A Friendly Reminder to Check Date Codes

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beer age, BevMo, Fresh Beer Only!, Nelson Imperial IPA, old beer, Widmer Brothers

I try to do most of my beer shopping at small, locally owned shops; places like Bottlecraft, Bine and Vine, Olive Tree Market and (though I don’t stop in nearly enough because the location isn’t very convenient for me) Best Damn Beer Shop. Places where I can be fairly confident that the beer turns over with some regularity and isn’t sitting around on the shelves for months at a time. But every once in a while I find myself near a BevMo and decide to stop in to see what they have.

Yesterday I was near BevMo in La Mesa and went in to check out the selection. While browsing the beer aisles I came across Widmer Brothers Nelson Imperial IPA, a beer I’ve heard good things about but have never had. A four pack of 12oz bottles was around $8 and the 22oz bombers were selling for around $4.50. I decided to get the 22oz, picked one up and kept browsing. When I was nearly done and about to pay I l looked at the label again and noticed the date code on the bottle. This beer had been bottled in August of 2011 and had been presumably sitting out on the warm shelves of BevMo ever since. Widmer Brothers describes Nelson Imperial IPA as having “a powerful hoppy character” but at 7+ months of sitting around on warm shelves I decided to skip it. I checked the four pack, which showed those beers had been bottled in February which seemed much more reasonable, though not being refrigerated wasn’t doing the beer any favors.

Though there are exceptions, most beer should be consumed as fresh as possible, especially IPAs and other hoppy beers. Sitting around for a few months shouldn’t ruin a beer, but the taste will start to drop off over time. Being stored cool and at a constant temperature helps maintain freshness.

I’m sure the Nelson Imperial IPA was still drinkable, though I’d be willing to bet it wouldn’t have nearly as much of that “powerful hoppy character” Widmer Brothers boasts, the hops would have faded and it would be much more malty and sweet. It certainly wouldn’t be dangerous to drink and shouldn’t be considered “expired”. But chances are had I drank it without knowing how old it was, my perception of Nelson Imperial IPA and Widmer Brothers IPAs in general would go down, causing me to avoid the products in the future.

Not all breweries put dates on their bottles, but for those that do it’s a good idea to check out how old a beer is before you buy it, especially if you’re shopping at stores that might not take such good care of their beer. The breweries that do date their bottles often use different formats, this site can be pretty helpful in find and decoding what a date on a given bottle means.

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Farmhouse Friday: Fantome Magic Ghost

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fantome magic ghost, green beer, green tea beer

I’ll start out by saying that Fantôme Magic Ghost is one of the most unique looking beers I’ve ever seen, the picture here doesn’t do justice to just how spectacularly green this beer is. Magic Ghost is said to be made with green tea, but I didn’t pick up any flavors that I would attribute to the use of green tea. I’m also assuming the green color of the beer is from food coloring, I don’t know that for sure, but can’t think of anything that would make it so vibrantly green.

Magic Ghost is sweeter than most Saisons, but not overly sweet. The smell is reminiscent of a raspberry or strawberry cream soda with just a bit of musty Saison funk in there.

The first thing I noticed upon the first sip was the prickly mouthfeel due to the high carbonation. Just like the smell the taste is on the sweet side and one of the first things I taste is strawberries and cream. Magic Ghost is fairly citrusy as well, my mind wanders towards lime, but I can’t help but think that’s just due to the color of the beer. The same thing goes for the kiwi flavor I’m picking up. Does this beer really taste like kiwi or is that just a trick due to the green kiwi like color of the beer? There’s some candied-ginger and lemongrass flavors in there as well, with the lemongrass becoming more noticeable as it warms up.

Magic Ghost is slightly tart, but nowhere near sour. A bit of typical Saison funk, presumably from the yeast is present as well, but certainly doesn’t take front and center over all the other things going on with this beer.

Some people might call Magic Ghost a gimmick, but I call it a damn good (and unique looking beer). I picked this bottle up for $15 at Bottlecraft but according to their website they’ve since sold out. I know that Olive Tree Market and Best Damn Beer Shop got some in as well (and probably more shops around town as well). If you want to try this beer I’d say go out and get one sooner rather than later. And putting a couple of bottles away in a cool dark place until March 17th wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

UPDATE: Dr. Bill brought to my attention that this beer was made with woodruff syrup, which is what gives it the vibrant green color. I’m not sure if there is green tea in it or not, but woodruff does explain the color.

Photo by Chris Hammett

Farmhouse Friday: Stillwater Cellar Door

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cellar door, stillwater artisanal ales

While I’ve only have a few examples of it, I’m a big fan of sage in beer. I had been meaning to try something from Stillwater Artisanal Ales and the mention of sage in Cellar Door jumped out at me. I drank this on a hot day and it was perfectly light and refreshing.

It felt a little thin, but that probably helped make it more refreshing. The first tastes are pretty sweet (possibly due to the wheat) and citrusy, Cellar Door uses Citra hops which are not one of my favorite hop varieties. As the beer warms the citrus fades into the background and the sage steps up a bit to balance things out. There isn’t a strong sage presence, just a hint which mellows out the citrus perfectly well. There’s some earthy spiciness, which could be due to the Saison yeast or the sage (or both) in there as well.

All in all Cellar Door is a solid beer, and absolutely perfect for a hot summer day. I picked this bottle up at Olive Tree Market in Ocean Beach for $11.49 for a 750ml bottle. I’ve also seen beers from Stillwater at Best Damn Beer Shop downtown.

Photo: Creative Commons – flickr user walknboston

Deschutes Base Camp San Diego

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deschutes base camp san diego, deschutes brewery, deschutes jake harper, deschutes san diego, deschutes the abyss, deschutes woody, deschutes woody san diego

I had no idea until recently, when the Brewers Association released their annual report on the Top 50 Craft Breweries by Sales Volume that Oregon’s Deschutes Brewery made so much beer. They’re fifth on the BA list, which means they make a lot of beer. I always figured they must be somewhat sizeable based on their distribution, but I had no idea they were one of the top producers of craft beer in the country. But knowing how big they are, it makes sense that they’re rolling into town for a week as part of their Base Camp tour.

Deschutes Brewery is bringing Woody and will be spending some time here in San Diego over the next few days. They have ten events lined up over five days starting Tuesday when they’ll be at Toronado. Throughout the week they’ll be pouring a great lineup of beers including various vintages of The Abyss their barrel-aged Imperial Stout, Jubel 2010 (released once every ten years) and plenty of others at bars and restaurants including a two year vertical of The Abyss at Olive Tree Market, a beer pairing dinner at Churchill’s Pub and Grille, a Bourbon Beers and BBQ at Downtown Johnny Brown’s and more. Deschutes brewer Jake Harper will also be at many of the events .

Head on over to the Events page or read below for the full schedule of events from Deschutes.

The Bruery Tasting Flight at Olive Tree Market – Wednesday, Nov 10th

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autumn maple, black tuesday, black tuesday tasting, bruery flight, coton, humulus gold, saison de lente, saison rue, san diego beer week bruery, san diego beer week olive tree market, the bruery tasting, three french hens, trade winds triple

The Bruery makes some seriously good beers. One of their beers, the 19.5% ABV Black Tuesday is much sought after among beer geeks. Brewed in small batches it’s fairly rare and can be quite difficult to get a bottle of . When recently put on sale on The Bruery’s website all available bottles were sold out within minutes. But if you haven’t had a chance to taste this beer Olive Tree Market in Ocean Beach has you covered. No, they won’t be selling bottles of Black Tuesday, but they are hosting a tasting with one of the brewers from The Bruery tomorrow (Wednesday, November 10th) with nine beers including Black Tuesday.

$16 gets you 9 2oz tasters, the following beers will be poured:

• Saison De Lente
• Saison Rue
• Trade Winds Triple
• Rugbroad
• Humulus Gold (On Tap)
• Autumn Maple
• Three French Hens
• Coton
• Black Tuesday

The tasting runs from 4-8pm, but if you have your heart set on tasting Black Tuesday (or any of these fantastic beers) I recommend getting there as close to 4pm as possible.

Olive Tree Market is located at 4805 Narragansett Avenue in Ocean Beach.