Well, this is a new one for me. I recently acquired a bottle at my local store last Friday, 6/29. I just opened it tonight, it is bottle dated "July 2012". I wonder when it was really bottled. It's not really a huge deal but it IS an IPA. If the laws of Pliny apply, the hops will be completely gone by the time the month ends, even though it might seem like it's super fresh find to the average person who comes across it on the shelf. Humor aside, I wonder how common it is to fudge the bottling date a little bit. Dope
It specifically says "Bottled in July 2012" right on the label. *shrug* I just thought it was funny and wanted to share. The beer was delicious and obviously very fresh so I'm guessing they just didn't expect it to hit stores until July and thus they fudged the date a little. Dope
Most likely it was bottled during the last half of the month and they are just rounding up. I bought a Otter Creek mixed 12 pack with bottled on date of 5/07/12 on the outside of the package - and when I opened it, only 3 out of the 4 varieties were bottled around the May timeframe according to the dates printed on the bottle - the Copper ale was bottled on 2/29/12 making it 4 months old when I bought it in July - and it was lackluster. :-(
5/7 was probably when the mix pack was packaged. Having that say "Bottled on" is disingenuous. If it says "Packaged on" then at least it's true on its face, even if a little deceptive.
Sam Adams, for example, will have their notched Drink By/Best By dates indicating a Month and Year. For them at least, this refers to the 1st of the month. So, if it's notched Oct 2012, that means Oct 1, 2012. I realize that's a Best By and not Bottled On but just some food for thought.
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/18371/82753/?sort=latest&start=0 It was really, really good. If you get Pretty Things in your market be sure to pick this one up ASAP. Dope
fwiw, Pretty Things doesn't bottle their own beer, that part is done through the brewery they brew at. Since it's a month and not the specific day, I'd say it was "close enough", and closer to accurate than saying June 2012 if it was truly bottled on the 25th.
