Freshness issues and shelf life.
Even a hardened critic like me has to give Anheuser-Busch some small credit for reacting some years back to the “best by” dates on bottles of Samuel Adams and mobilizing its legions of advertising men to unleash the concept of a “born on date.”
Other aspects of the big brewer’s response to the advent of non-monopolistic stylistic diversity have been far less admirable, but at least the emphasis on freshness makes some measure of sense.
In fact, America’s big brewers always have had rotation dates on their cans and bottles (often in codes unfathomable to non-insiders), and generally they’ve been good about removing old beer from retail accounts. Unfortunately, this hasn’t always the case with other beers, particularly imports.
So, what’s the real story? Strictly speaking, Anheuser-Busch is right: The majority of beers brewed on this planet are not meant for keeping very long. They should be consumed quickly (allowing for necessary aging at the brewery, as with classical lager styles), and in the case of A-B’s own beers, swallowed while they’re as cold as can possibly be so as to prevent any of their annoyingly insipid flavors from creeping through the frozen numbness.
A-B also is right in pointing out that many beers are sold past their prime, and that its ruthlessly efficient corporate machine will prevent this fate from ever befalling a unit of Budweiser, to which I reply: Philosophically speaking, when it comes to the King of Swill, does it really matter? After all, speaking as one who grew up among cattle on the farm, I can state with certainty that irrespective of age or freshness, dung is still dung.
Notice my innate good taste in avoiding that more common scatological reference? Ah, but my anti-Budweiser zeal has lured me away from the point.
Again.
Many of the beers on the Rich O’s bottle list are bottle-conditioned, in other words unpasteurized and with a charge of living yeast in the bottle that conditions the beer and provides the carbonation. With proper handling, these beers evolve over time and offer delightful surprises to the drinker. Insofar as we’re able, given the long path between the brewery and us, we handle these beers properly, and there have been few problems with decline in the context of age.
The other beers on our list, including most lagers and a percentage of the ales, have shelf lives that must be monitored. Some of these have “best by” dates for reference, but many don’t. In the absence of sophisticated tracking systems and the like, I’ve learned through trial and error that the best way to ensure that these beers are in good shape is to periodically taste them.
To do this, the bottles must be opened. Since there’s no way to reseal the bottles, I have to drink the whole beer each and every time. It requires sacrifice on my our part - - some days you just don’t feel like two hours of quality control work after a long and grueling shift - - but it’s the only way I can be certain that the beer is right and ready.