victory hopdevil

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by powpig2002, Feb 18, 2013.

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  1. powpig2002

    powpig2002 Initiate (0) Jan 26, 2012 Florida

    local shop has 3 6er's none of which has an enjoy by date. fresh beer only says they have a date on the neck. anyone know if this is old. no one a shop seems to know
     
  2. chefkevlar

    chefkevlar Initiate (0) Apr 17, 2010 South Carolina

    The date used to be printed on the label itself, but I've gotten a few cases from them lately that have no dates at all that I can see.
     
  3. ItsLaTrappe

    ItsLaTrappe Initiate (0) May 15, 2012 Pennsylvania

    Newer bottles have the date finely etched into the base of the neck. Stare hard enough and you will see it. Just experimented with an aggressive finger rub to remove it and it's still readable with a flashlight! Hope this helps.
    Get some fresh Headwaters, its awesome right now.
    Cheers!
     
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  4. ilikebeer03

    ilikebeer03 Pooh-Bah (2,262) Oct 17, 2012 Texas
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I got a 6 pack with the Fresh By date etched into the neck. The date is in March, so it must be recent.
     
  5. Ispeakforthetrees

    Ispeakforthetrees Initiate (0) Apr 2, 2012 Colorado

    If it is not marked, its not something worth your dollar.
    I've gotten marked ones which were till June.
    I also saw unmarked ones. At least Victory is catching on.
     
  6. frankthetank86

    frankthetank86 Initiate (0) Dec 24, 2012 New York

    another clear indication if the beer is old the neck of the bottle will have dust and crap. if you have to think twice, don't do it.
     
  7. MooseBoose

    MooseBoose Initiate (0) Jun 6, 2007 Wisconsin

    Hopdevil to me is really a beer that declines alot with age. Fresh Hopdevil is one of my 3 favorite IPA's without a doubt, but when the hops fade it gets pretty bad. Not sure what the age of fade is, I had one about 6 months past its date and it was bad. I love it fresh.

    The last bottle I had the date was etched and REAL hard to read with 40+ year old eyes. :slight_smile:
     
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  8. lonewolfcry

    lonewolfcry Pooh-Bah (1,982) Dec 7, 2007 Minnesota
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Put the bottle in front of a light bulb to find the stamp - then good luck reading it, but it's there.
    HopDevil is some damn good brew with < 3-4 months on it.
     
  9. SenorHops

    SenorHops Initiate (0) Aug 10, 2010 Rhode Island

    Victory used to print the enjoy by date on the label in white, but now etch it on the neck. Victory puts the enjoy by date 5 months out from the bottling date on Hopdevil. Their beers tend to hold up a little longer than average because of their unique bottling system, so 5 months isn't quite as ridiculous as it sounds.
    In saying that, the 1 year out enjoy by date they use for Hop Wallop is still ridiculous!
     
  10. powpig2002

    powpig2002 Initiate (0) Jan 26, 2012 Florida

    couldn't see anything on 18 bottles. i'll pass. thanx for the responses. big time
     
  11. GardenWaters

    GardenWaters Initiate (0) Jan 8, 2012 Illinois

    I've only tried this brew on two seperate occasions, and both times it was way past the best-by date. Needless to say, it was horrible! I hear a lot of good things about it, so I will give it another chance assuming I can get it fresh. In your case, dont take the gamble. Go for the Hop Wallop, it's bottle conditioned and will hold up longer than most other DIPA's (I think they are dated to be "best by" one year from bottling date). Again, if there is no date printed on the bottle, I would pass.
     
  12. jesskidden

    jesskidden Grand Pooh-Bah (3,071) Aug 10, 2005 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Yeah, it's sad. The dating on the labels for Victory beers in white ink was sometimes illegible but their new method right on the glass is much worse. I stood in front of a display of 3 different Victory beers and couldn't find one readable date out of 72 bottles.

    Same goes for Sly Fox - used to be clearly dated on the 12 packs and case trays, then they switched to stamping on the base of the can and slowly that's "creeped up" to the edge of the face of the can, and are usually just blobs or smears of ink - my last case of Pikeland Pils had exactly ONE can with a legible date. Luckily I found that one on a can in the first sixpack I checked, otherwise they'd have stayed at the store. Victory at least continues to date the cases.

    I don't get it. They all seem to jump on the latest technology rather than the tried and true methods, and then complain about how expensive and frequently defective they are. It's pretty clear that apparently there's no "quality control" on the bottling line- "Damn date coder's down again!" "Keep the line runnin'!"
     
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