Do you trust brewer "Best By" dates?

Breweries that invest in the equipment that can print a best by date are invested in making sure you get the goods as fresh as they can get them. I would hope.

But..

 

I am with @drtth , if a best by date is used also let me know the bottled on date. If there is only an ability to place one date on the package, use the bottled on date.

The other factor is how the beer is stored. Beer that has been continuously stored cold will stay fresh(er) longer than if it is stored at room temperature.

Cheers!

 

I always trust brewer's that have best by AFTER dates

 

If there are 2 beers I am interested in, and one has a bottled on date of 3 weeks ago, and the other has a best before date in 6 months time, all else being equal I am going with the bottled on.

It might be that the best before beer is actually fresher, but I can't be buggered looking it up and trying to figure it out.

Pretty much the only time I bother trying to decode and work backward from a best before date is if there is literally nothing fresh in the entire store. If that is the case, I am more likely to go to a different store...

 

If I were a date checker, yes I would trust a Best By date. To me, a packaged on date is meaningless.

 

Yes I do. What else can I look/go for?

Cheers!

 

Oh forgot, Sometime I'm just glad to see the shit!

Cheers!

 

Hop Wallop is a DIPA with a best buy date that's a year after bottling, so no. That is an extreme example, but still.

 

This is why I love Weyerbacher. They label everything with a bottled on date as well as a best by date.

 

Assuming that the beer was handled correctly during distribution, my answer would depend on the brewer. If it's a brewer with top of the line equipment and QA/QC (e.g. Victory, Sierra Nevada, Goose Island, Lagunitas, Stone, Bells, etc.) I'll put more faith in their best by date. If it's a tiny brewer start-up that's barely scraped together the funds for their bottle/canning line or is using a mobile canning service then I'm going to scrutinize those dates.

 

If I did, probably wouldn't drink anything. except my Homebrews

 

"Was," they aren't bottling it these days and its on draft very infrequently.

 

Here's the thing with the best by date....price does not go down after it . So I find it pointless. I like the bottled on date bettter, it seems I should know that. The question from me would be,Can they get an ink that does not rub off the bottle!!?? Not all , but they know who they are . They should have a beer freshness device of some sorts. Dip sticks that are disposable, or bottle that changed colors when not to drink that skunk piss.

 

well i mean there's not necessarily a better option, i pay more heed if it's not a cellarable beer

 

When you see a 'best by' date on a hoppy beer that is 6 + months from the actual date you're buying the beer, it is unreasonable to trust that the brewery understands your knowledge of what is fresh and what isn't.

 

if a beer says it's "best by X" I trust that claim. BUT that doesn't mean I don't prefer the beer to be fresh.

ideally a can/bottle will tell me the born on/canned/bottled date because that's more pertinent information.

 

It would depend on style. Please don't give me 6 month best by's on Ipas or Pale Ales. Ya know just put a bottled on date I'll figure it out myself.

 

BTW all. One thing many may not realize is that there are a number of breweries that do give us both bottled on and best by dates, just not on the same container. Some breweries use one date on the bottle and put the other date on the case.

Which means that retailers are partly responsible for what you see and do not see if you can't find both dates on the container you are looking at, especially when you are shopping in a bottle shop.

 

It's only 1/3 about the brewer... Three tiered system needs buy in from all three that the beer is stored and cared for properly.