very rarely buy them in bottle shops. I also check for dates on Stouts with a lot of added flavors like vanilla, coffee and things of that nature. Other than that I don't really care since im usually buying a WIld/Lambic/Stout

 

Keep searching for a good beer store that cares about freshness. Hopefully you can find one.

Its not necessary to drink beer straight from the tap to enjoy it, but there are too many places that sell beer thats 6 months or more past when it should be sold. Lots of heavier styles will stay good, but lots of styles degrade significantly over a long enough time period. Its unfair to the brewery to put out bad versions of their beer, and its unfair to the customer to sell them a product that is worse than advertised.

Its also unfair to the brewer to push product that lots of people wont enjoy. If a recipe is selling horribly, its almost better for it to get returned and for the brewer to readjust production based on that. If a brewery puts out a crappy IPA, some sells, and then the rest is continuously dumped on customers way past expiration, the brewery is going to falsely believe that its selling well. And then they will keep putting the same amount into the market, or expand production to produce even more, until the whole thing crashes down and they realize that the market is overwhelmingly overstocked with super old cases of the beer.

 

I wonder if a person could "assist" a store manager/owner in giving a crap about dates, or at least understanding the concern? I buy stouts, newly released beers, or local beers, so don't usually check dates. But, if one of you IPA freaks (you know who you are) have already befriended a manager or owner of a store with frustratingly old beer, you could perhaps state your case - you love IPAs but they must be fresh.

Get them involved in watching for new IPA shipments and check the dates with them. Some store owners may not realize the importance to customers, some might not realize IPAs don't last as long - though admittedly most fully understand all of that but would rather have unwitting customers buy old stock than have to confront the distributor. Just thinking some might get on the bandwagon of watching dates and keeping old stock off their shelves. Nobody is telling them they care, so let them know!

 

It's extremely annoying. I moved to a building very close to a -withheld- Organic Market that has a growler station and a really nice beer buying team and a high end beer selection... I thought it was gonna be awesome. Sadly, they don't get any foot traffic. Like none.

They are not picking the right stuff for growlers, random local'ish pale ales and goses that are $11.99 for a 32oz, horrible $/serving or $/oz. Everytime I go in there, it's either the same stuff from the week before, or new additions that are terrible values. I don't even think they are marking it up much, they are just suckers for startup local stuff that's expensive. I wish they'd just get like 2hearted and do $7.99 32oz...

Worse, in the packaged beer section they are REALLY local centric as well, and have burned 90% of their shelf space with subpar local shit that isn't moving either, since I'm looking at the same stuff from weeks or months earlier that's not moving, and now is subpar stuff that's 3-6 months old. Even with Bruery 750s/Deshutes 22s/gold foil Avery... "good stuff" that is fine ... they don't even have enough customers to get through 12 large bottles, those too sit for months.

If I end up walking over to get some beers for the pool, I usually can't find any 6pks interesting+in date, and end up getting more Uncle Jacob's. Could be worse//first world problems//rough on the old wallet.

 

Not true i see carton beer all over nyc on warm shelves... only lawsons can make such a demand

 

A shop here in Norfolk is willing to sell old singles of Founders Pale Joe & Harvest Ale, Sixpoint Global Warmer, and DFH 90 Minute with the old label design (didn't even bother looking at the bottles on date). If you're so inclined to get a growler of their many beers on tap, a Lil Sumpin Sumpin will set you back a cool $28 for 64oz...smh

 

I have politely brought it to their attention and was thanked for my efforts but nothing came of it. Truth is around here craft only makes up 3% or less of total beer sales so they will understandably concentrate on what 97% of their customers want.

 

if you let me know where that will stop