Old IPAs - What to do about this problem?

There is really a simple solution: look at the bottling date and make your own decision. If no bottling date, forgo.

 

Have to agree about the bottling date, it's not too much to ask.

 

I ordered some about a month ago, about 4-weeks old when I got PseudoSue from Johns...damn it was good

 

Mmmmmmm can it make hair grow back????

 

Is there an echo in here? I do not buy IPA's that lack a bottle date.

 

I look at the the bottle date - if it's in date I buy it. The whole purpose of an IPA is to last. However, if the brewer is too cheap to date their bottles.... I'll buy a brew if I haven't had it before and rate it honestly. If it's 'way past OD and the brewer is too cheap to date it, xin loi. And yes, I realize that some retailers wipe the date off the bottle. Let the brewery deal with them through their distributor.

 

And it can make back hair grow

 

Well I can take that but not the hair that grows in your ears.

 

Yeah fresh Union Jack is probably the best easily attainable beers on the market. I remember having it in MA a few years ago before I moved here to AZ and I thought it was just alright. Maybe a B-. Tried it again when I saw a fresh bomber at QuikTrip ($5 totally worth it) and it blew my mind. Outstanding beer.

 

You can thank the 3 tiered system for this. Beer has to go from the bottling line, then get shipped to a distributor, then shipped to a bottle shop/bar.

So beer sits at the brewery until its shipped, sits at a distributor until its ordered by a bottle shop/ bar, then sits at the bottle shop/bar.

Pretty hard to get stuff less than 2 weeks old.

 

An old IPA is just a barleywine wrongly considered.

 

Well no, an old stale IPA is just that.

 

If the distributors were delivering it to stores when its 2 weeks old then there would be no problem... They could just keep delivering it every week or 2 and we would always have 2 week old beer and the beer stores would do a lot more business since people would know that they always have fresh beer. The stores also need to be held accountable . whoever is receiving the beer should be checking dates, which they dont, either becuz they haven't been properly trained or are just lazy. The distributors are aware of this and they easily slip in beer their old beer. Alot of store owners and managers are not really aware or they just dont care becuz alot of people buy the beer past its prime anyway. This can be changed if we hold them accountable... Take a stand against stale distribution.

 

Sounds like an excellent cooking beer.

Personal favorite is to simmer some brats in beer (cheap and/or old) for 30 minutes before posting them up on the grill.

 

I'm going home to visit, I can guarentee that I will not find a Union or Double Jack under 2 months, usually it's 3 plus.

 

Dale, you may luck out and find fresh(er) FW beers. Over the past 6 months or so I have found both Union Jack and Pivo Pils 6-pack cans which were less than 1 month old. These occurrences are by no means typical but they did happen. Maybe you might luck out too?

Cheers!

Jack

@RobH

 

I've just reached a point where I won't buy out of date stuff no matter who made it.

 

I hope so, I'd buy a bunch of DJ if I can get it at 30 days old, but it would be a first. But I still love to look at beers I can't get here. A trip to Neshaminy Creek is coming up too.

 

It seems a very good reason for inventing a time machine

 

I'm a date checker so with so much fresh beer around it's not usually an issue. If I have an old one in the back of the refrigerator I usually buy some brats and cook away, or make bread.