Adding packaged on/best buy dates

That is exactly what happens, because "unpalatable"due to age or other factors, in this industry is the same as spoilage and even still I try to avoid using it, the real trick is to not over buy product. That being said, the industry is a mess and benefits those who buy high amounts of product so that later they can be considered for the allocated rarer releases and be the "it" store in town. Ask any of your local stores what they have to go through to get some of those beers, and you'll see a lot of them will buy up a lot of beer and return them later once "expired" so they look good on paper for the brewery or distributor at first and get the sought after beer then they return the past date beer for credit or even swaps. Abuse is rampant if you really look and a lot of these factors directly affect the markets, which beers you see on shelves, in which quantities, etc.

 

I’m not really concerned with being poisoned by beer that stretches to the best by date, but I don't want to pay full price for a sub par beer. If it’s a hoppy beer tell me when you put it in the can, to be consistent tell me when you put every beer into the can. I’m not worried about acceptable dates everyone is different on that , I’m looking for what I’d consider optimum dates, then I’ll decide,

 

But that's exactly the point of brewers using "Best by/before" sorts of dating - few brewers call it an expiration date and no one ever suggests that it'll "kill ya". I'd say, tho', that for beer "unpalatable" is "spoiled". And there are many other consumer products that are not hazardous after their arbitrary "Use By" dates (often 1 year - imagine that! 365 days 366 days in leap years. Ketchup, canned soup, cookies or bottle water. Good until September 30, bad on October 1st. )

Yeah, that's what I've always said (and brewers are doing it more often these days). Either:
BEST BEFORE XX-XX-XX - 90 DAYS AFTER CANNING
or
BOTTLED ON XX-XX-XX - BEST WITHIN 90 DAYS
but, at least, let folks know on your brewery website's FAQ.

But those factors are still in-play and usually unknown to the consumer who prefers the packaging date, too.

Who's suggested that? In the US I'd imagine it's always going to be up to the brewer, just as it is for just about every other product (except for eggs/dairy in some states and baby formula on the Federal level, IIRC).

That's why many brewers and distributors still call the dates "Pull dates" - the date the beer is (supposed to) be pulled off the shelf and replaced/credited. From a MILLERCOORS pdf of a few years ago:

Sample Brewer/Distributor Contract language:

 

As an example Beertunes is drinking beers I sent him that are older than hell. Billy Beer, remember that, late 70s? Worlds Fair beer Circa Mid 1980s. He ticked them off very easily, but I bet he wouldn’t pay $11 a sixer for today’s equivalent. It’s extreme and they’re off brands, but still..

 

Yes, and I wrote as much (I know the brewers' "shelf life" duration on the beers I buy that use "Best Before" type dates) . Look, I am not "pro-BB" - my earlier comment about their common use on other consumable products and AB changing to them is just fact. I don't like it, either.

Well, Pilsner Urquell is a Molson Coors import in the US (dating back to the early 2000s when SAB bought Miller and then contained within the agreement with the DoJ which allowed AB to buy SABMiller).

AB and MC distributors are pretty much the majority in most markets (if not in number of wholesalers, the number of brands) but, I agree, even they aren't very active in removing OoC non-AB and MC brands. I've seen a large craft distributor remove old stock - once when I joked to the rep about a store finally getting a new shipment of a then-hot brand but it was a week away from the "Best by" date and he actually picked it the next day. ("Hey, dude, I was only kiddin'!") I know he was often drinking out of date returned beer at home that the company gave away to employees.

I don't recall NYS law on returns and can't speak to what two retailers told you but there is no doubt that both Federal and state alcoholic beverage laws are complicated on the topic because returns can be misused. MC got fined a few years ago because their "Buy back" program didn't conform with the consignment sales rules (AB did the same the following year). A couple of years later the TTB put out Ruling 2017-2 that superseded and further spelled out the rules.

Quotes on the standard industry convention of wholesale distributors having to absorb the cost of pulling old stock (which, of course, explains their reluctance to).

 

Best By dates are arbitrary and imo don’t count for much, I don’t feel like picking up a beer and figure it out by counting backwards to figure out when it was canned assuming you even know what they consider acceptable. Is it posted on the bottle, on their web sight? Why do I have to research a beer to figure out if I want to buy it? Some are 6 months, PU is 9 I believe, Jever is what 15 months. A bit too much latitude within the same style, and I do understand why some breweries don’t want to date their beer. I just rarely/never buy their stuff. Hey it’s a competitive world with thin margins, and I respect the breweries who put the canning date where it’s clear and legible. I seen a few that all seem to be illegible and smeared, I don’t buy them. I’ve notified breweries that I won’t buy their beer if they don’t post a can or bottle date that’s clear and easy to use, I don’t like codes and I don’t carry a book on decoding. I tell them also what beer I did buy because I knew is was 32 days old as an example. I’m only one but if they get enough people complaining they may take a second look, it shouldn’t be so hard to understand why an informed customers what’s to know these things. With no industry standards I don’t accept buy it and take my chances, not with $18/4 pks of NEIPAS.

 

One of the few Sixpoint beers I ever bought regularly was their helles, Alpenflo. It disappeared in my market and I was happy to see it again (although it was only in sixes not 12-packs) last month.

The former owner, Shane Welch, used to regularly post on these BA forum and he was raked over the coals a number of times over both his date coding and not listing his contract-brewer's city on his labels (I did a little of that rakin' myself).

But, to his credit, he did change the labels to show the actual brewing city (Memphis when he used City's brewery there) AND even his dating method to show both the "Packaged on" and "Best by" date. He even had a die-cut bottom on their cardboard sixpack box*, so you could read the bottom of one of the cans!

(* Which more brewers should adopt. I can think of a handful of beers I haven't bought recently because while the cans are apparently dated, the outside box isn't. And I forgot to bring my packaging tape - 'cause I believe in being kind to the retail workers! Nobody wants to pick up those rolling cans...)

So, anyway, I was happy to see Alpenflo and, flipping over the sixpack, see a Best by date of January, 2021! Wow. Fresh stuff. Oh, wait, the canning date was also January - of this year. WTF! 8 month old beer. Oh, yeah, unlike most of his beers he gave it a 1 year shelf life and new owner ABV kept it. Lucky for me, they also kept the dual dating system!

 

It makes a difference to some folks, not necessarily for freshness but honesty. In the case of Sixpoint, it was their constantly boasting of their Brooklyn/NYC roots (right down to a barcode that mimic-ed the Manhattan skyline), while most of their packaged beers were done at The Lion in Wilkes-Barre PA (Google Map the PA address) and later City in Memphis (during which time they changed the labeling - below).

 

I've never asked to look at the back room of a beer store, but I see your point.

Got me wondering- is it plausible for fresher beer to "pass" the older during transit? Like, a wholesaler gets a newer supply and ships it out while older stock sits there?

 

Weihenstephaner is one of my favorite German breweries, but I am also frustrated with the coding on the bottle. I believe their sales would increase with a more transparent dating system. I was pleased to see Anchor Brewing switch to a conventional dating system.