Out of Code Beer and Etiquette

Who cares about Stone and their "standard" of 90 days? Not what the OP was asking, right?

His was a general question about "out of code" beer and you responded (not sure why) with the Stone example....my point is, most breweries do not follow that model.....

Hoppy beers can be good for days / weeks / months etc after they are made - all subjective, and a matter of our own personal opinions / preferences - do hops fade over time? Sure....is there some way to know exactly when that happens in every hoppy beer? No way.....hence there is no industry standard - too many variables.

Glad we got that clear

 

your opinion is noted - and that is what it is.....a "35 day" rule is total nonsense in the real world.

oh, and btw, I have not been "subjected to stale beer for long periods of time", and enjoy many fresh IPA's, DIPA's etc here in NE Ohio

My point is that this whole subject is all about opinions.....no basis in fact

 

Data to support this claim?

 

Yeah, a bunch of beer in my fridge and cellar with no dates on them

And, is there any data saying 90 days is the standard? Would like to see that...

 

Well I've a bunch of beer in my fridge and all of it either has dates on it or is a local seasonal release. So much for comparing fridge contents as a source of data.

As for data supporting 90 days as "the" standard, it's clearly not "the" standard since as I pointed out way above in my first post in this thread code dating depends on several factors. In addition some breweries use multiple standards, depending on style, some breweries use a year for everything, and some use none at all. But that statement of 90 days being "the" standard originates in this thread in the OP where the guy says he's been told that.

 

Think we have established (repeatedly), that there is no standard for "out of code" beer in this country, for a variety of reasons

 

Nobody but the OP said their was.

(And even he indicated it was hearsay.)

 

Yep. Happens constantly, and it's no secret. We always know which distributor is having a blowout sale on what out of code beer...and it's always conspicuous when you see a bunch of handles of a middling craft beer suddenly spring up. 9 times out of 10, you can check the keg date and it's 6+ months.

 

Why would some do that knowingly? It's called "contempt" or "lack of respect." But it is often excused or claimed to be necessary for financial reasons.

Back during the first year I was on this site there were a couple of bartenders posting in one of the "hate on BMC" threads. They got to sharing anecdotes with each other in a subthread and both agreed that it was quite funny that on some evening in the past they each had run out of a particular Lite beer and so they had simply put on a second keg of different brand of Lite beer and and dispensed it from the first beer's tap. Both they and many site members at the time got a good laugh out of the fact that none of those drinkers of what many on here refer to as "swill" or "yellow piss" water ever seemed to notice the difference.

 

I agree to a point. But there are a lot of variables here too that come into play besides just age. Light, temperature, quality of the capping, style of the IPA, even the hops used. I've had two month old Heady and it was as good as the day I bought it. I've had Pliny at 2 weeks that was tremendous, and at 6 weeks wasn't the same beer. I keep all my IPAs cold and dark, and I prefer cans to bottles by quite a bit. But I do agree, nothing I hate more than an IPA that's turned into a malt bomb, I don't even have to take a sip I can smell that it's turned. I'm one of those....... I'm sensitive to the aging on IPAs perhaps more so than most.

 

The OP asked: “I've heard a beer that is older than 3 months is out of code.”

I responded with some information that was available on the Stone website related to the question. I never once stated that this was the “standard”.

Have a nice day.

 

I suspect one could switch craft beer of the same style and most people would not know the difference. Members of this site perhaps, but not the general craft consuming public.

 

I know that in MA (my market) it is not required for a distributor to give credit to a retail location for outdated goods but they will almost always do so in a show of good faith. It's understood that without a retail shop attempting to sell these beers then the distribution companies would just sit on them. The warehouses face the same hardships as the store in the sense that they get out of date beer as well if not enough stores buy them. However, if a store abuses this system then they are often times removed of their privilege to return goods since it is common practice with less honest shops to buy more then they can possibly sell to receive deep deals and just return stuff. As for making your shop aware of the outdated product it is more than acceptable. I want to know of any code I may have missed in my shop (we have over 400 beers, very very difficult to keep up on ever SKU). Never feel bad about that, just approach it like you are doing the shop a favor, which you are.

 

Just a word of warning. A few times BAs who work at beer stores have posted that it is their store's practice to place the older beers in the refrigerators. I suppose this is there way to move old product? You should conscientiously check the dates for all beers you purchase including those in the refrigerators.

Cheers!

 

Just look at the dates before buying, doesn't everyone do that? Here in MA I had a local( 50 miles away or so) brewery consistently have beer 5-6 weeks old, just arrive on the store shelves. Some face book posts let them know I was not a happy customer. Trying to keep buying local. They asked if it tasted OK. That's not he point I replied. Sierra Nevada can do it, they should be able to as well. I realize some are at the mercy of the distributors. Next purchase, 2 weeks after canning, nice.

 

As a small brewery I can tell you we are at the mercy of our distributor as far as getting fresh beer on shelves. I keep track of their inventory of our beer in the warehouse and constantly email them if our IPA sits. It's frustrating.

 

Yes, a beer that has continuously been stored cold (e.g., 40 degrees F) will indeed resist staling vs. a beer that was stored warm (e.g., 70 degrees F). The 'challenge' is that some beer stores will take their 'old' beers from the shelf and then add them to the refrigerator. In that case the beer was mostly stored warm (for a month or two or ..) and then was just recently added to the refrigerator. An unsuspecting customer may choose to select that beer from the refrigerator with the assumption that it was always stored under cold conditions.

The bottom line is that beer consumers have zero idea how long the beers in the refrigerators have actually been stored cold.

Cheers!