Beer reviews and recommendations

[Bubba]

Stowe Brewers Festival July 29-30 expands in second year

http://www.vermontbiz.com/event/stowe-b ... econd-year" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The current issue of Vermont Business Magazine also has an article entitled "Vermont Brewers Tops in Taste and Output" but, unless you're a subscriber, I don't think you can get it on line.

[Bubba]

Beer Institute Announces New Guidelines That Promote Consumer Choice And Transparency
Tue, 07/12/2016 by Beer Institute

http://www.foodmanufacturing.com/news/2 ... 6et_rid%3d" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Participating brewers and importers will voluntarily list calories, carbohydrates, protein, fat and alcohol by volume on their beer products by including a serving facts statement consistent with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Trade Bureau (TTB) ruling 2013-2. In addition, they will provide freshness dating, and disclose ingredients via a list, a reference to a website with the information, or a QR code on the label or secondary packaging. Beer Institute member companies, including industry leaders such as Anheuser-Busch, MillerCoors, HeinekenUSA, Constellation Brands Beer Division, North American Breweries and Craft Brew Alliance, have agreed to follow these standards. These companies together produce more than 81% of the volume of beer sold in the U.S."

[Mister Moose]

Beer Institute Announces New Guidelines That Promote Consumer Choice And Transparency
Tue, 07/12/2016 by Beer Institute


"Participating brewers and importers will voluntarily list freshness dating ...

Beer Institute member companies, including industry leaders such as Anheuser-Busch, MillerCoors, HeinekenUSA, Constellation Brands Beer Division, North American Breweries and Craft Brew Alliance, have agreed to follow these standards. These companies together produce more than 81% of the volume of beer sold in the U.S."

Can only hope smaller brewers adopt dating all beer produced.

[madhatter]

Beer Institute Announces New Guidelines That Promote Consumer Choice And Transparency
Tue, 07/12/2016 by Beer Institute


"Participating brewers and importers will voluntarily list freshness dating ...

Beer Institute member companies, including industry leaders such as Anheuser-Busch, MillerCoors, HeinekenUSA, Constellation Brands Beer Division, North American Breweries and Craft Brew Alliance, have agreed to follow these standards. These companies together produce more than 81% of the volume of beer sold in the U.S."

Can only hope smaller brewers adopt dating all beer produced.

then what do they do w the beer on the shelves post date? take it back? refuse to deliver to vendors that have leftover product? I mean I'm not in disagreement, seems a lot of whats left on the rd now is past it's date...I don't always pay attn to that kind of thing to begin with usually opting for whatever looks enticing vs the plethora of meh...last two purchases on the rd were well beyond the date...one was fine, the other? not sure...

[Mister Moose]

Can only hope smaller brewers adopt dating all beer produced.

then what do they do w the beer on the shelves post date? take it back? ...

Or sell it to you....

Whether it's bread, eggs, orange juice or beer, I'd like a born on date please. Where do all the expired bread loaves go? Discount racks, donated...

Just think, a few decades from now I can be sitting on the front porch at Del Boca Vista, thinking back on the fun times I had at Killington, and the day old beer truck rolls up and drops off the 75% off beer that just went out of date. Doesn't sound so bad.

[madhatter]

Can only hope smaller brewers adopt dating all beer produced.

then what do they do w the beer on the shelves post date? take it back? ...

Or sell it to you....

Whether it's bread, eggs, orange juice or beer, I'd like a born on date please. Where do all the expired bread loaves go? Discount racks, donated...

Just think, a few decades from now I can be sitting on the front porch at Del Boca Vista, thinking back on the fun times I had at Killington, and the day old beer truck rolls up and drops off the 75% off beer that just went out of date. Doesn't sound so bad.

at least not to the buyer...as a beer distributor, I'd be reluctant to make that kind of offer...yamight get a " use by for best results" date but odds of the distributor taking it back are nil...and unless I'm turning a lot of it over, as a retailer I;d be reluctant to stock beer that had a short shelf life and was considered " old" or " past prime" after that date...

[Mister Moose]

Can only hope smaller brewers adopt dating all beer produced.

then what do they do w the beer on the shelves post date? take it back? ...

Or sell it to you....

Whether it's bread, eggs, orange juice or beer, I'd like a born on date please. Where do all the expired bread loaves go? Discount racks, donated...

Just think, a few decades from now I can be sitting on the front porch at Del Boca Vista, thinking back on the fun times I had at Killington, and the day old beer truck rolls up and drops off the 75% off beer that just went out of date. Doesn't sound so bad.

at least not to the buyer...as a beer distributor, I'd be reluctant to make that kind of offer...yamight get a " use by for best results" date but odds of the distributor taking it back are nil...and unless I'm turning a lot of it over, as a retailer I;d be reluctant to stock beer that had a short shelf life and was considered " old" or " past prime" after that date...

Bread distributors seem to be able to function just fine with expiration dates. I'm sure the route drivers keep sales statistics and stock the shelves appropriately so that fresh stock rotates and stock is in line with expected sales volume.

I'd say about 1/3 of craft beer now carries a date, either best by... or expires on....

IPA is likely the most freshness critical beer out there. It's at the point where unless it's an IPA that is either sold the week it arrives, so you know it's extremely fresh (ie who needs a date on Heady Topper) or a dated bottle, I don't buy it. If you're talking a beginner/mainstream IPA like Harpoon or Sam Adams, it matters a lot less. Many beer distributors, and many liquor stores are selling fairly old product, and the consumer has no way of telling. I've seen dated bottles in the store that are a year old.

[madhatter]

Can only hope smaller brewers adopt dating all beer produced.

then what do they do w the beer on the shelves post date? take it back? ...

Or sell it to you....

Whether it's bread, eggs, orange juice or beer, I'd like a born on date please. Where do all the expired bread loaves go? Discount racks, donated...

Just think, a few decades from now I can be sitting on the front porch at Del Boca Vista, thinking back on the fun times I had at Killington, and the day old beer truck rolls up and drops off the 75% off beer that just went out of date. Doesn't sound so bad.

at least not to the buyer...as a beer distributor, I'd be reluctant to make that kind of offer...yamight get a " use by for best results" date but odds of the distributor taking it back are nil...and unless I'm turning a lot of it over, as a retailer I;d be reluctant to stock beer that had a short shelf life and was considered " old" or " past prime" after that date...

Bread distributors seem to be able to function just fine with expiration dates. I'm sure the route drivers keep sales statistics and stock the shelves appropriately so that fresh stock rotates and stock is in line with expected sales volume.

I'd say about 1/3 of craft beer now carries a date, either best by... or expires on....

IPA is likely the most freshness critical beer out there. It's at the point where unless it's an IPA that is either sold the week it arrives, so you know it's extremely fresh (ie who needs a date on Heady Topper) or a dated bottle, I don't buy it. If you're talking a beginner/mainstream IPA like Harpoon or Sam Adams, it matters a lot less. Many beer distributors, and many liquor stores are selling fairly old product, and the consumer has no way of telling. I've seen dated bottles in the store that are a year old.

if only beer were "baked fresh daily" ...not saying I don;t want the freshest bestest of the best but...

[Mister Moose]

if only beer were "baked fresh daily" ...not saying I don;t want the freshest bestest of the best but...

I can't believe I'm having this much trouble getting across a simple freshness label practice with a left wing, more government, Vermont organic vegetable growing, turkey herding, Foley bomber buying, pink ski wearing, biker chick marrying guy like you.

Beer IS made fresh daily out there. Not that every brewery makes it fresh every day, but every day something new from somebody comes in. Just not on your route.

[MrsG]

if only beer were "baked fresh daily" ...not saying I don;t want the freshest bestest of the best but...

I can't believe I'm having this much trouble getting across a simple freshness label practice with a left wing, more government, Vermont organic vegetable growing, turkey herding, Foley bomber buying, pink ski wearing, biker chick marrying guy like you.

Beer IS made fresh daily out there. Not that every brewery makes it fresh every day, but every day something new from somebody comes in. Just not on your route.

Left wing . . . .

[madhatter]

if only beer were "baked fresh daily" ...not saying I don;t want the freshest bestest of the best but...

I can't believe I'm having this much trouble getting across a simple freshness label practice with a left wing, more government, Vermont organic vegetable growing, turkey herding, Foley bomber buying, pink ski wearing, biker chick marrying guy like you.

Beer IS made fresh daily out there. Not that every brewery makes it fresh every day, but every day something new from somebody comes in. Just not on your route.

awesome...nonetheless bread is pretty much known for being " baked fresh daily" beer not so much...certainly week old bread is well beyond it's freshness date, beer? well according to some, perhaps that also rings true, but the beer is also significantly more expensive...I'll certainly not complain about any dating or labeling that occurs BUT I'll also not lobby for its requirement...

[steamboat1]

You mean like this?

[deadheadskier]

Can only hope smaller brewers adopt dating all beer produced.

then what do they do w the beer on the shelves post date? take it back? ...

Or sell it to you....

Whether it's bread, eggs, orange juice or beer, I'd like a born on date please. Where do all the expired bread loaves go? Discount racks, donated...

Just think, a few decades from now I can be sitting on the front porch at Del Boca Vista, thinking back on the fun times I had at Killington, and the day old beer truck rolls up and drops off the 75% off beer that just went out of date. Doesn't sound so bad.

at least not to the buyer...as a beer distributor, I'd be reluctant to make that kind of offer...yamight get a " use by for best results" date but odds of the distributor taking it back are nil...and unless I'm turning a lot of it over, as a retailer I;d be reluctant to stock beer that had a short shelf life and was considered " old" or " past prime" after that date...

Many beer distributors do take back old beer already. If it's getting long in the tooth, they'll replace it with fresh and either move the older beer to a store that moves volume faster or bring it back to the warehouse and sell it to employees for cheap.

It behooves them to do so as they can lose a customer if they get their lips on a stale product. In NH, Stoneface IPA is one of the finest IPAs made in the state when it's fresh IMO. They don't date the bottles. Once it's about six weeks old it tastes like a basic pale ale with barely any hop flavor. I've been burned a couple of times and will now only buy it direct from the brewery where I know it's fresh. If it were dated and fresh, id buy it at the store in my town pretty frequently. Now I stop by the brewery maybe once every three months. I also recently held onto Foundation Epiphany for too long. Epiphany won the best beer in Maine in a recent poll. I bought a case in April, by the time I got around to finishing the last couple beers a couple weeks ago it wasn't anything special anymore. Held onto it too long. A date wouldn't have helped in that situation obviously as it was me not drinking it fast enough that was the problem.

[Mister Moose]

Can only hope smaller brewers adopt dating all beer produced.

then what do they do w the beer on the shelves post date? take it back? ...

Or sell it to you....

Whether it's bread, eggs, orange juice or beer, I'd like a born on date please. Where do all the expired bread loaves go? Discount racks, donated...

Just think, a few decades from now I can be sitting on the front porch at Del Boca Vista, thinking back on the fun times I had at Killington, and the day old beer truck rolls up and drops off the 75% off beer that just went out of date. Doesn't sound so bad.

at least not to the buyer...as a beer distributor, I'd be reluctant to make that kind of offer...yamight get a " use by for best results" date but odds of the distributor taking it back are nil...and unless I'm turning a lot of it over, as a retailer I;d be reluctant to stock beer that had a short shelf life and was considered " old" or " past prime" after that date...

Many beer distributors do take back old beer already. If it's getting long in the tooth, they'll replace it with fresh and either move the older beer to a store that moves volume faster or bring it back to the warehouse and sell it to employees for cheap.

It behooves them to do so as they can lose a customer if they get their lips on a stale product. In NH, Stoneface IPA is one of the finest IPAs made in the state when it's fresh IMO. They don't date the bottles. Once it's about six weeks old it tastes like a basic pale ale with barely any hop flavor. I've been burned a couple of times and will now only buy it direct from the brewery where I know it's fresh. If it were dated and fresh, id buy it at the store in my town pretty frequently. Now I stop by the brewery maybe once every three months. I also recently held onto Foundation Epiphany for too long. Epiphany won the best beer in Maine in a recent poll. I bought a case in April, by the time I got around to finishing the last couple beers a couple weeks ago it wasn't anything special anymore. Held onto it too long. A date wouldn't have helped in that situation obviously as it was me not drinking it fast enough that was the problem.

Just want to take advantage of the rare time I get to say I agree with everything DHS said. I won't buy several brands at the store either for the exact reasons stated.

[madhatter]

Just want to take advantage of the rare time I get to say I agree with everything DHS said. I won't buy several brands at the store either for the exact reasons stated.

w/o even clicking I KNEW what this post was going to say...I don't disagree w either of you...I just don't need or want a law about it...