Yet another Lagunitas packaging date question

odd...i'm guessing the numbers in the middle are the relevant ones: 138 for day, 7 for year, and 2 for brewery (chicago)

 

Yeah, that's annoying.

But that was not the format used on a 12 pack of Born Again Yesterday I bought a while back:


Bottles were coded:

109 7 2
1883 000

 

I don't know if I'm the only one, but confusing dating often makes me choose other breweries with clear dates printed on the bottles/boxes.

 

All I ask is WHY...what is so difficult about a standard format, I don't care if it's a Julian Date, MM/DD/YY, whatever...WHY make this so friggin difficult!!

 

138 day of the year of 2017 is how I read that.

 

Why? Computerized inventory control, a lot like what you had in the Air Force, and much as you used 24 hour times instead of the easier to use 12 hour clock times, or your non-Civilian international dating of DD/MM/YYYY.

 

Why indeed, except, ah, keep the retail customer out of the loop?

 

I receive Lagunitas for a distributor. The first three numbers are all that matter, there is no year, so if i were to receive this case of beer, i'd read it as Aug 24 (236), 2016. And would refuse it since it's obviously way out of date!

 

Ya, brewers cmon, just put mm/dd/yy for gods sake! Why do we have to try and figure out morse code on stuff? Its annoying and a turn off from buying.

 

It's an obstacle....I also hate being in a distributor with my phone out googling date stamps...I feel like a doosh.

 

I stopped buying Lagunitas because of this. Not only is deciphering dates a problem, it is almost impossible to see them to begin with.

 

Why not just open one of the flaps and take a look at a bottle?
If the bottle shows 138 7 2 1512, then a 12Pack of PILS packaged on May 18, 2017 (Chicago) makes for some REALLY fresh beer!

 

Why? Well how about what I suggested above?

Using an inventory control system which is computer friendly (i.e., was implemented in the computerized accounting and inventory system you've owned for a while) and which also can easily be modified to provide all the information required under the US govt. Patriot Act so that everything, including ingedients, can be traced back to their source.

 

yeah, if i were not so confused by the dating i would surely buy more lagunitas. i have no problem buying seasonals or special releases because i know they are fresh.

 

Well in fairness, many much smaller, independently owned breweries manage to get the dates on their products in a consumer friendly fashion. And while that coding may be helpful to them for the reasons you've stated, it would be helpful to me the consumer, if in addition to their coding, Heineken Lagunitas could use the vast resources at their disposal to find a way to slap a simple MM/DD/YY on the labels and cardboard.

 

I have the same problem. I pass up on Lagunitas a lot when I am craving it! Some six packs don't even have a readable 'shitty' Julian date. Does anyone know why Lagunitas has ever responded (that I know of) to this dilemma?

 

No disagreement from here.

Wasn't really trying to justify the choice made by Lagunitas or others who use such coding schemes that are computer friendly but not customer friendly but rather to point out that there was a valid reason.

Personally, I basically don't get upset by obscure coding schemes because I deal with such things as undated beer or a coding scheme I can't easily decipher by not buying beers from that brewery unless I have reasons to know they stuff is current. (e.g., a seasonal or special release that new on the shelves where I shop)

So Lagunitas, Anchor and several other breweries have not gotten much of my business because I pick up the bottle, look for or at the date code and haven't the foggiest notion of how to read it and so just put it back on the shelf, if I even bother to pick it up in the first place. Such things don't bother me a bit, I just buy something else.

Same with the places I shop. If they tell me dates and freshness don't matter I don't shop there.

BTW, Lagunitas used the same date coding system for all the years they were independently owned.