TOPIC:

Lately I've had a few Sierra Nevada Torpedo's that just aren't as bright and brutal as I know they can be.

The ones I've seen had expiration dates of 4/28/2012 or 5/27/2012 - about 6 months out from being bottled.

This got me curious. Since then I've also seen:
- Victory HopDevil with May 12, 2012 expiry date.
- Great Divide Fresh Hop Ale actually has a bottled-on date: Oct 14, 2010 - over *a year* ago.

Big American IPAs start to lose their hops after 3 months in the bottle. There are exceptions (SN Celebration holds up remarkably well if it's been constantly refrigerated) but for some of these there's just no way they have the same flavor the brewer wanted you to buy and taste. The beer geek who's seeking out these beers will probably know that expiration dates are a legal requirement and not much else, and will buy accordingly. Everyone else could get a bad impression of a good brewery.

Does this bother anyone else? Have you noticed any taste differences?

I know these beers came a long way at significant expense but, without naming retailers (pub or offie), something like year-old GD Fresh Hop is being sold at full price when it should be in the discount bin, imho.

Make it a point to always check the date on every label of beer whether its in a pub or in an off-licence. I have my local offie pestered as I visibly check everything and call him out on having out of date beeron the shelves.

For a beer producer its suicide to have outdated/old beer on the shelf, like you say, if a consumer tastes it gone off they might think it should taste that way and not only never try it again, but discourage anyone he knows to never try it.

An interesting article in this month's Brewers' Guardian talks to the head of Samuel Adams about their "beer amnesty" which allows distributors and retailers to return unsold stock free of charge and have it replaced. An excellent idea in my opinion.

As much as I think it probably SHOULD bother me, especially when we're talking about expensive imported American Pale Ales or IPAs, I still find them over-all really pleasant even after 6 to 9 months after bottling.

It's the normal strength stouts that I find take the quickest dive in taste in the bottle. Those WONDERFUL layered flavors that you get a proper complex microbrewed stout just disappear into an almost singular "roast" flavor in 3-4ish months and then at about 6 months taste not a small bit like black olives.

Try a fresh keg or bottle of O'hara's or Black Rock Stout and compare it to one that's 6 months from it's expiry date; the difference is HUGE. At 6 months all normal stouts taste essentially the same; from 0-3 months they're something magical.

This is very counter to what I was always told about beer aging and "general wisdom" has always said that darker beers age better; that's a load of crap if I've ever heard any.



You're certainly rightfully bothered that premium-priced really hoppy beers are NOT at their best at the age many places are selling them.

-But the same thing is happening with locally produced bottled stouts, too and I find the impact to flavor is more significant on the stouts and porters.

Until a micro can afford a double evacuation long-stemmed filler they should be ensuring that beers don't sit on the shelf past 6 months, or they should be bottle conditioning.

-I'm REALLY interested to see what happens with 8 Degrees' Porter as we'll have a bottle conditioned porter available and I'm really expecting it to hold up under aging much better than it's filtered brethren.




Adam

"KeeganAles":1hqslqjk wrote: Lately I've had a few Sierra Nevada Torpedo's that just aren't as bright and brutal as I know they can be.
[/quote:1hqslqjk]

That's the one Sierra Nevada beer I just can't do. I find it to be TOO brutal and it's bitterness fully harsh. (I hate to blame it on Citra, but if the shoe fits...)


Maybe I'd like one of these 6 month + old versions better...


Adam