# How old is your beer? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 27, 2018, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-beer/814876 "2018-05-27T00:01:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-beer/814876/21 "2018-05-27T04:30:24Z")
I’m not drinking it at the moment, but in the fridge we have some Pliny the Elder from Russian River Brewing Company, founded in 1997. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-beer/814876/22 "2018-05-27T04:53:36Z")
My last beer was a Bud Light orange. Wikipedia says Anheuser-Busch was founded in 1852 as Bavarian Brewery in St. Louis. So, to answer the OP, 166 years old. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-beer/814876/23 "2018-05-27T06:32:17Z")
Schaefer (I always have more than one) dates to 1842 or possibly a Bartels/Gibbons/Stegmaier/Lion – it depends on the exact label/brand – call it 1900 or around that. Gibbons, until they stopped production, was far and away my lifetime favorite. Nothing I loved more than twisting a head off a monkey. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-beer/814876/24 "2018-05-27T07:43:02Z")
I’m actually drinking a Hamms right now (Don’t laugh. It’s surprisingly malty and hoppy for the price. $2.89 for a sixer of pints is only $2.89 more than free!🆒 ) It says 1865 on the can but the brewer doesn’t actually exist any more and I believe it’s really made by Miller. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-beer/814876/25 "2018-05-27T08:24:12Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I’m drinking an Alexander Keith from Nova Scotia, established 1820. I’ve not done any research to see if they’ve fudged that date at all (e.g. Continuous operation since 1820?) If so, they were violating the prohibition law of that province between 1921 and 1930. There was also a national prohibition in Canada for a couple years before that. If the company did survive those years, they must have produced non-alcoholic beverages. And of course, any US breweries have not have continuous operation further back than 1933, when the 18th Amendment was repealed. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-beer/814876/26 "2018-05-27T09:37:01Z")
I don’t see very much value, **for me** , in knowing. If I cared, then what I would care about would be the age of the currently-used recipe, not the age of the establishment. If you’re still following Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandpa’s recipe (or Our Illustrious Founder’s recipe, whoever) to the letter, then that’s something worthy of note. I don’t drink a lot of beer, but I do like beer. Looking forward to when the excessive-hops fad has passed, and beer is again permitted to taste like good beer, instead of like bad grapefruit juice that’s been used to boil a Christmas tree. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![polar\_bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@polar\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/polar_bear)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-beer/814876/27 "2018-05-27T09:40:15Z")
Yeasterday I had Warsteiner (1753) and Brand (1341). ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-beer/814876/28 "2018-05-27T12:38:24Z")
A Cherry Lime Wit from Alloy Brewery poured from my growler. I think they opened last Spring 2017. ---
**Author:** ![yellow\_sausage\_bandit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yellow_sausage_bandit/32/394_2.png) [@yellow\_sausage\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellow_sausage_bandit)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-beer/814876/29 "2018-05-27T13:00:31Z")
Premium Pils, a fine Belgian hobo beer made by brewery Martens (1758) ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-beer/814876/30 "2018-05-27T13:14:20Z")
My beer of choice is made by [Stiegl](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stieglbrauerei_zu_Salzburg), an Austrian company that has been brewing since 1492. ---
**Author:** ![kk\_fusion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kk_fusion/32/15276_2.png) [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-beer/814876/31 "2018-05-27T18:24:01Z")
Kronenbourg. Since 1664, as every drinker and/or Alsatian knwos. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-beer/814876/32 "2018-05-27T18:49:57Z")
Anti Hero IPA by Revolution in Chicago, est. 2010. I’m getting an early start today, screw it. It’s a holiday weekend with no work tomorrow. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-beer/814876/33 "2018-05-27T21:06:13Z")
I still have a 6-pack of Billy Beer, circa the Carter Administration. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-beer/814876/34 "2018-05-27T21:41:37Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > I’m actually drinking a Hamms right now (Don’t laugh. It’s surprisingly malty and hoppy for the price. $2.89 for a sixer of pints is only $2.89 more than free!🆒 ) It says 1865 on the can but the brewer doesn’t actually exist any more and I believe it’s really made by Miller. Hamms. Huh. Haven’t seen that in a long time but was the first beer I snuck off my parents. About 1969. I do like Bass, which I think is the oldest trademark. Otherwise, I’ll drink just about any beer. My Wife leans towards wheat beers which I enjoy. I will confess that my daily go to beer is Keystone Light. Which is just Coors Light in a different wrapper. Just a little cheaper. Had a very fun 3 week trip to Bavaria 6 years ago. They are VERY serious about their beer (there are a bunch of German laws about it). And it shows. We almost always have some on hand. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-beer/814876/35 "2018-05-27T23:01:13Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Hamms. Huh. Haven’t seen that in a long time but was the first beer I snuck off my parents. About 1969. Hamms was just the beer I was drinking when I posted. I have over 1000 beers rated on [ratebeer.com](http://ratebeer.com) I rarely buy the same beer twice in a row. Right now I’m having an Andeker crowler I got down at the Pabst brewery. Later tonight I’ll be trying Happy Glamper from lakefront Brewery. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-beer/814876/36 "2018-05-27T23:07:58Z")
I’m mainly Yuengling Porter & Lager these days: 1829. Bass was my go to for 20 years but they’re not the same since the InBev buyout. 1777 In my fridge are 3 Founders Porter. They go all the way back to 1997. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-beer/814876/37 "2018-05-28T00:00:10Z")
Pilsner Urquell, 1842, according to the label. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-beer/814876/38 "2018-05-28T01:01:07Z")
Moosehead–exactly as old as Canada: 1867. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-beer/814876/39 "2018-05-28T01:42:48Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I still have a 6-pack of Billy Beer, circa the Carter Administration. Out of curiosity, who brewed that? Does it say on the cans? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-beer/814876/40 "2018-05-28T01:51:18Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Out of curiosity, who brewed that? Does it say on the cans? [Wiki says](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Beer) it’s the [Falls City Brewing Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falls_City_Brewing_Company) > [@](#): > > In 1977, Falls City representatives approached Billy Carter, brother of President Jimmy Carter, about marketing a signature brand to capitalize on Billy’s fame as the beer-drinking black sheep of the Carter family. Falls City brewed several test batches in hopes that one would meet Carter’s approval and could be marketed as Billy Beer. Carter, who had long been a Pabst Blue Ribbon drinker, chose one of the Falls City formulas and the brewery quickly developed a marketing campaign for Billy Beer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-beer/814876.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-your-beer/814876.md?page=3)