Do you check for freshness?

I don't know for certain if there is a rule/law that says they have to and a quick Google search wasn't especially helpful; it's just always been done for as long as I've worked in liquor. Distributors are under no obligation to sell only fresh/non-expired beer to retailers AFAIK.

It is swapped for the same beer that is fresher. If it's a seasonal or limited release, then it's swapped for the most recent seasonal/limited release that shares the same UPC/SKU. If it's not a full case, we have to order a full case to receive the swap as it's generally not a one-for-one; that does happen though when dealing with self-distributed breweries (those relationships tend to be a lot closer and personal, so it makes solving issues easier). It's a lot rarer when beer is credited; i.e. we are refunded the cost of a beer times the number of units.

It does seem more like a courtesy thing which just so happens to be self-serving. If they continually sell expired beer to accounts that actually care, then they lose business and damage their brand.

It very much is. I touched on that earlier when I said that requesting swaps/credit is usually a test of patience. People will drag their feet taking care of it. I understand the large distributors' attitude because the likelihood/number of expired product they have to deal with due to their portfolio/footprint.

 

I have been burned by a few bottle shops that really seemed to have their stuff together. I couldn't really be mad as I didn't check either! I have had to send several IPAs to the sea because they aren't meant to be aged for a very good reason!

 

Man, miss being able to find this beer…especially fresh. Such great pour!

 

Glad I’m not the only one that doesn’t trust those white labels.

 

Well, as discussed in this thread (or maybe it's over in that "Jim Koch Says..." thread) state laws differ and the updated Federal regulations are still confusing - as then-MillerCoors found out when they agreed to pay nearly half a million dollar fine for violating the previous regs - but they do state:

As for distributors' responsibility for maintaining freshness and exchanging old stock, the cost of same, etc., it's usually found in the contract with the brewer/supplier.
From a sample Sierra Nevada contract:

And from an older AB contract:

BBC Annual Reports (numerous years '08-'20)

 

I hate it when brewers don't indicate any production dates on their beers and when stores keep their 3 month IPA on the shelf. Since 85% of my drinking is in the IPA style, freshness is important.

 

Not always. I would almost never for Stouts and Belgian styles, and I trust my local bottle shop enough to check and rotate their stock (though I would be wary of suddenly discounted beers). I probably would check if I was picking one at a supermarket though.

 

Isn’t that always the case?

 

Ii don’t buy undated unless it’s at the brewery and I know it’s fresh. It doesn’t seem like it would be that hard. Date your beer, brewers.

 

Yes, and on more than just beer.

What really annoys me is finding 6mo., 8mo., and even 1yr. dates on beer sold AT THE BREWERY. I used to not worry about packaged beer purchased from the brewers, but then started noticing old dates often. Not cool.


@Junior said it. “Date you’re beer, Brewers.” I add, “And pull the old stuff off the shelf.” If they don’t respect their beer, it makes one wonder if we should respect their beer.

 

I agree it can’t be that hard but for whatever reason they still don’t do it. One of our biggest regional sweethearts; Transient Artisan Ales, for example does not date. I’m sure you’re aware of this. Yet many thousands of people still buy their beer in Michigan and in the Midwest which has made them (for the most part) well known in a good portion of the country.

What I have learned with Transient and others is that I can have my wife watch the Facebook or Instagram pages of particular breweries and the local distributors and this typically gives me a good idea of what the recent releases are and what beers the distributors are dropping week to week.

Overall, no can dating is an annoyance to me. However, it’s not enough to keep me from patronizing breweries who I have enjoyed beer from in the past.

Granted, this process is cumbersome.

Cheers.

 

In my opinion, Transient’s hoppy beers fall off very quickly. They also went through a period of great inconsistency. I stopped buying them a few years ago. I guess it hasn’t hurt them too much.

 

I was at a fancy restaurant last weekend and was pleased to see they had Lawson's Sip of Sunshine (cans) on their short beer list - ($12 !!) - the nice waitress pours some of it a glass at our table and sets the can down - when I lift the can up high to check the canned on date on the bottom it says June 2021 - my wife asks if I'm gonna send it back - I take a sip and decide not to, it still tastes fine, although not as good as a fresh one - I drink a lot of this stuff, usually very fresh - - I just realized in this situation it would be hard not to come off as a dick when I explain the 'problem' - ("because I won't enjoy a pint of IPA I'm paying $12 for when it's 8 months old - It says 'Enjoy Fresh' on the can for Christsakes !!......") <----dick. The rest of the dinner experience was excellent, and I feel I did the right thing for the 'greater cause' - that expensive 8 month old Sip Of Sunshine really wasn't that bad after all.

 

Well, probably not really "hard" as much as costing more than brewers want to spend on a new piece of equipment.

OTOH, based on trying read the date codes on countless different breweries' cans, bottles, labels and packaging - apparently it is hard for some of those mechanisms to consistently print legible dates codes.

Going back a few years now, from a defunct website's interview with Jim Koch about BBC's date coding.

But, with people who won't buy IPA over 10 days from canning, a notched "Best before" month isn't going to cut it.

 

I skimmed through the many posts so far in this thread and I'm surprised I didn't see one of the most key variables that should force buyers to look at dates - saturation!

The market is beyond sustainable levels of saturation. More beer is being produced than is being consumed. Breweries of all levels are pushing out product and believing that since it's left their hands, it's thus "gone" and disregarding the fact that the ever growing pile of dust collectors is an issue. What's worse is the growing trend of people willing to blindly pay top dollar for perishable product that comes without any indication of production date or expiration date.

ALWAYS check the dates. The modern beer store is a minefield of out of code craft products now and it's been a worsening problem since the pandemic began and many had to pivot to off-premise package sales.

 

Not as often as I should, in fact I just got stuck w a 12pk IPA sampler that was out of date

 

Looking at everyone's posts here, I am glad to see I am not alone in not being able to decipher some of the dates that do make it onto some bottles.

I think places that include dates should be mandated to list the key to reading them on their websites at a minimum. Simple to understand labels would be better, but damn, give me something!!