Are bottling dates required by law?

The Bioterrorism Act of 2002 requires breweries to maintain records on their raw materials and finished goods, including being able to trace individual batches of beer once it leaves the brewery. A date/batch code, obviously, would be the simplest way to do that. More at the Brewers Association's How Are You Communicating Shelf Life, which states:

The TTB is the primary regulator of the brewing industry, but the FDA does get involved in several aspects (such as any flavorings or other ingredients etc., must be FDA approved). In this case, according to the TTB's page The Bioterrorism Act and the Alcohol Beverage Industry : "Under the Bioterrorism Act, the term "food" includes alcohol beverages."

For US breweries, 3, 4 or 5 months shelf life periods are a lot more common that 6 months from what I've seen. Both AB and MC give their standard products around 4 months (110 days and 17 weeks, respectively) and many larger "craft" brewers like Boston Beer Co., Sierra Nevada (150 days), Victory all use 5 months for their standard lineup. Many breweries like Stone use 90 days for many of its beers, while other brewers, like Troegs, gives their beers 4 months. Guessing that a "best by" date is 6 months out is going to mean you're actually thinking many brewers' beers are a month or more older than they are.

You can't "get sick" from old bottled water, yet they are date coded - often with both bottled and "best by" dates.

 

Yeah, it would have been nice had the BTA of 2002 stipulated that the record keeping and tracking ability had to include an easily visible, consumer readable date code on packaging. I also think an argument could have been made to have the FDA the sole regulator of beer from start to finish rather than just giving them approval authority over ingredients used to make the final product.

 

The FDA only requires expiration dates on baby formula. Companies have jumped aboard the "Best by" bandwagon for two main reasons; 1) actual concern that their product has a lifetime the users should be aware of, or B) to lead consumers to dispose of their product and re-buy more frequently. Sad to say, but for most companies it is the latter, and you cited the prime example of "Best by" marketing - water. That said, it is handy to go through the fridge once in a while and toss old stuff you aren't comfortable with using based on the date.

 

3) Some states, but not all, do have laws that require date coding on at least some food items.

So it's not just a "bandwagon" effect or a consumer manipulation attempt.

 

Hop farmers now have lot numbers and record keeping that allows them to trace back to the field for food safety. Those numbers are now showing up hop packages, even 1 oz. Homebrew sized packages.

Pictures and video clips of Brewers falling back into a pile of hops are a thing of the past, as hops are considered a food item. Hops are boiled so no problem you say? The farmers don't know if those hops will be boiled or used for dry hopping. Lots of dry hopping is going on now, so the product needs to be treated as food.

 

Here's a PDF on the TTB's current label guidelines. Dates are not required for label approval. It's typically up to the brewer/distributor agreement to determine when the beer is considered stale and needs to be swapped for fresh beer, provided that the agreement is in alignment to state level consignment laws on malt beverages. http://www.ttb.gov/pdf/brochures/p51903.pdf

 

If only it was....and if it was at least a uniform dating too!
I would prefer a bottled/canned on date vs. a best by date.
Can't stand the Julian dating at all!

 

Yes, but I did not write that the FDA required bottled water to have a date code, only that they exist on bottled water. Very few brewers even use the "Expiration" terminology, but other, more vague expressions like "Best by" or "Enjoy before" etc., which clearly suggest that the date is not there as a food safety issue but a freshness/taste issue. I've never read of a brewery suggesting beer past their shelf life date be thrown out by the consumer, only that the brewery wants their distributors to pull the product off the shelves (thus the older "pull date" terminology).