Some people

I am guessing the age of your beers isn't the reason he didn't want to go through with the trade, he likely got an offer he liked better or chnged his mind. Rather than being honest and/or polite, he decided to be a complete dick.

 

I guess I shouldn't start a thread saying that I thought Double Trouble was good (though very different) 12 months old? Sometimes shit just gets lost in the fridge

 

I had the dregs of a few cans of Heady Topper stored in a mason jar in the back of my fridge for over a year. I was originally planning to grow the yeast to use in a homebrew, but I never got around to it so I decided to dump the dregs. Upon opening the jar, I got a blast of hops in the nose. Our of curiosity, I took a sip. It was still pretty damn good. Flat, but the hop character held up quite well. I was surprised.

 

Haha this one struck home for me because I agree about Gluten Freak being the best gluten-free beer ever created. Although it's not quite as good as regular Freak, don't care how many people I hear say it tastes exactly the same!

 

It's nice to see so many more people into craft beer these days. The fussiness? Not so much. Two weeks is a perfectly fine time table for these beers. As usual, @RDMII nails it with his comment.

 

I drank a Hopslam last night.

 

Wow, I cant believe I get to use this line again!

23 1/2 hours is too old!

 

The answer to the original question is: If the brewery is using an automated line, the date is printed on the can/bottle as it is canned/bottled. As to the question of freshness, it depends on several factors including the amount of light penetrating the container, and how much oxygen got in during the canning/bottling process. The beer can stay fresh for awhile if it's bottled/canned properly and stored properly. And as some other people noted, some beer gets better with age.

 

I want to meet this guy IP in Atlanta. What is his first name?

 

I like my IPA at least 6 months old.

 

I only drink heady wort.