How can you tell if a Beer is *fresh* vs. old stock

[chefwong]

Just short of the dusty bottles.....does most bottles have a brew code on the bottles.

I'm thinking I'll just swing by New Beer in NYC since my office is close by.....and the last time I was there (they're know for decent stock and competitive prices) but some of the bottles on the shelves were quite dusty......

[chefwong]

Hi Jess -

Thanks for the informative posts - it was a good read !

The second beverage store I just visited was *fresh* across the board in all places.
Even scored the Hitachino White ale with a decent date on it.

Was very interested in getting a bottle of their ginger ale, but it had a '06 batch code on it.

[Scott V]

Which shop was this, Chew? I have a hard time finding fresh in NYC.

[chefwong]

Thrifty Beverage on Court Street in Brooklyn --- off Kane St I believe.

Another choice that I discovered today.....is Whole Food on Bowery. I don't like the *Whole Foods Scene* but while there to pick up some tonic water, they had some selection but a quick check and all dates were fresh....only thing is that are in the ice box .

[JessKidden]

"...only thing is that are in the ice box ."

What's wrong with that? If you're talking about an open, dairy-type cooler- I agree, I don't care for them for beer (but that's how most grocery stores handle their beer sales, sitting next to the "I Can't Believe it's Not Butter" and 2% Milk) but if you're concerned with "freshness" I'd much rather take a chance on a questionable dated beer that's been kept cold the entire time than one sitting out in the open at room temperature under beer-killing florescent light. Especially in a closed case from the walk-in cooler -I'm guessing you mean a cooler/cold box, even tho' "ice box" implies below freezing.

Too cold to drink? It'll warm up once poured into a glass.

Don't want to let cold beer get warm and then refrigerate it again? That's generally considered a beer myth these days- frequent extreme changes in temp. aren't good for beer, but the typical "buy cold- warm on the way home- refrigerator at home" changes shouldn't affect most beers noticeably.

[nerdgoggles]

I just wanted to add that Thrifty is also known as American Beer Distributors. Their selection is amazing and fresh and they will fill growlers from a few on-tap, typically local beers. It's a wonderland in there.

-----
American Beer Distributing
256 Court St, Brooklyn, NY 11231

[Jim Dorsch]

Perhaps your best bet is to find a reputable retailer who doesn't mind pitching the occasional case of old beer in the dumpster. Sites such as beeradvocate have user ratings of retailers.

[JessKidden]

"Perhaps your best bet is to find a reputable retailer who doesn't mind pitching the occasional case of old beer in the dumpster."

What a sin! Beer makes a great addition to the compost pile and the bottles should be recycled (mandatory in some states). -g-

Not to mention the fact that, where allowed by state law, old beer can be returned to the distributor for credit and/or replacement with new stock. "CAN" being the operative word- not often "IS"- many distributors resist it and I've had retailers tell me that beer (macro styles included) is good for "two years".

" Sites such as beeradvocate have user ratings of retailers."

Many of the highest rated retailers I visit have lots of old beer on the shelf (and, again, I'm including beers that do not "age" but simply get old and stale)- I think, in part, it's now caused by the "rating tickers" ; why else would someone be trying to sell bottles of New Orleans-brewed Dixie (at a store with a rating in the high 90's) when the brewery stopped brewing with Katrina? (Now, if you ask "Why would anyone even want *fresh* Dixie", well, you got me there...)

I agree that a good, knowledgable beer retailer is often a delight to buy from, but I've found that rather than argue with you over "freshness" or roll their eyes at the "geek", they'll just shrug their shoulders when you point out their over-the-hill, stale beers. I don't trust any of 'em- and "We just got that in" doesn't mean that the beer wasn't sitting in the distributors warehouse for a year, either. "Check the date", I say and buy the beer that's been kept in the dark whenever possible.

[chefwong]

I did a stop off this morning at New Beer on Chrystie, and .....the stuff I was looking for - Stone & Smutty IPA, and Hindochina White & Ginger Ale was past it's date.

The Hindochina stuff I could not deciper the date code on it, but bearing the other bottles I looked at, I assumed it was past as well.

Off to Thrifty on Court Street or the place over in Chelsea.

[JessKidden]

Well, so "New Beer" doesn't always sell "new beer", huh?

Actually, the matter of "freshness" of beer is further complicated by the packaging (cans protect better than bottles of any color), strength of the beer (higher alcohol lasts longer, since alcohol is a preservative), style of beer (lighter beers, like pilsner-style lagers, are the most fragile) and how the beer was packaged (filtered, micro-filtered, pasteurzied, bottle-conditioned, etc.)

In the case of hoppy beers like the IPA's, tho' "stronger" than many lighter beers, hops (even tho', they, too, have preservative qualities) tend to fade after a few monthes in the bottle. The beers aren't "bad" just not as good as they once were. (I try to always buy Victory's HopDevil and Prima Pils bottles with at least 2 months to go- my Prima case I bought yesterday has a "Best By" of Nov. 20, 2007- no problem...)

And, just as some brewers give their beers too much time, some are overly cautious. Yesterday, I bought a case of Sly Fox Pikeland Pils with a "best by" date of next week and my wife was shocked, but, being in cans, I've found that that beer holds up quite well (thanks to some I brought to Thanksgiving last year and left in the family 'frig, that I had a few weeks back while visiting my parents). But, I still liked the fact that the case was dated, so it was MY decision to make.

So, basically, there's a lot to discuss and pay attention to, but no hard and fast "general" rule and sometimes you just have to take a chance. (Me- I might have popped for the Hitachino Nests if I really wanted them.)

And, remember, too, that in the same geographical area, retailers are getting their beers from the same distributor, so in the case of imports or beers from quite a distance away, ALL the local sellers might have the same "batch" of beer on the shelf.

Hey, it's a b*tch sometimes when you care about your beer, and sometimes you may think "Ah, heck, why not just drink "Born on" Bud..."..... then you remember what it tastes like...

[Jim Dorsch]

Much of what you say leads to the point that there's no subsitute for deep knowledge of the retail market. I'm sure your knowledge gives you a much better batting average than that of the typical beer consumer in regards to quality and freshness.

[tcouch]

As a Liquor Store Manager, I can tell you what my store does with outdated beer. I cannot tell you how other stores handle their products. At my store, we are not allowed to "knowingly" sell outdated beer. Do we? I'm sure we do, because some beers don't have "born on" or "expiration" dates on the packaging. They use some cryptic codes.

I've repeatedly asked my vendors for a decoding book, as they do exist. But, as was told to me by one of my salesmen. "We don't like our retailers having the books." Really?

If it was a simple matter of me disposing of the outdated beer, what would my supplier care, if I had the book. The fact is, that my suppliers are required to buyback all outdated beer.

So, here he sells me 150 cases of some poor selling beer, makes his commission on the sale, has to buy back 120 cases of expired product, now he's lost most of that commission he made earlier.

Now, since they don't want me having the book, I've done a little research and found quite a bit of info on websites, on how to read these codes. I check my store daily for outdated beer, and you better believe I'm going to let my salesmen know about it.

[JessKidden]

Most beers have always had some sort of date code (or else, how would brewers, distributor or retailers know when to pull them?) but they were often hard to decypher- the most common codes tended to be the "day of the year" and the year, i.e., if you saw the series of numbers 180 06 - you'd expect that the beer was bottled sometime near the beginning of July (the 180th day of the year), 2006. More and more brewers are putting the actual bottling date on the bottles, labels or cases and other are putting "Best by" dates. Unfortunately, they don't help much with freshness if you don't know the length of time the brewers gives the beer. Many European brands give their beer exported to the US 1 year- way too long for many popular, average alcohol beer styles. I like the 3-4 months rule for most average beers, and that's what most US brewers go by too.

And then there's problem of figuring out the date, but not knowing if it's a "Bottled on" or a "Best By" ("Gee, was this ale bottled last week, or 4 months and 1 week ago?").

Of course, even the freshest beer is going to be damaged by mishandling, especially exposure to light and very high temps. Light is the worst and the faster- especially beers in clear or green glass that's not otherwise "treated"- a half hour in the sun, a few hours under flourescent light and green bottled beer that came out of the brewery yesterday is gone south.... I only buy green bottled beer by the case for that reason (and can't think of a clear bottle beer I buy at all).