BA's Skunkadelic Freakot

[Spicoli]

Page ten of the new BA mag has an article that has concearned me for years here living in AZ. It seems that us craft beer lovers have few choices of good brew here. The selections are limited and so are the places to purchase. It seems that all of the stores that carry any good brew have it out on shelves while the BMC gets all cooling for days. I rarely purchase from these stores because the product is usually stale and skunked out. I wish all micros had a born on date or bottling date. It sucks to spend the cash for good brew to be let down by bad handling. Anyway check out the article and give me your thoughts. It looks like this guy Andy Crouch has my back when it comes to this subject.

[steveh]

Have you ever mentioned the problem to any of the proprietors? I've returned 5 bottles of a six pack when it's been stale. The store folks and distributors know how to read the coding dates on the bottles and cases, they shouldn't be leaving past-dated product on the shelves.

S.

[Spicoli]

My complaints have fallen to deaf ears. There are 3 stores in my area that carry imports and micros. 2 of them are owned by the same people. I have seen the same bottles of beer sitting on the shelves for years. The problem I think we have is that there are not enough people that actually drink decent brew. They just can't get it to move. I also think that anyone who wants to try something new does not like it because of the stale taste. Maybe they think all of the selections will be that bad.
We also have the super high end trendy market and the prices are insane. They mostly bring in imports rather than micros. They do have some gret Belgian selections and all bottles are in a cooler. The micros are very limited. I can get some decent selections here such as Pizza Port, Bear Republic, Laganitas, Moylands and Boonville. There are also a few more that I can't think of right now, but I think the bottle dating would be great. It would force the suppliers to get old product off the shelves.

[ratman03]

My suggestion: Move. Why do you want to live in a desert anyway?

That of course, was a joke. On a more serious note:

One way to tell if a beer is old is to examine it. I'll bet some proprietors think I'm crazy when I do, but I find that more often than not it keeps me from buying stale beer.

If it is a beer that is bottle conditioned (e.g., SN Pale Ale, Anchor Steam), or ales that have even a little bit of residual sediment, put it up to the light and swirl the bottle. Look at how the sediment acts; if it is cakey and globbed together, most likely (thought not always) this is a sign of age. Fresh ale sediment will swirl around smoothly.

As to your problem with getting good beer in AZ, if the true issue is that stores can't move micros, that is a cultural problem, and bottle dating won't help, unfortunately. :(

[corkybstewart]

Don't give up Spicoli. After years of complaining about our bad beer choices our local Albertsons got a new liquor manager. She'll order anything on her distributor's lists. She was skeptical at first, but the Chimay is now flying off the shelf, Avery Reverands have become popular and she's starting to dedicate more shelf space to craft and quality imports(some crap also). You have to go to the walk in part of the cooler, but that's alright. What it took was just a few people asking over and over so get a few friends and keep gently prodding them.

[Spicoli]

Cultural problem is right. We have none here!!!!! Everthing is new and modern. If you want a burger your choices are Mcs, Sonic and BK. It sucks. I'm was born and raised in Long Beach, CA and we had it all. Slowly things are starting to change around here with more people flooding in by the day. I just can't wait. It seems the best beer in town IS MINE!!!!!

[dparsons]

The problem is cyclic if the proprietor won't get rid of old stock. The people who want to try something new or find a better beer drink it once. Its stale so they don't again. The proprietor is compounding the problem.

I've got two places selling a large varieties of beer. One has stale beers, the other doesn't. Guess where I go.

What town do you live in? If its Phoenix or Tuscon, you can find good beer. Just keep looking. If its a small town you'll need to make stocking runs.

[corkybstewart]

So dp, where do you get your beer, Jubilation or Quaarters. I visited Quarters a couple of months ago and was pretty disappointed. I used to buy mixed sixers there in the 70's before there was really any other place to buy imports.

[Spicoli]

Originally posted by dparsons
The problem is cyclic if the proprietor won't get rid of old stock. The people who want to try something new or find a better beer drink it once. Its stale so they don't again. The proprietor is compounding the problem.

I've got two places selling a large varieties of beer. One has stale beers, the other doesn't. Guess where I go.

What town do you live in? If its Phoenix or Tuscon, you can find good beer. Just keep looking. If its a small town you'll need to make stocking runs.

I'm in the burbs of Phoenix. There are 2 stores in Tempe with good beer and 1 in mesa. The 1 in Mesa has the same owners as 1 of the stores in Tempe. Crap beer for the most part and the other store in Tempe is hit and miss.

[De Hooter]

Spicoli,
Hang in there mate. Last time I lived in the valley Tops Liquor in Tempe had a good import selection and kept a good number of their beers in the chill chest.

After having worked at a place selling beer to the masses I have learned a lot about the problems inherent in the current system.

Owners/managers for the most part do not drink imports or micros so they either listen to a few select customers, to their beer reps, or just decide that since what they have on the shelf isn't selling that none of it will sell.

What I have seen of beer reps is discouraging to say the least. Many don't want to bother trying to help a store manager increase his/her import and micro sales. I do not understand this attitude.

Corky's right, pick a shop that you get a good feeling from store personell and get friends to pester tehm until they start listening. However, be realistic and then FOLLOW through. My rule of thumb was that I could sell a case of just about anything, 2-3 could become problematic, but I could always sell 1 case. As a customer, if I am willing to buy 2 6 packs of a beer I will request it from the store manager, and then I will buy those 6-packs. You would not believe the number of people who will request that you carry a beer for them and then they NEVER show up again.


On another note, as for burgers, is the Chuckwagon gone? There used to be one in Tempe on University just East of ASU and one up in Scottsdale.