Kinda aggravating to see stacks of Two Hearted cans at Binnys today dated 6/17 (June 17)...... Nothing stopping anybody from buying them (at full price mind you), drinking them and then thinking IPA's/craft beer/Bells in general are crap. This is also the case at all of the local stores, including one with excellent turnover.... Whats up with that? I don't believe I've seen any with more recent dates...perhaps July, but nothing past then. The Two Hearted bottles have pretty good turnover, I've never seen one past 2 months old (in the last year of me buying lots of Two Hearted)....
Agree, the latest "born on date" I have seen are July 22nd, but even those 3+ months old now. I was buying a lot of these but have stopped the past month or so because of this.
As someone who loves fresh IPAs and doesn't buy any over a month old.... not sure what you can do really when on Bell's website they say Two Hearted has a 6 month shelf life.
I'll buy IPA's up until 2 1/2 months after bottled on date... I'll buy something nearing 3 months if its really, really hoppy (STONE beers)....but I can not fathom buying a 6 month old IPA. There is a discernible difference in 2 week old Two Hearted vs. 2 months old (though both are still very good). I can't imagine how Bells think at 5-6 months the product will be any shadow of its former self.
EDIT: I should say...That is something I did not know (re: Bells: Two Hearted - 6 month shelf life). That might explain why said stores still have 5 month old TH on the shelves....either a Bells rep told them or they discovered it themselves one way or another) I apreesh the knowledge droppin' /thread
I would think it being in cans would prolong the shelf life (if its stored cold) for me the date of an IPA is something to be aware of but I find its depends so much on the beer so unless experience dictates otherwise I like to buy IPA's less than 3 months old but at the same time I have zero problem buying a can of SN torpedo that's been sitting in a cooler for a year. How fresh IPA's need to be and the significance of that age are way over played on this site.
I disagree. I've had way too many old IPAs to think that age doesn't matter. The fresher really are better.
My brother gave me a 4 pack a few weeks ago that he forgot about and it was dated 4/26(from the first release). I drank them all and the quality was still very good, very little dropoff.
Agrred. Having held onto a bunch of IPAs and IIPAs to do year to year comparisons or because I didn't want to drink that last bottle, it's rare they hold up. When they do they are usually IIPAs, around 10% or higher, are maltier to begin with, and end up tasting like a barleywine (Oracle, Double Crooked Tree, Devil Dancer).
