When I was very young, my friends and I would gather at unchaperoned locations and drink.  After procuring quantities of alcohol and a vacant abode, we would gather and have a party.

On one such occasion, my friends and I found ourselves unable to consume all the booze that had been acquired.  Since we couldn’t stash it in any person’s house, we were left with a harsh decision.

Should we pour it out? None of us being of age, this remaining case of bottles was precious.  But where could we stash this without discovery?

After deliberation, I came up with the brilliant idea of, placing the twenty of so bottles of St. Ides Special Brew down an embankment in a wooded area just off the side of a rural road.  The intention was to simply rid ourselves of the contraband.

A few winter months passed, and our youthful energies yearned for alcohol.  But after unsuccessful attempts to find satisfying libations.  I suggested that our abandoned Special Brews might be intact and, potentially drinkable.  Amazingly, the discarded case had been undiscovered and all bottles seemed intact. So we did what any slightly, post-pubescent, men would do, we drank every last one.

Is my intention to highlight the desperation of underage youth for liquid courage? That may be a topic for another day.  However, highlighting beer freshness and drinkability are my aims.

Stone has released a series of enjoy by beers with a date on the bottle.  This is Stones guarantee to their consumers that the greatest flavor profile is gained by consuming the beer prior to this numeric imperative.   I have had several of these, and do find the flavors explosive and titillating; I also have rated these beers extremely high based on these taste dynamics.

The question, though, is what happens after this date?  Do these beers go the route of the St. Ides and manage to be embarrassingly palatable?  Or, after the date, do they become undrinkable swill?

Therefore, given an accidental opportunity, I will drink a Stone enjoy by 07.04.14 on 01.02.15, and give you my honest opinion

Stone Enjoy By 07.04.14 – I had this before the warning date on the bottle, and I rated this a 8/10.  Now, this doesn’t smell the same. It smells like dying flowers and orange marmalade.  There is a slightly hoppy, citrusy crispness to the nose, but it’s struggling to be clear.  The carbonation and body are maintained, are and accompanied by minimal lacing on the glass. It tastes like boozy, bitter, orange marmalade.  I can certainly endorse the approach of drinking this before its warning date.  However, five months after this date, it’s not completely undrinkable, as I have consumed the entire 22oz bottle. 4.5/10

Humbly yours,

J