Do Jacks Abby 12oz bottles (4 and 6 packs) have dates on them? I could've sworn they did right on the label, but I spent an inordinate amount of time sifting through multiple bottles in multiple Hoponius sixers only to find nothing. Checked the labels, the neck, the cardboard pack...nothing. Am I crazy? Is it possible there was a batch without dates?
Ahh OK. I remember some issues with labels on the 500mL bottles in the past (not sure if it's the same dater) but usually there was an unreadable date. These were all completely blank so I wasn't sure. Too bad, I was jonesing for some Hoponius
Just get mass rising, which should still be fresh and enjoy. I do wish their bottle dates were more consistent though.
Same dater unfortunately. After a lot of work, it has been getting better, but still no where near good enough. Some days it works perfectly, others not so well. Sometimes there will be a string of bottles with no date when we need to change the carbon roll on the dater as the line keeps on chugging during the turnover process. The case pack that the 6-packs come in is also dated, so sometimes you can use that.
Thanks for the quick response, as always. Good to know that I'm not going crazy, although I'm sure I looked like a lunatic in the store.
OK ... Here's something interesting on the Jack's Abby dating (all 6 packs were Hop U) 2 weekends ago - purchased in Saratoga Springs, date is on the bottle neck (7/8/14) ... First time I have ever seen JA with neck dating Last weekend - Dennis, MA (Cape), date is on the upper right of the label (7/4/14) ... This I've seen before This week - Ridgefield, CT and Norwalk, CT, no date that I can find anywhere ... Have seen this many times, but I thought I had seen they had their bottle dating issues behind them. I'm not saying any of this is true, but Makes me think the NY stuff is contract brewed (I've never heard anything like that just saying the odd dating and the fact the date is before the MA bottles), the MA stuff is legit (it is clearly the freshest tasting), and the CT stock has been sitting around for a while waiting for approval.
All the HU that I have purchased in MA since mid June has had yellow ink on the bottle neck. I believe 6/6/2014 is the first batch I saw dated like this. Perhaps someone has seen early batches than that. So it's been at least 2 months in MA. I haven't seen any bottles with the dates indented on the labels in a long time.
Wanted to buy some HU earlier today, but no sign of a bottle date anywhere. Passed. This beer really falls off a cliff after ~ 5 weeks IMO, no way I'm playing the lottery with it.
Sherlock, if the neck date was before the label date, then you might have a case. And contract brewed? The origin of the beer has to be on the label, did it say NY? (not saying it would have been the first time if a contract brew didn't have the correct place of brewing on the label, but I highly doubt JA is contracting out their beers). And CT stock been sitting around? I'm sipping on a HU bought today in Simsbury with a clear mfg date of 7/29/14 (inkjet on the neck, does that mean it's contract brewed?) You're wrong on all fronts. Sincerely, Mr Watson.
I mistyped which makes my post look awful. Label date is 7/24/14 and not 7/4 on the one on the label. And like I said, I didn't think it was contract brewed just the different locations of the print and the order of the dates was weird.
Gotchya- and yes that does seem weird that there are label dates after inkjet dates. And it does seem weird how much beer they're pumping out of there for such a small brewery, especially more time consuming lagers, and how cheaply they're doing it. The beers I had last night were pretty damn tasty no matter where they were brewed though.
The yellow ink jet dater is a new machine that has had a couple hiccups in getting running. There were a few runs where it was not working correctly and we ended up going back to the old label dater. Some bottles have both dates on them. Every ounce of beer that we have released has come through 81 Morton St in Framingham, Massachusetts.
You guys are by far the best brewery out there in replying to BA threads. Love that. As I said, it was just odd. Love that I found Hop U in Upstate NY, the Cape and CT within three weeks. Keep up the good work.
Jack's Abby vs. the Label Dater. An epic good vs. evil battle that shall last until the ends of time.
Just fyi Watson, the origin of the beer is not required--just the "principal place of business." Jesskidden explains here: http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...t-beers-brewed-in-brooklyn.35739/#post-446753
You left out, "The appropriate TTB officer may disapprove the listing of a principal place of business if its use would create a false or misleading impression as to the geographic origin of the beer." And it's all moot in this case anyway. //thread
