Best by date vs born on date

I prefer bottled on dates, and would not object to some sort of mandatory dating laws.

 

Best By dates can be deceiving. I would think 6 months to be standard, but what if the brewer just dates it out a year? It would help the retailer a bit, but non age worthy beers could take a major hit, and the consumer could also lose here too. Much simpler to date the can, and let the consumer decide if the style warrants the age on the can.

 

Give me the born-on date. I can make my own decision after that. The born-on date also helps me to determine how much age I prefer on a specific beer.

 

I think there's a noted difference in perception between BAs and the general population with this one. Of course Goose Island knows that the hop aromas and flavor will begin to fall off after a certain period of time, but I'm sure they've determined that the flavor is still acceptable 6mo after bottling/brewing, and reflects a product they believe they can be held accountable for. If a consumer has that beer outside that range, Goose Island can hardly be held accountable for any strange off flavors or disappointing results because it is after a date where they declare they hold little responsibility for the state of the product.

I love IPAs, but I don't understand the crazy ways most BAs demand they be drunk. If brewers like Goose Island used BA methods- drink it in three weeks or less from bottling- stores would be pulling massive amounts of product off the shelves or discounting it heavily after that best by date. A longer date where the product is still in acceptable condition allows retailers more time to move the product before needing to offer it on discount since it's "expired".

 

If you're referring to HT, it doesn't need dates - as far as I know they sell all the HT they brew quickly.

 

One of the main reasons for the food labeling is product liability. Another is to prevent distributors and stores from selling old product. And the reason beer "has to have it" is for the same reason. Simple.

But if you want some non-dated or expired beer, please go ahead and clear it all off the shelves.

 

I love when people who drink beers think they know more about a beer than the brewery brewing it...

 

I would really like to hear industry input. The Budweiser "Born on" concept was certainly a marketing decision and they used it heavily in advertising. I suspect distributors and retailers are less excited about either. A brewer could probably see both sides. Too restrictive a "best by" and there may be issues getting your product distributed. A "best by" does almost translate to an expiration date which in the food industry amounts in many cases to taking off the shelf or "fire selling" it just ahead. Certainly beer falls off, and some more than others, but it is a much less perishable commodity than milk/cheese, etc.

In reality, both have a place to most consumers. The majority of consumers would benefit with a "best by" (if applicable) but it will never satisfy this crowd with varied opinions. "Best by" would be really tough for things like barley wines and probably have no real purpose.

Bottled/canned on (and stated as so) seems most logical for every beer and "best by" when it make sense.

 

Beer drinkers don't have to weigh freshness against transportation and warehousing times, and other economic considerations. We are free to make our own choices on what beer and at which length of time since bottling we're willing to spend our money. It's not a matter of knowing "more", as much as being able to be choosier.

Brewers have long proclaimed that beer is at its best as soon as it is packaged, but their "best by" or pull dates have to be based on how long they feel their beer holds up under normal (and, sadly, often not ideal) wholesale and retail storage so that the customer is still getting a quality product for their dollar (well, ten dollars).

 

But if you're trading for it you don't know how long they've had it...

 

I agree, we can pass a thousand other idiotic laws when it comes to alcohol sales, lets make a clearly legible bottled on date required.

 

I'd give them flexibility to choose "bottled on" or "best buy" because there are merits to both, depending on the beer any who they expect to drink it. But there should be one or the other. Was tempted by an Avery Marharaja yesterday, didn't buy it because there was no date. With a $10 bomber of IPA, why risk it?

 

This is very true, which is why I only have a few regular trading partners. Any IPA I ship to them is probably under 10 days old, and they know how fresh the stuff is they ship, and we trust each other. I'm a freshness freak on PA's and IPA's, but last year I was in VT mid May and bought enough HT for July beach week which was 6 weeks out, kept cold and dark it tasted the same as it did the day I bought it. I was a little nervous, but it held up fine. But I'd still be all in to can date every beer produced.

 

I don't think anyone is saying they know more about the beer than the brewer, I certainly don't. But I do know what I prefer as far as freshness, and it isn't always the same as what the brewery feels. Not saying I know better, just what I prefer.

It just isn't that hard for even the smallest brewery to put some dates on the beers or the 4-pack holder or something. Just got this at Trillium yesterday and it looks like they use one of the old price guns you used to see at the supermarket. Can't coast much at all. Bigger places can use a machine. It just needs to be done.

 

Perhaps you missed the sarcasm I laid down a bit too dry in my post. For that, I do apologize.
It was covered in sarcasm when I proclaimed that the dairy industry will not tell me when my milk (or other dairy) is the freshest. I was not serious. As with almost every food we eat (a high majority), it is given an expiration date, not a "packaged date". For that, I am thankful. To 99% of the consumers, wholesalers, retailers and distributers, this makes the most sense.

In the beer world, that would make the most sense as well. If every beer bottle had just a "born on" date, what beer WOULD be pulled from the shelves? The ones that YOU point out to the employee that is 4 weeks old and a total malt turd? How would distributors determine a "pull date"?


Having no date sucks. I personally want to know at least ONE date before I purchase my beer. Having a bottled date would be useful to me ii I want the most super fresh hop bomb possible. But it wouldn't be useful to the retailer, or distributor, or the majority of beer purchasers. Stand in an aisle some day and take note at how few people actually LOOK for a freshness date on beer. Around here, very few.
A best buy would be helpful for the majority of people.

That was my point. Since almost all food/beverages have best by dates, NOT born on dates, I don't think beer "needs" to have them either.

 

Even in the era before the emphasis on "consumer-friendly" date coding, US brewers had no standard method of date coding - as is the case today, some used bottling/canning dates, others stamped their packaging with "pull dates" (so, the equivalent to "best by/before" dates). For the latter brands, distributors pulled the beer based on their contracted breweries' recommendations.

Some examples taken from brewers' internal publications circa the '60s-'80s:

 

In your opinion, do you feel a "best by" date is more or less valuable to the majority people outside of the actual brewery than a "born on" date?

 

Some imports it's a year. This includes lower abv styles that will not be good with a year on them...

 

My taste buds don't lie to me.

 

And they own the term if not the concept, spent a fortune in advertising, and were a little ahead on that one. "Born On" is a clever differentiation from others that don't even discuss dating.