Is Bottle Dating Really THAT Difficult?

Well yes, to put a best by date on the bottle it took an additional step, so make that step worthwhile instead of a meaningless arbitrary date. Put on the bottling date. For a hoppy beer would the brewer use a 3 month best by date? 6 months, 12 months? It can mean what they want it to mean which IMO isn't much, you have no idea. Leave off the date so I most definitely walk by your product or put on a best by date and if it's a hoppy beer I'm still leaving it on the shelf unless it's a known release date. Too many are dated to put up with this nonsense.

 

We use a bottled on date at our brewery, but to be honest, I think a best by date is more practical. The brewer should know better than consumers when a beer is best by if they have done the necessary testing. This also requires the brewers to be knowledgable about their product and honest with the consumers. The problem with bottled on dates is that a lot of people make blanket statements regarding beers, most specifically IPA's, such as "IPA's are best drank before 3 months." But that doesn't take into account all the different ways that breweries handle their beer. My IPA at 3 months probably tastes as stale as Sierra Nevada's IPA's would at 6 months because we get so much more dissolved oxygen when bottling and transferring than they would. For this reason, I always recommend drinking our IPA within 8 weeks... Fresher than many consumers would call the maximum freshness for hoppy beers.

For the record, we use a Meheen bottle filler, which is the most widely used filler for small breweries. Based on my experience, 8-12 weeks is max for freshness out of these fillers. Using some products that help prevent oxidation, our less hoppy beers that are also low in caramel malts can taste fresh for up to 14 weeks.

 

Also, to answer the original question, no, date stamping is not hard. I believe our date stamper was a $200 upgrade to our labeler. Our labeler works at the minimum speed requires to keep up with our bottle filler (about 72 cases an hour fill rate). If we have problems on a bottling day, it is normally just that the date stamp is out of alignment and is missing the box on the label for the bottled on date. The date is however still on those bottles and still legible, just not centered in the box.

 

As small breweries grow, they become more cognizant of the law and insurance liability issues. I know one that has stopped using volunteers, they used to. They now also have a less labor intensive bottling line which reduces the need. For those above reasons, they have stopped. Some friends no longer get the short fills as the compensation.

 

I'm fine with best by date for "drink fresh" beers, but I want a bottled date for high-potential cellar beers (at least the year, but year and month is better).

 

I don't date bottles. I prefer a one night stand.

 

Agree, but if you are at the state of producing 1000's of bottles then you have a labeling machine and can easily put a date on the labels with that machine (mention previously). Or there's hand stamping...

This is from a place that at festivals goes out of their way to ensure you have a fully rinsed glass and dumps batches with faults. They have some of the most sought after beer in BC. It's that extra little step that shows that they care and ultimately will help them win the long game. It took them a year to start dating bottles, which is fair.

Honestly a refillable dating hand stamp is like $20 and is super quick to use and the labels can be pre-stamped and re-rolled. Perfect new guy or new girl job!

 

This a great example!

 

In Michigan we have a few, Shorts and Oddside come to mind as they do not bottle date the beers I have seen.
I always assumed this was intentional in order to trick you into buying that Spring seasonal sitting on the shelf in November.
When they produce a new beer every two weeks it gets hard to keep track of what is current and more importantly
not current...

 

This is the answer I think we're looking for.

 

I don't want the Brewer or anyone else telling me when it's best to consume any beer. His idea of best may not be the same as mine. Let me make my choice based on my past experiences and information I have gathered. I won't mind a best by date if a bottled on date is there too, but the bottled on date is a must for me.

 

I prefer born on to best by dates as well, but I can live with best by if that's what's available. It seems that most brewers use a best by date in the 5-6 month range, so I can usually do rough math on my own to figure out the age. If it's like a month or two from the best by date, I know the beer is probably 3-5 months old and will act accordingly. If there is no date on a hoppy beer, I will not buy it unless it's a recent seasonal or I know the store and have a good idea of when it arrived.

 

You have to appreciate this topic if you live in southern Florida. We are one of the last places to receive beer deliveries of US craft beers. Thank God for the recent rise of local craft brewers where beer fans can get decent locally grown beers on tap. I ordered a G'Knight can recently a nearby pub..the waitress said they just got it in stock. The beer, a favorite of mine when I lived in Chicago, was skunked and 6 months past its canned date. Its tough all around for stores and pubs to keep their stock fresh..they blame it on the distributors...HA! I always check the bottles and cans for freshness..especially the IPA's.

 

The Bruery etches on their bottles. Easy to read.

 

F&%king Classic!!1 @jesskidden I love your constant role as Mr. Information, but you're killing me with this one.

 

I know it's been super hard for Green Flash