Old or expired beer

I really have no idea on that. We have salesmen that are aware of the fact, and they do their best to sell local stuff as much as possible. But, at the end of the day, you can't make a retailer stock a beer any more than the retailer can make a customer buy it. The customer is always right, even if your customer is a retailer.

I'd say that's pretty accurate for many distributors, especially those who's main products are macro beers. The money's in the volume of beer we sell. I'm sure it's geographical, too. If I worked for a distributor in Portland or Seattle, yeah, we'd be stocking a lot more craft beer. But in my neck of the woods, the scene isn't too popular. Most people here are content with what they've been drinking for the last 25+ years.

As an employee, I'm happy to see people buying the macro beers we distribute, because that's what pays my bills. Alternatively, as a craft beer fan myself, I would like to see more of a consumer base for that as well.

Maybe one day I can have my cake and eat it too.

 

Because supply and demad are not tuned very well, competition is at an all time high, and distributors run their business on their terms to maximize their profit

 

That seems to have happened here in NJ for a few of the 'bigger' (non-craft exclusive) distributors- they will stock so much on the initial order from a brewery that it takes too long to sell, and then the beers will just sit at the stores because it's already near 'expiration' by the time it got there. It creates a vicious circle, and the salesmen who seem to have no clue don't help much at all either.

The funny thing is, once a really fresh shipment makes it to the stores it starts to sell quickly. I kind of hope that sends a message, but doubt it will.

 

TongoRad is 100% spot on. An unfortunate cycle indeed

 

Two months is fresh.

 

A two month old IPA often tastes like a malty mess to me, and you can't dispute personal taste, especially if it's been out of the fridge for two months -- which happens often in NJ, where macros get ton of fridge space and craft gets what's left over.

Maybe it's because I have so much experience drinking fresh IPAs the past decade. idk

 

Well this is a strange topic merge.

With perhaps a marketing exception made for Enjoy By, there's no circumstance under which 8-week-old beer is either old or expired.

 

so you're disputing that, for a typical two month old beer that's been left unrefrigerated since being bottled, my personal taste isn't picking up 99% messy malts and only a slight remainder of the hoppy taste that the brewer intended? not sure how you can dispute that. also, it's absurd to imply that Stone Enjoy By is the only IPA that could be considered "old" or "expired" simply because of its marketing gimmick. I WISH more IPAs so prominently displayed a best-by date.

I'm not asserting that it's dangerous or toxic to drink. I'm simply saying that I'm not purchasing an IPA 2+ months old in a store unless I want, as the article below states, "notes of cardboard, decaying apples and other unpleasantness."

the difference between a fresh and stale IPA is night and day. I'm assuming you're getting semantical with the concept of "old" or "expired" -- if you're referring to the best-by dates, it's mainly nonsense designed to move inventory. anyone who drinks IPAs know that it falls off considerably after more than a month unrefrigerated.

stale beer is actually the #1 issue in the beer industry. this article explains better than me - http://allaboutbeer.com/article/beer-time/

just the notion that two months is considered fresh is absurd to me. have you ever had a beer freshly brewed, and then tasted the same beer in a bottle that hasn't been refrigerated for two months? it's a completely different beer.

 

Found a bunch of year plus old Double Jack the other day. Why it's still for sale I do not know.

 

Anything higher than 7% i'd give it a shot, depending on the price of course.

 

If old expired beer is your thing Total Wine is there to accommodate you.

 

I never bought a Sixpoint I didn't like, but can I still take you up on the fresh samples?

I recently found a row of ancient bottles on the shelf of a large but crappy store. They had several JW Lee's aged in Lagavulin casks dated 2002 along with several English ales I never heard of. This was in 2014. I went to the register for a price check, and they were all $2. The JW Lees was manna from heaven, while the rest were beyond putrid. I went back a couple days later, and they boxed all of the old bottles. They let me go through all of the boxes, but I only found the crap beers. I should have bought all of the Lee's. Oh well.

 

Three weeks later, and it's still just "no".

 

most expiration dates are, like pharmaceuticals and dairy, based on a presumed storage temperature. Very few breweries put an explicit storage temperature on their beer, and storage temp depends on style and package.

So, unless it is stored COLD and BEFORE expiration, I do not usually enjoy. I might consume, but I rarely enjoy.

 

speaking of fresh, I just picked up some 5/08 founders All day. so good

 

I love these threads. Always the most obscure angle possible. I'm sorry but there was no chance you were buying this 4 pack unless it was marked down dramatically.

 

It kinda depends. Like Boulevard dates their stuff unrealistically close on their bombers. Like Saison Brett used to have a year shelf life. So there are certain items I will be excited about being out of date. For IPAs, I usually frown upon it being passed 3 months. Even if something is discounted I don't want to buy it out of date. I'd rather pay money to enjoy a beer than drink a gnarly stale hop bomb.

 

I think it's mostly on the stores/distributors. I've heard Stone will push super short dated product on distributors and then it trickles down. I've ordered a case of Arrogant Bastard at my store and it had a 20 day shelf life. At that point, it's my job to push through it before it goes out (including discount before the expiration), then send back the rest to the distributor. I see stores all the time that just choice to hold onto super old product (even scratching dates off of beers) to not waste it. I also think some places like to make people who are oblivious to dates think their selection is better than it is.

 

I love when they discount any dark, high ABV beer.