Best by date vs born on date

I like "Born-On" but both are good as long as they are clearly marked with a date vs a code. I know this may be off topic but I also like to know the abv as well.

 

Love how Great Divide has a clear bottled on date on every bottle. When are breweries going to realize how important this is? Would love to see a bottled on and a recommended "best by" date for aging beers become standard.

 

The thing that is often missed in this discussion is that a "best by" date makes bottle shops and distributors more likely to move out of date product. A "bottled on" date may be more convenient for us beer geeks, but it doesn't provide any information that indicates to less conscientious shop owners or distributors that the beer is no longer in its ideal state. A beer past its "best by" date is a different story.

 

Shane,

Any chance we might be able to see this dual dating on the 6-pack cartons of Sixpoint beers? A week or so ago I had a 6-pack carton of Crisp in my hands but decided to not purchase it since I was not successful in finding a date. I bought a 6-pack of cans of Sly Fox Pikeland Pils instead since the cans had dates on them.

Cheers!

Jack

 

Either one, if done like the AB Budweiser version above (born bottled on date w/rec. freshness shelf life period), or, for the opposite approach, on the label:

"Best before XX/XX/20XX - which is 3 months after we bottled this beer."
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If a brewery can't find the room for this important info on their label, at least they could note it in a prominent, easy-to-find location on their website. (Granted, that would not help someone standing in a store, examining a new beer, and who is a Luddite enough not to have one of those magic internet pocket devices.)​

 

I don't see why the breweries can't put bottled/canned on dates and then give the retailers "best by" timelines. The retailer can then still pull the old stuff. Doesn't seem too difficult, especially for the bottle shops that many of us like to shop at, where the owners and staff know their business.

 

I dont like best buy dates because the consumer should be allowed to determine the best by date, if someone else wants to drink a 4 month old IPA because the best by date is 6 months, so be it, but I do not. The problem is every brewer has a different "best by" date so its impossible to know when it was bottled.

IMO Bells has it right with a clear white spot on the label and a clear date on there, (I know there are other breweries that do this, just the first example that came to mind). No dealing with Julian codes, rubbed off ink on the neck, nothing.

 

Excellent question. Locally, German Ockoberfest beers which are fresher arrive in mid September. Hacker is usually the last to arrive (my preference) after Paulaner and Spaten arrive . I do agree with the criteria you suggest to conform with a standard, however this may be an excuse to raise prices across the board. Personally, I would be willing to pay reasonable price increase to make this happen. Until then, "Buyer Beware" .

 

Oops, should have said bottled on. "Born on" seems like a trademark to me, so I was trying to avoid it.

 

Best of both worlds and fist pump to Weyerbacher who includes both (which is rare to extremely few):

 

Did you not find any date on the box, or only the "best before" date? I know the best before date is on the box, as well as the bottom of the cans.

 

At this point, if a brewery can't tell me when their beer was bottled/canned, then I don't purchase their product.

It allows me the consumer to determine whether or not the beer is fresh enough for my liking. If you can't meet that fairly small request, you don't get my money (again, for the most part. Some beers move tremendously fast and I don't need to worry about how old it is).

 

Because most beer drinkers don't care about freshness. BA's do, but the casual craft drinker does not. If breweries start labeling it then consumers will start realizing they should care about dates and if consumers start realizing they should care about dates then they may not pick up that 14 month old twelve pack of Sam Adams Rebel IPA.

 

I didn't used to think that, but after having many beers that taste much different (and not nearly as good), at -- say 5 months -- as opposed to 1 or 2 months of age, despite all being within the 'best by' date, I get the impression that the brewery doesn't know more about the beer than I. Since it's not an isolated incident, I have learned to trust my taste buds more in this case...

 

As a Dutchman I'm often annoyed by best before dates that they use all over Europe, since you are not able to tell how fresh an IPA or other hop-forward beer is. Usually you can count on the fact they will give it a lifespan of a year.

Furthermore I think that in many cases a best before date is not much more then a rough cut estimation.

 

I'm solidly in the "Best By" camp. Knowing the packaging date helps me not at all. If I want to try a beer, I've still gotta buy the damn thing, regardless of when it packaged. I'd much rather know when the brewery thinks the beer is ready to be pulled.

 

Bottled on FTW!

 

Best By = the date by which the beer will taste best

Best Buy = an electronics store


For whatever that's worth.

 

I am, frankly, shocked by the number of breweries that put no date whatsoever on their beers. It's very rare that I find Lagunitas locally, but even when I do I don't often buy, because I've never seen a date on their beers. I much prefer "bottled/canned on" dates to enjoy by dating. Founders is my favorite for dating- it's always clearly written on the bottle or stamped on the bottom of the can(and also on the 12pk container for all day). Victory uses a enjoy by dating system and it always annoys me. I obviously look for the latest date when I grab a 4pk of Dirtwolf, but I'd like to know how long they're giving me to enjoy it.

 

Mark,

When I had the carton of Crisp in my hand at the store I was unsuccessful in locating a date. I have a carton of RAD in my hand right now (from before) and I turned that box around many times before I 'lucked out' and found a Best By date. In small black ink near the BIG Sixpoint logo it states: BB24NOV14. I was not successful in finding the Best By date on the carton of Crisp at the store.

Two additional discussion points:

• I have no idea whether I am a good 'test subject' but since I was not successful in locating the date on the carton of Crisp I will make the following comment: the Best By date does not stand out for me.
• As has been discussed in this thread (and other threads) the 'better' date is the canned on date which is missing from the Sixpoint carton.

So my question to @Sixpoint remains: Any chance we can get the canned on date (in addition to the best by date) on cartons of Sixpoint beers?

Cheers!