Is Bottle Dating Really THAT Difficult?

I would wonder the same.

Cheers!

 

That brings up another method for dating beers that are packaged as a 6/12 pack or even a case. Use a price sticker with a date code on it. A low capital cost solution and if a volunteer does the work there is minimal labor cost as well.

Cheers!

 

I actually like this method. I can easily see without even picking up the can what the date is. Problem could come in if after the date they just take the sticker off. Would not matter to me as then it would be undated and thus unbuyable (if that is a word).

 

Small brewers are also on a smaller budget. Many don't even want to invest in an extra bar tender (the training involved etc) or a packaging person making minimum wage using a pricing gun for 8 hours. We have to remember, a lot of these places are human and businesses looking to at least turn a slight profit. Craft is not all unicorns, butterflies, and rainbows.

@bluehende I've seen places do just that. Stickers totally gone off the top of 4 packs of beer. Then we hear of "smudged" dates. But how they got smudged, who knows really.

We hope freshness and quality wins out overall. It's getting blurred with how competitive 'craft' has become

 

Yup, that is indeed a problem. For the example of Neshaminy Creek the price sticker is a packaged on date in Julian code.

That would be me as well. To further the discussion on Neshaminy Creek, until recently I would only buy this beer on draft since there were no dates on the canned product. Now that they are dated, the canned beers are purchase worthy.

Cheers!

 

The other option here is to utilize volunteers which is not uncommon at small breweries.

Cheers!

 

Common? Yes. Also illegal:

Wineries in California have already been fined for using unpaid labor - Volunteers and the Law: Winery Shuts Down After Labor Violation. It's a pretty disgusting, un-American practice in a profit-making industry. When breweries go to their bottle manfacturers, equipment makers, label printers, malt and hop suppliers - do they also expect charity donations?

If "craft" brewers are going to boast of job creation, they should be paid positions.

​

 

You also posted your 'position' in this thread: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/volunteering-advice-at-a-local-brewery.116672/

A number of BAs posted in that linked thread that volunteering at small craft breweries is legal.

I am not getting involved in this debate on legality but I will stick to the statement that: people do indeed volunteer at craft breweries and it seems like packaging day is a common time to volunteer and help. Put a sharpie pen or a price sticker in the hands of one of those volunteers and in the parlance of Capt. Picard: "Make it so".

Cheers!

 

We don't. My last Trauger was at the brewery with my Pop blowing the froth off a few. Great beer. I'll ask my Dad to bring a six with him, I'd love yo have it side by side with OMB. I've never ever seen sly Fox Pils when visiting my dad, I bet it's around though. All these beers would be killer with Philly Soft Pretzels and their super hot mustard.

 

My prediction is that you will be having an enjoyable Holiday season!!

Cheers to that!

 

if you are producing 1000's of barrels worth of bottle fills, this would take an incredible amount of time.

 

More annoying than no date at all?

 

Every BA that posted in that thread saying volunteering at a brewery was legal is wrong. There's a small chance of it being legal at a very, very small brewery and doing only very specific and limited work, but it's illegal in 99.9% of cases. So yes, I'm sure it is common, but breweries that would use volunteers to date stamp as part of their business model are taking a risk that, in my opinion, is not worth the expense saved on wages or investing in dating machinery.

 

I will never for the life of me figure out why they put the day first. It's confusing as hell. This is one instance where we are 100% right.

 

Not sure if it's been mentioned here, but the worst is when a brewery puts a "best by" date on the bottle. Like Alpine for instance, it doesn't really do me any good to know that this IPA is best by 8 months from now, like wtf. You went through the trouble to a date on there and it doesn't even offer any added benefit or information.

 

That is why they make machines to do it automatically.

 

I personally agree with you that the 'best' solution for a brewery is to implement a bottle dating solution that does not involve the utilization of volunteer effort. Having stated that there is no doubt in my mind that some small breweries utilize volunteers in their brewery. If that is occurring, whether it is legal or not, those people are providing 'free' effort at those breweries. How they are 'used' at those breweries is up to the discretion of those brewery's owners. Using them to bottle date is as good as a reason as other efforts at those breweries.

Cheers!

 

No, but close. A lot of breweries put a six month shelf life on their IPAS. If they put a "best by" date on it, - then it's almost at bad.
I bought an IPA recently that had a "best By" date of March 25th. it was December 4th.. If I picked up that beer in Mid February, How would I no it was not even close to at its best? Or worse yet, Mid March.
Why take the time to calculate a date when the bottled date is firm and simple. In Stone's case, it's pure marketing.

 

Funny to think that if folks volunteered at Corporate breweries there would be posts on this site that ABI is using slave labor to make their beer.

 

Ha ha exactly. If using volunteers is part of your business model, you need a new model.