Well, where to begin. I did not see this subject brought up before, and also searched through much of the beer 101 sections to no avail. So forgive me if this has been covered before, but I have several questions about bottle dates that I am hoping to get figured out. I know there was a conversation on here a while back about Born On/Bottled On and Best By dating methods and which everyone prefers. I personally prefer the Born On or Bottled On method, as it is easier to know when that beer was brewed. I have never been very insistent about the date on the bottle being extremely recent, as long as I am not getting one that is pushing 6 months or a year sitting on a shelf. If this is the case, I feel like trying that new beer for the first time is a waste because it may be much different if it were dated fresher. Overall though, I am not one to get bent out of shape if it is an IPA and a month or two old or something, I don't need a beer bottled within days of tasting. That is taking things a little too seriously for me. To each their own if that does mean much more to you, it is just the way I approach these dates. Anyways, to get to the point, this all brings me to a few questions that I am looking for answers on. It has to do with the beers that give a Best By date instead of the above preferred method. If you get one of these dates, is there a rule of thumb to tell roughly when that beer was Born On or Bottled On? Do you count back a series of months? Something like 3 or 6 or more? If there is a method, is it the same for every brewery and beer or does it change with each? The reason I ask is because I just got my hands on some Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA and am loving it. It is a very tasty brew, and I was curious when looking at the bottle if I got one that was fairly fresh, or a bit older. Either way, it is damn delicious right now, but if it is a 6 month old batch or something then my hats off to them by brewing something so damn good even that far into it's life.
Along these same lines, I have a bottle of Evil Twin Imperial Biscotti Break that says "Best Before 2015" that I would like to confirm the (approximate) age of. I think I bought it last January (and I believe it was fresh) which would mean they want it drank within one year or less. Does that sound right? Does anyone know for sure how far out their 'best before' dates go for these beers? Thanks in advance.
Counting backwards by a series of months is how you estimate bottled on. But that said you also have to take style into consideration. Some beer styles have a best by dated out 3-6 months, some have it as long as 5 years, and some give their best by out to 20 years or so. The most complete information you can hope for is that both dates appear somewhere. Some of the larger, longer established breweries establish tasting panels the actually track the beers at different ages and use that in setting their best by date. Others do it by guestimate. The methods/dates will change from brewery to brewery and as a function of several things. The nature of the ingredients: e.g., some hops have flavors that fade more quickly than others. The brewery equipment: e.g., some breweries use a bottling line which gives an IPA a shelf life of about 3 mos, others use a bottling line which will give it as much as 5-6 mos because the second bottling line leaves behind less resitual oxygen. The handling conditions of the beer: e.g., properly refrigerated or cellered beer has a longer shelf life than beer stored at room temperature and above.
Awesome info! Thanks! 20 years?!?! I don't think I have ever heard of a beer like that! That would be quite an experience to taste a beer two decades old I am sure!
