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Stale Craft Beer: Who's to Blame?

I'll beat this dead horse again, I have been beating this dead horse since the mid-1990's and I will keep on beating this dead horse until there is nothing left. With this, I will not point fingers directly at anyone, just ask questions. Any and all industry folk please chime in. Who is to blame?

The brewer or importer? A few actually buy back stale beer. Freshness dates vary from brewery to brewery. Some don't use any kind of freshness dating.

The distributor? Some have been know to watch their stock carefully and others will sell last years like it is this year's brew.

The retailer? This is critical mass here for the consumer, the make or break point for everyone. Two-year-old O-fest is not a good thing even if it has been sitting in the cooler. Brewpubs serving Maibock in July? O-fest in Dec?

The consumer? A handful of beer geeks know what to look for, but getting burned is still a problem. Novice beer drinkers don't have a clue so education is a must.

The government? Alcohol is deemed a drug so beer is on the short end of the stick to start with. We would not buy milk, bread or eggs past their prime right?

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Reply to
beeradvocates
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I can tell you it's probably not the brewer, as: a) beer is freshest at the brewery; b) breweries get beer out the door as fast as humanly possible(usually space considerations, not too mention cash flow; c) breweries WANT beer to be consumed at it's freshest-moist others on the list could give a rat's ass.

I would tend to place blame on the retailer, as this is where beer does not get rotated, and, especially in the case of package beer, beer sits longest at room temp(displays, hot shelf, etc).

Reply to
Frank Mancuso

You forgot the distributor (in the typical three-tier system anyway).

I've had stale/oxidized/sour beer that was purely the fault of the distributor not pulling product that shouldn't have made it to the final point of sale.

Distributors also should be the ones pulling retail product that's past stale dates, but if the retail product is placed past the stale date anyway...

Reply to
dgs

Clearly the consumer is in control here. If consumers are willing to roll the dice by purchasing beer with no bottling date then they have themselves to blame if the beer ends up being 1 year old. The problem will be resolved quickly if they patronize only those brewers willing to display a meaningful date.

However, I think it is safe to say that this is a non-issue for the vast majority of beer drinkers.

Reply to
John S.

"John S." schreef in bericht news: snipped-for-privacy@19g2000hsx.googlegroups.com...

Correction: the consumer OUGHT to be in control. However, by mentioning something completely inane as a "best before date", the consumer has no idea whatsoever. There's only one date which is important: the bottling date (kegging date, OK, in the specific cases). No idea how it is on the "West" side of the pond, but in the EU, this is forbidden by law. "Morons" doesn't come near...

Reply to
Joris Pattyn

I agree, especially microbrewers. Most have not the resources for major stockpiling.

What to do? I just called the brewer and let them know I got hold of a couple crappy sixers, knowing they make very good beer. The crappy one's came from a chain-marketer, yet I always get good stuff from the small time retailer around the corner with a high turnaround (I'm their biggest customer ;). In short.... complain!

nb

Reply to
notbob

berichtnews: snipped-for-privacy@19g2000hsx.googlegroups.com...

I was NOT suggesting a best-before-date, but a bottled on date. And the consumer can be in control. If this is perceived of as a signficant problem by enough beer drinkers then it's resolution is indeed very simple and it is in their control. Just buy beer from brewers that properly mark their beer. The non-complying beer makers will adjust or go out of business.

OTOH, if only a few beer drinkers see this as a problem then they can do one of two things:

  1. Continue drinking many brands of beer with the understanding that they will lilkely encounter some old beer.
  2. Switch to beer from brewers that date their beer properly.
Reply to
John S.

I have no problem with "Best By" *as long* as I know how many months the brewer allows for that period.

Funny you should mention European vs. US dates, because in the US the majority of imported Euro-brands (the ones I check most often are Pilsner Urquell, Jever and UK brands like Young's and Fullers) that are dated have a "Best by" date and seem to give their beers 1 YEAR from bottling/canning, which is WAY to much for those beers. (The last of the Young's beers from the Ram Brewery that still sit on the shelf near me, for instance, have "Best by" dates of Aug. or Sept. '07- and the brewery closed in Sept. 2006.) By comparison, most US brewers, even the industrial light lagers "Big 3" only give their beers 3-4 months before the pull date.

Another problem, tho', with "Best By" is that some drinkers mis-read it as "This will kill you after..."- when, obviously, it's a recommendation to drink the beer within the "Best" period and that after it, while it may not be "Best", it's still "OK" to drink and enjoy. Obviously, most retailers don't read or care about the dates, since one can easily find out-of-date beers on the shelf of both the corner liquor store and the some of the best craft beer-centric retailers. It's no longer old, stale beer- it's pre-cellared!

Reply to
jesskidden

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