Beer Past Expiration Date

I just bought some Full Sail Christmas beer and I noticed that the expiration date was 2/25/05. Is it still good? I thought expired beer (the good kind) just got stronger. Can stores sell beer past the expiration date? Should I ask for a refund? Whaddaya think?

Reply to
grifty
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Was it good BEFORE the date? If so, it may still be good, just not as good. It won't kill you.

Stronger? Nope. *Some* beers do improve with age (mostly bottle conditioned beers and/or high alcohol beers), but they don't gain alcohol. And sitting in a cooler behind a glass door or on a room temperature shelf exposed to light is not the best way to "age" a beer.

Oh, yeah. Some store, it seems, ONLY sell beer that's out of date.

Well, being a "Christmas beer" shoulda been a tip-off to it's age and most retailers don't know sh*t about beer or proper beer storage (why else would they take beer in green or clear glass OUT of the case and put it on a warm shelf exposed to sunlight?) and are often very reluctant to give you back money. You can ask for one just to see what happens.

I've had better luck complaining to distributors and brewers about old beer on the shelf than trying for a refund from a retailer.

Reply to
jesskidden

"jesskidden" schreef in bericht news:9QCke.24076$ snipped-for-privacy@fe12.lga...

That is not *quite* true. Best example being the adventures of Orval on the Swedish market, before the ABV limits where abolished. They had to experience - on which they were, alledgedly, blissfully unaware, that their beer gained as much as 1% ABV by refermenting in the bottle, bringing it over the legal limit in Scandinavia.

Theoretically, they can't. Many do.

I would buy it all the same, put it in my cellar, and, seen it is a "Christmas beer", hope that ageing brought some welcome changes, as esterization and suchlike...

Cheers, Joris

Reply to
Joris Pattyn

LOL! You made my day, jess!

Reply to
Lew Bryson

In the US, AFAIK there are no laws preventing stores from selling before the "Best by" date.

Reply to
Joel

Don't think they can be prevented from doing so, or be punished for it, here, neither. But I'm pretty sure that if a client asks for refund, they are obliged to do so. Joris

Reply to
Joris Pattyn

As I like to point out, if they did it with milk, they'd get thrown in jail.

Reply to
Lew Bryson

Or perhaps merely cited. Although I can relate to your analogy, my extensive experience with both forms of liquid nourishment leads me to a firm belief that milk is extremely perishable, while beer is not. Thomas Hardy's Ale, anyone?

Reply to
Joel

:> In the US, AFAIK there are no laws preventing stores from :> selling before the "Best by" date. : : As I like to point out, if they did it with milk, they'd get thrown in jail. :

Sure but then those occasional finds of '96 Samichlaus in the back of other beers on dusty shelves would be eliminated and the thrill of the chase would vanish.

Reply to
Bill Benzel

To paraphrase Pastor Flash, "I drink only good biers"

dj

Reply to
Dr. Cajones

Guys... It was a joke. Really.

Reply to
Lew Bryson

There's only one joker in r.f.d.b crazy enough to make a statement like that and I have to find out who he is!

Reply to
Bill Benzel

Reply to
William Harley

Anyone know the alcohol content of Full Sail? Seemed to me like about

10%. I know that Left Hand Imperial Stout is 9% alcohol. A bomber of that will set you up.
Reply to
grifty

"Joris Pattyn" wrote in news:y2Fke.227133$ snipped-for-privacy@biebel.telenet-ops.be:

If you're talking ~0.1% then I might agree.

I won't say that a heavy Champagne bottle couldn't handle that much ferment (though I doubt it). But an Orval bottle? I can't imagine.

I can go from x% to x+1% in an Orval bottle?

Folkore.

If for no other reason than: The Scandinavians measure abv/abw during the intial bottling rather than the final product? Guessing...just a guess...that they are not that stupid.

Your brewer/distributor will float you a new sixpack (or?) before the retailer will? You're lucky I'm not your brewer/distributor.

Scott

Reply to
Scott Kaczorowski

Yup, that's been my experience. Once had a distributor come to my house and drop off a CASE of Ballantine Brewers Gold Ale (at the time, it was a brand new product) after a phone call complaining about old Ballantine XXX Ale that was served to me at a bar that took no interest when I mentioned the old stock.

North Coast's owner was very nice and sent me a refund for a case of Acme IPA that was several years old and mixed in with new stock. The retailer and distributor didn't seem to care even after HE contacted them.

Yeah, I've been reading your posts and I agree ...

Reply to
jesskidden

"jesskidden" wrote in news:7n5le.25691$ snipped-for-privacy@fe09.lga:

I'll be dipped. I never would have guessed that. Which obviously means I've never tried it.

Yes, one of many things I've said stupidly or ill-advisedly or too loudly or...

But in this case it was just said poorly.

What I meant (no, really) was that I would imagine that the brewer/distributor probably did their job and it is the responsibility of the retailer to deal with poor performance on their own part. They are the third tier, no? They could have helped you out and dealt with the distributor themselves.

I've always had good luck sending beer back at the point of sale (except for the excremental Goat Hill Tavern - previous rants available at deja.com).

I'm glad to hear that your distributor gives a hoot. I'll bet they went to the retailer in question, too. It's nice to hear that sort of thing, it really is.

Scott

Reply to
Scott Kaczorowski

Yeah, nice theory but that's not the way it works in most cases. Part of the brewer's "job" is to insure that his products are being marketed correctly by his distributor and retailer. When (in my case) North Coast heard that the distributor had obviously shipped old beer to a retailer or had stacked new beer atop old, he was upset that his beer was being mishandled. (A friend had purchased the case on top of the bad one the week before- which is why I didn't carefully check the date code at purchase.) To the retailer, it was just another of thousands of products along side of Ripple, Slim Jims and Diet Coke- to North Coast it was HIS beer.

Certainly part of the distributor's job is to make sure stock is rotated correctly and old beer is pulled.

Reply to
jesskidden

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