• About
  • About

San Diego Beer Blog

Tag Archives: beer age

A Friendly Reminder to Check Date Codes

17 Tuesday Apr 2012

Posted by Jeff Hammett in beer stores, best damn beer shop, bine and vine, bottlecraft, olive tree market

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

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.

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Archives

  • October 2012
  • August 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010

Categories

  • bars and restaurants
    • alpine beer co. pub
    • blind lady ale house
    • chuchills pub
    • counterpoint
    • craft and commerce
    • downtown johnny brown's
    • el take it easy
    • eleven
    • encinitas ale house
    • generals american pub
    • hamilton's tavern
    • KNB wine cellars
    • live wire
    • local habit
    • main tap tavern
    • monkey paw
    • neighborhood
    • o'brien's pub
    • phileas foggs
    • pizza port
    • pizza port bressi ranch
    • pizza port carlsbad
    • pizza port ocean beach
    • pizza port san clemente
    • pizza port solana beach
    • press box
    • ritual tavern
    • sea rocket bistro
    • small bar
    • south park abbey
    • stone brewing world bistro and gardens
    • stone company store oceanside
    • stone company store south park
    • sublime ale house
    • the grill
    • the high dive
    • the linkery
    • the lodge at torrey pines
    • the ruby room
    • the station
    • the tap room
    • the tipsy crow
    • tiger!tiger!
    • toronado
    • URBN
    • urge gastropub
  • beer books
  • beer previews
  • beer reviews
    • farmhouse friday
    • san diego brewed
  • beer stores
    • beer box tijuana
    • best damn beer shop
    • beverages 4 less
    • bine and vine
    • bottlecraft
    • holiday wine cellar
    • keg-n-bottle
    • olive tree market
    • pizza port bottle shop
    • south bay drugs
    • the bruery provisions
  • breweries
    • 5 points brewing co.
    • airdale brewing co.
    • alesmith brewing co.
    • allagash brewing co.
    • alpine beer co.
    • automatic brewing co.
    • avery brewing co.
    • ballast point brewing co.
    • bay bridge brewing
    • breakwater brewing co.
    • brew house at eastlake
    • butchers brewing
    • coronado brewing co.
    • craftsman brewing co.
    • Cucapá
    • dogfish head brewing co.
    • firehouse brewing co.
    • firestone walker brewing co.
    • gordon biersch
    • great divide brewing co.
    • green flash brewing co.
    • hess brewing co.
    • iron fist brewing co.
    • julian hard cider
    • karl strauss brewing co.
    • kern river brewing co.
    • la jolla brewhouse
    • latitude 33
    • lightning brewing co.
    • lost abbey
    • manzanita brewing co.
    • marin brewing co.
    • mission brewery
    • mother earth brew co.
    • new belgium brewing co.
    • new english brewing co.
    • oceanside ale works
    • on the tracks brewery
    • pacific beach ale house
    • poor house brewing co. & supply
    • port brewing co.
    • rock bottom la jolla
    • rough draft brewing co.
    • russian river brewing co.
    • san diego brewing co.
    • sierra nevada brewing co.
    • ska brewing co.
    • societe brewing co.
    • stone brewing co.
    • the beer company
    • the bruery
    • white labs
  • brewery tours of san diego
  • events
    • beer dinners
    • beer festivals
    • beer u
    • brewmaster series
    • chicks for beer
    • drinkabout
    • meet the brewer
    • san diego beer week
    • tasting flights
  • homebrew
    • QUAFF
  • homebrew supplies
    • home brew mart
    • homebrews and gardens
  • san diego brewer's guild
  • Uncategorized
  • west coaster

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • San Diego Beer Blog
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • San Diego Beer Blog
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar