Fresh Year, Fresh Beer: Why Freshness Matters

As we usher in the new year, we thought what better way to start off 2021 than to focus on a topic near and dear to our hearts here at Creature – freshness. If you’ve been following along with us for a while, you’ve likely heard us mention quality is one of our top priorities. That’s because we want to make sure you consistently get the best experience with our beer.

Maintaining freshness in beer is key to ensuring that quality experience. Hop aroma and flavor are very delicate and reduce quickly. So, for beers like Tropicália that have big, juicy, and fruit-forward hop notes, it’s incredibly important to keep it fresh to protect that delicious, bursting aroma and flavor.

If you’re curious to learn more about our quality assurance, take a look at some of the measures we take to ensure we maintain quality at every step:

• Every single batch of beer we brew is evaluated by our official sensory panel, and any batch that doesn’t meet our quality standards is not released for consumption. Currently, we have 24 panelists who are trained, tested, and trusted. Our Quality Lab manages our sensory training program which includes 8 sessions, 17 students, 30+ descriptors, and 24+ different off-flavors.
• We’ve brewed over 300 batches of Tropicália at Southern Mill and will soon hit 800 total batches between our Snow Tire and Southern Mill facilities. A typical batch of Tropicália will see over 120 different quality checks throughout the production process.
• Our canning line, which can run 270 cans per minute, checks each individual can for any possible quality defects and packages the beer with incredibly low oxygen pick-up.
• Our Sales Team keeps track of our beers’ freshness everywhere our beer is sold.

Oxygen, heat, and light can diminish the freshness of your beer. Here’s a few tips you can follow to keep your beer as fresh as possible:

• Check the date: We stamp each of our cans and can boxes with the package date. You can find these date codes on the bottom of the cans and the left side of our can boxes. Be sure to check that when purchasing at any location you can find our beer.
• Keep It Cold: Storing beer cold makes all the difference in the world in preserving that hop flavor and aroma.
• Enjoy it Fresh: Follow the 3-30-300 Rule – beers stored for 3 days at 90°, 30 days at 72°, or 300 days at 38° will see the same level of oxidation that will lessen the flavor and aroma of your beer. We especially recommend you drink our hoppy and dry-hopped beers as fresh as possible!

If you’re interested in learning more on our commitment to freshness, check out the recording of our Instagram Live from January 25 with our Brewmaster Adam Beauchamp and Senior Quality Manager Daniel LePage. You can find us on Instagram @creaturecomfortsbeer.