KBS Bottle Date Question

The best part is that with KBS, you know when it was purchased. and its the same day of the year, so its not a mystery. If you dont know the exact bottle date, it cant be earlier than the end of February.

 

Yeah and most of the stuff I like from Founders (barring Harvest Ale) doesn't need to be super fresh.

 

I mean I like Centennial and Double Trouble, which need to be fresh. Most everything else can sit for a bit and it wont hurt one bit.

 

Somewhat related: Are all Founders brews dated the same way? I'm thinking about calling shenanigans on a local store in my neighborhood. All of the Founders beers at this shop have bottle dates with the exception of Centennial IPA. I looked through 4 sixers and didn't find a bottle with a date on them.

The curious thing about it is that the Double Trouble, which is getting pretty long in the tooth by now, do have the dates. It would be a real bummer if they did indeed rub them off as it the best place close to home and I'd probably cease my patronage.

 

I've seen 4pks of Double Trouble without dates sitting next to ones with them. I wouldn't put too much stock into the store rubbing it off themselves. I'm sure stores here and there do, but I've seen enough bottles at good shops without them that I'm not too worried about it.

 

This is 100% correct. The years are marked towards the bottom of the bottle. I have 08, 09, 10, 11, and 12 bottles. They all follow the 02 08, 02 09, 02 10, etc. coding. Hope this helps.

 

I took some blank label stock and make little labels that denote on the cap what year all my beers are on the ones that aren't clearly labeled on the bottle ie stone/central waters etc.

 

It certainly does. I don't really get why this isn't more common knowledge.

 

This is brilliant. I dug up this thread because someone on ebay sold me a 2012 and 2 2010s saying they were 2011, 2010, and 2009. Based on this information, I'd say the seller was fraudulent and I'll take the appropriate actions.

 

And those would be what, exactly? I would think that these are just some of the risks of buying things like this online. And since it's only allowed to be sold on a technicality, I would just be glad you actually got KBS, instead of something else.

 

I ended up contacting the seller and he was very cooperative in resolving the issue. He managed to get a hold of a 2009 and a 2011, so we're going to do the trade on Monday. Definitely getting a positive review after this transaction.

 

Are you getting old KBS? Maybe it is just me, but this beer seems to be destroyed by aging. Now the Imperial Stout can certainly age well.

 

I know this an old thread, but:
1) The 2013 bottles are not dated with the yellow/green that we've been seeing. However, the language is slightly different on the side, and the neck label has the web address. (I've also labeled each of my '13's now, because I know better than to trust the bottling ink...)
2) I have five bottles of older KBS. I think it's an '09, a '10, and 3 '11s, (or some variation thereof) but I have no way to tell which is which. I looked all over for bottle dates, used LED flashlights and whatnot, but no dice. Is there any other way to distinguish them apart from each other? It seems that the labels are all the same, but maybe I'm missing something. I'm hoping someone has REALLY been paying attention to the bottles.

3) Do the actual raised/Braille-like imprinted numbers on the glass mean anything?

Thank you in advance for your help. Beer karma will find you and reward you.

 

Along the same lines, I was wondering if anyone had a record of changes over the years. I thought I had seen a list of ways to differentiate them without relying on dates in the past.

For example, the change from "A Stout Ale" to "A Flavored Stout", or the ink change, or the location that the ink is printed.

 

ive had a problem with the dates of this years bottles. i can rub the ink off the bottle with my fingers. anyone else have this problem?

 

You can do that to pretty much all of Founders beers.

 

Can't locate any dating on this years KBS bottles. Held empty up to sunlight today, nothing.

 

Same. Multiple bottles inspected. No dates.

 

Was this change made to the 2012 or 2013 bottles? 2013 right?

 

Philly got a bit less this year I believe than last year. Something on the order of 7 cases were sent into the city for the bottle shops. The big suburban distributors (Kunda, Beer Yard) usually get a few cases, but they are spoken for months in advance. I'm sure some of the city distributors get a few as well, but I didn't ask them.

I can't speak for NE PA, but down here, it's all gone. And typically, it all goes the day it hits town. People spend a lot of time and energy hunting down KBS, and I don't think enough of it is being made yet that it finds its way into shops where it will sit untouched, but I guess it's possible. Expect to pay anywhere from $6-$10 a bottle, and more if a store is trying to gouge.

You'll have to wait til next year I'm afraid. My advice would be to seek it out on tap. I largely skipped the KBS shitshow and drank my fill during Philly Beer Week. I am very glad I did; chasing down bottles is just not worth it, at least not for something that comes out every year and can readily be found on tap. Especially since PBW comes right when the beer is at its best, about 3-4 months out from kegging.