I’ll just finish my input on this subject by saying that cronyism is not good for beer! The 3 tier system is just another example of an idea so good it has to be mandated. The only thing we can do is stop buying old beer and notify the brewer. Stores don’t care, or are just as stuck as we are, and the rum runners REALLY don’t care.
Perhaps a reminder to support you local quality brewer!
Not only do the “rumrunners” not care, they can be financially incentivized by one producer to favor their products/drag their feet on others, as long as the retailer or brewer bears the cost of taking back the stale stock. We need “beer neutrality!”
A market free of cronyism would help
From what I can tell, the shop owner know, and are frustrated. True, many purchasers don’t care if the beer is fresh or not. But whenever I make my enthusiasm for fresh beer known, I’m met with quiet embarrassment.
So I buy Yuengling, and other beers that I can find fresh. That’s most of what I buy, and I always have Guinness and Yuengling on hand these days. But on the rare occasions when I start craving an APA or an IPA…well I’m SOL.
Bell’s has always had a batch number on the bottles. They did add dates to the bottles a few years ago, this first link says on the bottom of the cans. I’ll have to look at some cans next time I’m in a store.
Maybe the most common system for packaging date codes has the key in the first four numbers in a format of DDDY: the first three numbers are the numerical day of the year, the fourth is the last digit of the year. So a code like 2677xxxxxxx would mean packaged on the 267th day of 2017. Whatever that was. The rest of the numbers may key to the plant, line, or some other info of internal interest.
Just remembered this tidbit.
“Whether you purchase beer in bottles or in cans…if you wish to savor beer at its height, look at the date to make sure it won’t be over 2 months old when it is served.”
– Joy of Cooking, 1975 edition
Like there was no doubt the date would be clearly displayed at that time!
I haven’t checked in a while, but unless they’re changed things there is no marking on box the 12-pack of cans come in.
FWIW, many breweries print the “best by” date on the bottles with an ink that hold up terribly to moisture. Here in SOMD, it gets humid enough that the condensation that forms on the short trip from the beer truck to the store will make that ink illegible. Stone and Dogfish Head are the two that come to mind with this problem. Really it’s just about anyone with the little green dot matrix ink date stamps.
Ouch.
I see a lot of this, any Mikkeler beer (@ $6-7/12 oz. bottle) has dust on it. If I try and get a keg, the freshest I can get is 2-3 months old, with most being closer to 4-5. I haven’t been checking most six packs, but I try and buy more seasonal offerings. Then you come across the issue of breweries making their Octoberfest in June to be ready for September.
I think part of the issue comes from sizing and profitability concerns. Breweries upsize their system, and all of a sudden they’re brewing 30 barrel batches instead of 5. Distributors have no incentive to help you move your product, just a product. With 5000+ breweries, it’s a lot easier to sell the latest new thing.
This seems to be a great reason to support your local brewery. Theoretically there should be a quality brewery driving distance from the majority of each of us, each brewing to the demands of their customer base, keeping everything relatively fresh.
Since that’s a pipe dream, about all we can do is check dates and quit buying stale beer. Maybe take the extra step and notify the brewery.
On that note, I emailed Cascade Lakes about the burned out IPA I bought. No reply… so either they are busy, or don’t care.
Ironically, it’s not just craft beer with this problem: I found cases (12 and 18 pack cans, 12 pack bottles) of Miller High Life less than a week from the “drink by” date. Probably not a coincidence, but this is the same distributor that the 1.5 hour away brewery previously mentioned uses…
As for driving to the brewery, the thing is I like to enjoy my beer at home, without the whole “how to get back home” problem. Designated drivers, waiting several hours, whatever, it’s easier just to wait till you’re home for the night and then imbibe.
I have a friend (please forgive him) who works for MillerCoors. He’s been harping on this for years, and I have to say he’s right. When I go to total wine with my wife (she likes the wine variety and prices), I rarely buy anything. It’s mostly on the shelf and out of date. I have been burned way too many times.
The topic we’ve sort of discussed is whether or not the consumer is willing to pay a higher price for beer that is more fresh by destroying beer that is out of date. We might all say yes, but probably not true for most beer drinkers.
Years ago I had what I think was a fresh Hazed and Infused from Boulder Brewing. Loved that beer. I was never able to replicate that experience as everything was old and muddy by the time I got my hands on it in MN.
There was a great Brewing Network show recently with a few guys from Sierra Nevada. I liked how they talked about when they thought beers peaked. If my memory serves me right, it was about 20-25 days from packaging. Doesn’t leave much time to distribute, especially considering the footprint of most breweries today.
It could also be the technology they are using. Older inkjets will only print one line. We used to have a weird code with a letter for the month, two numbers for the day, one number for the year and batch code. So it would look something like A157 255. Jan 15, 2017 batch 255. We upgraded and now we have (at least two lines) and it reads PKG ON - Mon/Day/ Year //Time stamp (second line)
Of course, now you look on things like Oskar Blues cans and they have like four lines with just extra text. It will say something like.
Pack On 3-17-18
12:00:00 PM
Nighty Night!
Now they’re just showing off.
I don’t think more needs to be paid to get fresh beer. I think the cause is the lack of communication between stores and breweries caused by the flawed three tier system. When the distributor cares enough to make sure he better matches supply and demand fresh beer can still be had. Our local Budweiser distributor honestly does a great job, the craft brands they carry are usually very fresh. (Real craft, not Bud-craft.)
Another variable in this mess are the seasons. No, I’m not talking seasonal offerings, but how some styles sell better in the summer. I know once people start firing up their grills for the summer SNPA and Torpedo will be much easier to find fresh.