In a rush last night at the liquor store, I made a binge purchase of St Bernardus Wit, my favorite Wit of all time. I also made the sin of not checking the bottle date first. The date on the bottle is 30 04 15, which as best as I can uncover from the web, is a 5 year "best by date". Which means this beer would have been bottled on April 30th, 2010? Man, that seems OLD for a witbier to me. It also has massive chunks of dark sediment in the bottom. A few questions: 1) can anyone confirm or deny I am correct in my date assessment? 2) Do you think that is too old for a wit? 3) Would the dark chunks scare you off? 4) Would you return it to the store. Thanks BA's
“Old thread, but I just mailed St. Bernardus brewery, and according to them the best before date and the brewing date for the different beers (now?) differ by: Abt - Prior and Christmas Ale: 4 years Tripel - Watou Tripel - Pater - Extra 4 and Wit: 2 years.” https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/st-bernardus-abt-12-best-by-date.60434/ Your beer was brewed in 2013. In my opinion a Wit is best enjoyed fresh (i.e., only a few months from the bottling date). Cheers!
Are you sure it is not 4 years? I believe this is what Abt. 12 and Christmas Ale is but other beers may be different. I wouldn't worry about the chunks of yeast if it tastes ok to you. If it tastes bad, don't buy it again. Lesson learned.
Thanks for the info Jack! I agree, Wit's are best fresh. $14 bucks a 4 pack has me a little salty over this purchase. I know it is my fault (not checking bottle dates is like not saving periodically on computer work), but it still bugs me.
I like that analogy! I say return it. You'll get your money back which can be used for something else. At the same time it will let the store know they need to do a better job of checking their product freshness (or lack thereof). Cheers!
I agree with @Jaycase, take it back. The store should not be selling out of code beer. Now, the two year best by duration that St. Bernardus uses for a Wit is another (unpleasant) topic. Cheers!
