Packaging Date Or Expiration Date. Which Do You Prefer For your Beer?

I saw a bunch of wonderful looking Brewery Faison beers on a room temperature shelf with no dates whatsoever. I’ll pass every time. Illegible dates are a disappointment too.

 

I’ve come across so many dirty taps (or tap line) I am quite gun shy…

That’s why I’d often rather have an old can/bottle than a dirty tap line. Or bourbon, two fingers neat.

 

Actually, I prefer canned or bottled date. Look at “packaged” date on a mixed 12 box. Then open the box and find that some of cans are dated 1 or 2 weeks earlier. Fat Heads just pulled this trick on me with its mixed 12 box.

 

An expiration date allows me to have an educated guess at the shelf life of a beer while I regularly find expiration dates to be overly optimistic or too pessimistic. Certainly some breweries are eager to see that their beer is not sold when it's somewhat likely to be in poor condition if improperly stored.

 

Packaging date. I know enough about beer styles to judge for myself if it's too old.

 

I think part of the reason why some companies choose a best by date is also so that hopefully the retail or bar that sells the beer will notice the date and reorder a fresh batch so that they won't sell old beer to the customer. Thing is, if a consumer tastes an old beer past it's prime or best by date then they may not enjoy it and think it is off or not good quality, when it could just be a little too old for the style.

Using a best by date allows both the consumer and seller to see the projected freshness and is more likely to reject a sale and consumption, and maybe the retailer or bar will have a reason to get a refund credit back from the wholesaler for the old expired beer cases. With only a canned on or packaged date there is no way to really prove that it is no longer good other than your opinion, when the bar could just say there is no indication that it isn't good to drink and still sell it.

 

I have seen packaged on and best by on the same can. Can’t remember the brewery.

I also do not like the BS of putting a packed on date on the mix 12 pack box and then open it to see old beers. I don’t want to know when you put them in the box. The date on this box should be the date of the oldest can/bottle.

I no longer purchase Founders but they were a huge offender in this date type.

No date is a no buy for me 99% of the time.


Enjoy

 

This assumes that the consumer knows more about the product than the manufacturer.

Is that true? Who the fuck knows.

 

I don't care. I'm not a big nerd on the subject, and most of the time don't even look to see if there is a date if it's a beer I'm interested in (new to me, or new brewery), or am very familiar with (Deschutes Mirror Pond), but will check dates at certain stores (Bevmo, Grocery Outlet, I'm talking to you).

 

The problem is the store ends up taking a loss if the product goes unsold or wasted, and most wholesalers probably don't want to give them credit back, so they try to sell whatever they can to unsuspecting customers. IPAs and hoppy beers in particular are actually a problem when it comes to freshness, because I as well don't enjoy hazy IPAs nearly as much once it gets past about 2 months, but to say all hazy IPAs in distribution should be sold within a 2-3 month timeframe isn't really going to work, that's why hyperlocal breweries are good and statewide or regional access at least. I know as good as all the Tree House and Trillium IPAs are, they aren't nearly as great after about 2 months, which is part of the reason why they distribute the beer themselves for quality and freshness control purposes, and it doesn't end up getting lost and old in some random wholesale warehouse distribution portfolio. Most beers like lagers and other lighter styles I do enjoy fresher, but I would still enjoy almost as much even 6 or 9 months down the line because the flavor is malt forward and not hoppy. I see old beers on store shelves all the time too, and it really depends on the style whether I think it should be pulled or not. The incentive for stores not to pull the old product is because they can still make a profit off it instead of taking a loss.

 

I liked that beer.

 

Just grabbed a new beer today with a “best by” date stamped on it instead of the canned on date. I still bought it because I know it’s a fairly new and fresh seasonal release, and it’s still a few months away from being best by. I still wonder though if it was canned in January with a 6 month best by date or what, still unable to know exactly how old the beer is.

 

It does not assume that the consumer knows more about the product than the manufacture. In fact, I specially state that the brewer knows when the product is at its best. I’m highly skeptical that the best by dates we see on cans/bottles reflect what the brewer truly believes. Thus, while I am quite confident that the manufacturer knows more, and likely much more, than the consumer, I am even more confident that they want to make money.

 

Is it safe to assume canned beer that is two or more years old is “bad?”

My fiancée enjoys buying beer she likes from microbreweries we’ve visited, but she doesn’t generally follow through and drink them in a timely fashion.