Dating: Not Just for Relationships. #DrinkFresh

Remember ‘Born on Dating’ from Budweiser? I do and at the time, it seemed silly.  For a brewery that produces such massive volumes of a mediocre colored water, it seemed like a trivial thing at the time, but in hindsight, perhaps they were on to something.  Even though they admit that their beer is good for well over 100+ days, will their clientele notice if they were to consume a Bud older than 200 days or even more?  Maybe so and maybe not.

Fast forward many years to the craft beer boom we are currently experiencing.  3,000 breweries strong and growing by the day.  Thousands more in planning.  It has become more and more about local and about fresh.  How fresh?  How about off the canning line and into your hands fresh?!? That is what I experienced yesterday.

Fiddlehead Brewery, after being open just two and a half years, has seen amazing growth.  By the start of year two, Fiddlehead IPA was available in over 200 locations on tap solely in Vermont.  In the last 6 months, Fiddlehead has gone from those 200 locations and growlers at the brewery only to the latest craze in the craft beer industry: canning.  Thanks to Iron Heart Canning of Connecticut, the fantastic beers of Fiddlehead have found a new home in 12 and 16 ounce cans.  With a few canning runs of Second Fiddle and Hodad under their belt, it was announced recently that Fiddlehead would be canning every few weeks.  The demand for each run of Second Fiddle, Fiddlehead’s first widely released Double India Pale Ale (DIPA), has grown immensely and the last batch sold out in under an hour, direct from the brewery on Shelburne Road (Route 7) in Shelburne, Vermont.

Fast forward to yesterday – August 21, 2014 and coincidentally, my birthday, but that is not the point, the date that Fiddlehead announced they would have their MasterMind DIPA available for a full canning release.  Having been brewed in September 2013 & January 2014 for a brewery only beer, it was a bit unknown, at least by me, as to what could be expected.  Having never had the beer before, I ventured to 6305 Shelburne Road, just up the road from the famous Shelburne Museum and directly across the street from the Shelburne Vineyard at 10:15.  A full 45 minutes before the doors were to open and was greeted with a light line:

What better thing to do while waiting in line than to talk about beer, right?  I chatted up the gents in front of me and those 45 minutes passed rather quickly as dozens joined the line behind us.   Notice the tail of the big yellow truck in the picture above?  That is Iron Heart Canning and I thought it curious that they were onsite and working at 10:15 in the morning.  Having never been to a can release at Fiddlehead or any other location, I had presumed that the cans were done the day before and then sold the following day.  Understanding space constraints at most locations, holding onto hundreds of cases of filled cans is not ideal or most of the time, not even practical.

Space constraints aside, I was a bit shocked to see firsthand how the MasterMind was being delivered.  After watching the first 12 or so customers walk in and out immediately with their 4 packs, or case, or 2 cases or more, the line started to slow down. As I approached the bar, I understood why.  The cans were coming out FRESHLY CANNED DIRECT FROM THE LINE.  What? Could this be happening? We all want to think our beer is fresh, whether it has a dating system or not, but, to actually watch the cans come out of the back room, drenched in condensation and spillage?  Could this be right?  Indeed it was, as I watched as Matty O., the proprietor and founder of Fiddlehead, personally carrying cases from the back into the retail location to his adoring fans.

This can’t be the norm I thought.  15 minutes into the can release and I am literally watching the line drop beers into the hands of awaiting drinkers?  I’m not going to complain.  Why, yes, I’d love a free sample of your Mellow Mike pale ale while I wait 3 minutes for perhaps the freshest beer I’ve ever seen, why not?

Let us think about this freshness for a few more seconds…….

Fast forward 30 minutes and I’m poking around the shelves of The Beverage Warehouse in Winooski,  If I picked up 50% of the beer on the splendid shelves of the best craft beer seller in Northern Vermont and tried to locate a ‘born on date’, do you think I would find them?  My guess would be no.  The more I try to find a date on a bottle or a six pack rack, the more I’m flustered and confused why dating is not more prevalent within craft beer.  If you haven’t read Jeff Baker’s (@aphilosophyof on Twitter) column from the Burlington Free Press, he wrote a great article on being informed about beer dating that you can read here.

Now while not all beer is meant to be consumed fresh, my personal beers of choice – pale, IPA, DIPA – is best suited and drank while as close to kegging, bottling and canning as possible.  What I experienced today almost seemed beyond that.  Right out of the tanks and into 12 ounces of pure joy.  My hope is that everyone can experience beer not only this good, but this fresh.  Do yourself a favor and go out of your way to try it sometime.  It doesn’t have to be MasterMind, or even Fiddlehead. per se.  I can tell you that I’ve never been one for lines, but after this experience and being treated to a brewer delivered case right off the line, I’m now sold.  Oh, it also helps that what is inside the can is FANTASTIC.

Enjoy and #DrinkFresh: 10, 12, 16, 22, 32 or 64 ounces at a time.