Should best by/born on date become manditory?

I never admitted to buying undated beer in the post. However, I do. Sometimes there's no choice if I want to try the beer. I think many people buy undated beer...hence wanting all beer to have the date.

Also, old beer probably isn't dangerous. In fact, I like certain beers with a year+ on them. The consumer should still have the right to know...even give me a batch number so I can email/call the brewery.

There are a ton of beers out there that don't have a date on them. And if that is what is stopping people (who want to buy them) from buying them, how is that fair?..not speaking in legal terms, just in general

 

If you by an undated bottle because your desire to try the beer outweighs your concern of its condition I do not see were you have room to complain. You accept the risk when you decide to purchase the bottle. People who do not know any better may have room to talk but based on your comments you know the potential consequences and choose to ignore them. This is why it is fair, risk vs reward and you made the decision.

Like I said, if it was an important enough more people would be proactive. Apparently it is not an important issue because breweries are not changing their practices.

 

Thinking of some of the brewers I know it is simply a case of adding a date to the label when you print them off before applying them to the bottle.

This really isn't man on the moon stuff believe me !

It's just good customer practice simple as that!

 

I do this all the time. Sometime it pains me, but the risk is to high, especially when we are talking about a 6pk of IPA's.

 

Yes it absolutely should.

 

If you have ever bought an undated beer, you are part of the problem. If you have never sent mail to a brewery explaining that you chose to not buy one of their beers and naming the competitor's beer you bought instead, you are part of the problem.

There are enough good beers out there with dates on them or where you can figure the age of the beer (e.g. Seasonal releases) that nobody has to buy undated beer.

Assume responsibility for your own actions and stop blaming others. The brewers, distributors and retailers won't change until you do.

 

No doubt. Of course, if they are stored in a cooler or ``beer cave'', then I might take a chance.

 

Mandatory? I Donno. Its a nice courtesy indeed. Personally I'm surprised that brewers don't WANT to do this.

 

As a Libertarian, no thank you.

It's an issue I care about, so I have educated myself enough to prevent myself from buying old beers and only support brewers who date their beers in a way that I can easily read.

 

if you're going to pay for it, yes. if the prohibitive cost hurts small breweries and at all hinders the varieties of beer i can get, no.

 

The 'fairness' in question I was referring to was: that it is not fair for people who want to buy the beer AND WON'T because its not dated. Brewers know there are people who won't buy a beer because no date, they also know that there are people who will. I just don't see it being fair to the first group. *Edit* they should be able to get the beer too.

Also, I have the right to complain because I have the right to information on a product that I wish to purchase.

I don't get the big deal...whatever, lol.

cheers

 

And cans. Don't forget the cans.

 

I do not think that it should be mandatory because the only agency I can think of that would manage that would be our US government and I would rather have them working on the economy, World Peace, etc. I am a Hop Head and I pass up on really good beers due to no bottling date. The only time I will obtain beer without a bottled on date is when I am trading and my trading partner is picking up bottles from the brewery or it is a seasonal release, etc. Do I think any respectable brewery worth their weight in Hops should date their bottles - YES, should it be mandatory - NO.

 

There are very few perishable goods that don't have best by dates; beer should not be one of them, imho.

 

I agree a bottling date would be best followed by a best by date.

 

This is where I dig Deschutes putting a best after date on for example, The Abyss. I think other brewers need to seriously look at this option for their beers that aren't all that...fresh out of the gate.

 

What I meant was that sometimes the government having "their hands in shit" is a good thing. I am not saying that the government should mandate freshness dating, or that freshness dating should be mandated at all. But you took this thread as an opportunity to knock the government a little, so I took the opportunity to defend it a little.

Now back on topic. I think freshness dating would be a great thing to have, unfortunately no one is going to make brewers do this and even if they did, as mentioned above, who would oversee it? The only way to get brewers to do it is to vote with your dollar. If enough people stop buying beers from breweries because there is no freshness date then brewers will catch on and start dating.

 

Hit the nail on the head.

There's enough regulation as is; most of it's crap anyways.

 

I knock government all the time, for many reasons, but that's not to say everything they do is bad. But regardless, state or federal government trying to mandate "born on dates" would be a disaster and an epic waste of time and money.

 

I totally agree that the government mandating born on dates would be a disaster and a waste of time and money. You'll get no fight from me here. But I tend to defend government involvement in things more so than knock it, hence my response to your response.

I think we'd better leave it at that, less the Bros. lock it down and that wouldn't be fair to the OP.

Cheers.