Captain Lawrence bottle dates?

Discussion in 'New England' started by pwilliams211, Apr 21, 2015.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. pwilliams211

    pwilliams211 Initiate (0) May 21, 2014 Massachusetts

    anyone know what's up with captain Lawrence and bottle dates? I know for certain they used to put a clear bottled on date on the neck of the bottle in yellow print, but within the past couple of months I haven't seen any bottle dates at all...atleast since the new year. Even the 4 pack of the new DIPA I got at the brewery didn't have dates. It's a bummer because I really like their pale ale/ipa but I'm not gonna get it without any sort of date because the captain often sits for a while at some places. If a brewery goes from legible bottle dating to nothing at all,that's no good. Am I crazy or did they stop dating?
     
    #1 pwilliams211, Apr 21, 2015
    jrnyc likes this.
  2. FatBoyGotSwagger

    FatBoyGotSwagger Grand Pooh-Bah (3,999) Apr 4, 2009 Pennsylvania
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Just checked my last bottle of Palate Shifter and couldn't see a date. The seasonals are fresh, if you see the Seeking Alpha Triple IPA or the Palate Shifter Double IPA I would recommend buy and drinking as they are fantastic right now. This is a huge problem for their year round stuff though and they probably should be dating.
     
    #2 FatBoyGotSwagger, Apr 21, 2015
    jrnyc likes this.
  3. pwilliams211

    pwilliams211 Initiate (0) May 21, 2014 Massachusetts

    It's just strange that they used to dat and now they don't?? I get that sometimes the machine that dates bottles doesn't work right(have seen this happen with other breweries) but it has been no this since I have seen a CL beer with a date
     
    #3 pwilliams211, Apr 21, 2015
  4. Steph07054

    Steph07054 Initiate (0) Aug 13, 2014 New Jersey
    Trader

    I found this odd/annoying as well when I grabbed several 4 packs of palate shifter...I also really like their IPA but last time I was at my local place passed it up because I didn't know how long it had been sitting there.
     
    #4 Steph07054, Apr 21, 2015
    jrnyc likes this.
  5. Chrystobal

    Chrystobal Initiate (0) Jul 7, 2014 New York

    It's been this way for a while now and I hate it.
     
    #5 Chrystobal, Apr 21, 2015
    jrnyc likes this.
  6. jkane101

    jkane101 Savant (1,161) Sep 22, 2007 New Jersey

    Yeah this is one of the reasons I almost never drink CL anymore It's a shame
     
    #6 jkane101, Apr 21, 2015
  7. Mineo

    Mineo Savant (1,115) Jul 7, 2010 New York

    was wondering how fresh Palate Shifter was. if it's fresh, it certainly seems maltier than what I remember of Captain's Reserve. still a good beer but nowhere near as citrusy as I'm used to so I assumed it was over a month old.

    either way, yeah -- I don't buy IPAs without bottle dates on them, and I hope others do the same to get the point across to breweries.
     
    #7 Mineo, Apr 21, 2015
  8. pwilliams211

    pwilliams211 Initiate (0) May 21, 2014 Massachusetts

    At least I'm not going crazy...what an awful move by the brewery, and it appears it's been long enough that it's not simply "the machine is down". Hopefully they have people who read these forums

    Edit: they also raised growler prices I believe as well! It's a bummer cause I really liked having this local option around to support
     
    #8 pwilliams211, Apr 21, 2015
  9. Jmonah3

    Jmonah3 Zealot (645) Nov 3, 2014 New York

    I'm at the brewery once or twice a week hanging out with a bunch of the guys. I'll mention to them tomorrow and let you guys know what they say.
     
    #9 Jmonah3, Apr 21, 2015
    ColdOne, Chrystobal and pwilliams211 like this.
  10. butters_mcgee

    butters_mcgee Pooh-Bah (1,857) Feb 26, 2014 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    Please do. I'd be interested in hearing what they have to say.
    I loved the Palate Shifter when I had it the other week, but would it would be nice to know when it was bottled.
     
    #10 butters_mcgee, Apr 21, 2015
  11. ColdOne

    ColdOne Maven (1,346) Jan 19, 2013 New York
    Trader

    #11 ColdOne, Apr 22, 2015
  12. TheHopBrewKid

    TheHopBrewKid Initiate (0) Sep 11, 2013 New Jersey
    Trader

    Well, they recently installed a new bottling line about a month or two ago. I'm not nearly 100% certain about this, I will find out, but it's possible the bottle date scanner might not be compatible with the new line. The new line kicks out about double the amount of bottles as the old one. That's just my guess.

    Here's the thing, though. If you're in the NY/NJ/CT area and you purchase CL from a reputable bottle shop/beer store/supermarket that you know moves their product, more than likely the product will be fresh. Especially the Palate Shifter. That beer, the former Captain's Reserve DIPA, was recently re-branded and they literally just starting releasing it in 4-packs less than 3 weeks ago.

    So, rule of thumb. If you see 4 packs of Palate Shifter, their new Session IPA Effortless, basically anything in a 4-pack, it's fresh. If you see Captain's Reserve in the old Imperial Pint bottles, it probably has been sitting in the shelf a bit.

    As far as anything out of their immediate Tri-State distro, I would say anything goes.
     
    #12 TheHopBrewKid, Apr 22, 2015
    ColdOne likes this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.