Should best by/born on date become manditory?

It's amusing at the very least to see all the BAs who gripe continuously about government regulations re the three tier system, alcohol content, beer tasting regulations, alcohol sales in stores, Sunday sales, yadayadayada but yet---

---let's add some new government requirements! Yeah! It'll work great this time!! No, seriously, the same governmental bodies that screw up beer laws all the time will get it right this time!! Trust me on this one!!

 

The problem I see with this is; what is the date when a beer is no longer considered good to consume? Many of the German imports with sell-by dates are typically given a one-year shelf life. Stone gives its beers 90-120 days (depending on style). Anheuser Busch gives its beer 110 days. There's a certain gueuze in my house that's good until the year 2030!

 

If born on dates become mandatory, i hope White Birch likes abortion.

 

this makes no sense.

White Birch beers suck no matter how old they are.

 

so give a bottling date and let the informed or uniformed consumer decide

 

every brewery should print brewed on dates on their bottles (if it's not cost prohibitive; think really tiny breweries). but that doesn't mean it should be "mandatory" in some sort of regulatory sense.

not too complicated a thing. for example, everyone really ought to be nice to other people, all the time. but this is not something that lawmakers need to concern themselves with...

 

I know from first hand experience, this is already a colossal PITA:
http://www.ttb.gov/beer/bam.shtml

That said, at a minimum, brewers should put a year and maybe month on the beer bottles, and then let the consumer decide how long they want to keep it (or not). That would also help to hold the likes of Total Wine and World Market to task for letting things sit in the warehouse for forever before selling it.

Drinking Heady Topper, Hop Slam, or Pliny within 2 weeks of it being packaged - or letting your barleywine sit for two years - is a preferential choice for the consumer.

If you like beer that's in that 2-4 week window, drink local.

 

Good points, if you have enough time to post on BA you have enough time to contact a brewery.

 

No problem there. The brewery determines the shelf life (best by). It will vary depending upon the style of beer, the bottling line in use, etc., all of which a well trained brewer knows more about than I do. If my experience tells me I don't agree with the brewery, I buy someone else's beer, just as I do now. Nothing says there must be a single date for all styles, bottling methods or breweries.

 

Let almighty capitalism reign here. Vote with your wallet, don't by beer that is not dated, the brewers who don't bottle date will feel the financial crush. In the last year or so, green flash and ballast point started bottle dating, they finally got the hint.

Bottle dating is only part of the problem! The other part is getting the old beer off the shelves. Also having distributors not deliver out of code beer to the stores.

 

Simply put that's a Big Yes !

 

This is completely in the buyer/consumer responsibility area. If you are not happy don't buy the friggin' beer, let your feelings be known to the brewery if it's that big a deal.

Also the retailer should be on top of it, they are making money on the sale, let them be responsible for fresh stock. And last of all stop buying IPA's with dust on the bottle you moron.

No date on Heady Topper, how's that workin' out.

 

Or you could have deciphered the julian code printed right on the bottle... ;-P

 

I agree for the most part. Many forget that there is a responsibility the consumer has to educate themselves and purchase based on some reasearch. No bottle date? Don't buy it or take it a step further and ask the beer guy when it came in.

Problem is, you have to get burned a few too many times to finally figure this out...

 

It isn't much to ask but remember, nobody is forcing you to buy beer or any particular brewery's product. It's your choice based on your perception of the product and how much you want that product.

 

Hi ao125,

Please know that Total Wine doesn't have a warehouse where we store beer. The beer comes in off the delivery truck from the distributor via the back loading dock of the store and goes out into the store as soon as possible. It is the beer distributors who warehouse the beer. Rarely does beer sit in our back room for any amount of time more than a day or two. We want it out where it can sell.

Retailers have no direct control over the age of the beers that is delivered to them at the back door by the distributors. If outdated, or nearly outdated beer is spotted during delivery, we will reject it. Within the industry, it is considered to primarily be the distributor's responsibility to ensure there is no out of date beer for sale in its retail accounts. Obviously, there is so much beer out there that some ages out before its sold (and some is mistakenly delivered "old").

If you find aged-out beer in the store, please tell the store manager. We try to monitor it all but we do miss some given the volume of beer coming in and out, all with a gazillion different dates and different date code methodologies.

Thanks for shopping with us. I just wanted to make that one clarification.

Rob

 

I'd love a bottled on date for every beer I buy. Then I can make a knowledgeable call to buy it or not. I prefer it over a best by date because you cannot tell how fresh the beer is unless you know the breweries dating policy. And by the way, I have to call out Sixpoint for their ridiculously long best by dating - just bought a 4 pack of cream ale a week or 2 ago and it was dated good until March 2013 - give me a break!

I pass up undated bottles all the time - such as every Anderson Valley beer in my local stores. And I hate to do it because I like some of their beers. And I do notify breweries of my desire for bottled on dates and some are more receptive than others. For example, I asked a guy at a brewery once why they do not date their bottles - he asked why? I told him so I could buy your beer - he simply stared at me and could tell he thought I'm not their average consumer and so big deal. And he is likely right. The majority of their consumers are going to continue to buy their beer regardless of dating policies. I simply will not be one of them.

One other point is that a bottled on date can be a benefit to the brewery. If you unknowingly purchase a beer that is over a year old and well past its prime and think the beer sucks, you'll never buy it again. Whereas you might have loved it if it was fresh.

 

Indeed! I've never been forced to do anything thankfully !

I'll do as I wish in terms of purchasing beers, my arguement is about what I expect from so called 'craft' brewers.

There are thousands upon thousands of beers available that are dated, I don't need to buy beers off a brewery who can't be arsed to date their products!!! Lazy lazy lazy!

Thankfully in the UK it is the law so this is what I'm used to since I began drinking good beer in 1990

I appreciate that in a 50 state nation this is a little different in terms of official governance, but find it odd that so called 'craft' breweries don't bother when this is a relatively simple thing to place on a label and you would think by the fact they are a 'craft' brewery they would want people to enjoy their products at their best!

Maybe it's more about the money for some breweries and they don't care if their stock sits on shelves until whenever?

As you say ... choice and perception - don't buy - I don't want nor need it without a date.

 

Should breweries include them? Yes
Should they be required? No

....next question

 

I think every brewery should just put a bottling date. I dont understand why you wouldnt. Nothing is more frustrating than grabbing an IPA, and the hops have all but faded.