I ordered a SNPA today that did not have the date code printed on the label. It was instead printed on the neck of the 12oz bottle. The first 4 digits were 2084 which would normally mean that it was bottled in late March of this year, but why wasn't the date integrated into the label like all other recent SN bottles? Is it possible that this beer was so old that it was from 10 years ago and it was actually bottled on 2002? I mean, it wasn't great but it's hard for me to to believe that it realiy was a 10 year old bottle. So what do you think, were they simply using up some old labels?
So, wait, because the date code was in another location, it means some completely different date? The Julian code is still a Julian code, regardless of where it's placed. My guess is that at the least, they still have labels left over before they decided to start dating the actual bottle.
First of all, had the beer been from 2002 it would have a twist off cap. Secondly Sierra Nevada Pale Ale doesn't have a steep fall off in freshness as many highly hopped beers do. Sierra Nevada appears to be in the midst of a packaging overhaul. I've also noticed that the twelve packs have recently changed to a zip top.
Beers sold in six packs have the date code on the label. Those sold in 12 packs or cases are dated on the neck of the bottle
That may be your observation, but that is not true. All bottles are labeled the same regardless of whether they are packaged in twelves or sixes. Again this is a transitional period, so depending on the age of the product you may see variations.
I wouldn't have thought to notice if it was a twist-off cap (I poured it into a glass). Understand that I don't honestly think is was a decade old. However I'm still curious as to this "packaging transition" of which you speak, and why this "throwback" dated bottle appeared.
Yes, I understand the Julian calendar, but the SN code is not precise as to the year. The first digit indicates the last digit of the year in which the beer was bottled so, theoretically, the code 2084 could indicate March of 2012, 2002, or 1492 for that matter.
It wasn't throwback, it was throw forward. They're moving to the date on the neck, away from date on the label. You tasted this year's model.
If you notice, the beer probably had a back label too. We recently changed our labelling system to accommodate back labels (three-label-Sets in the business) but the laser date code sadly, is not compatible with the new system. Instead, we had to move to an ink-jet on the neck of the bottle. The date codes on the boxes and shipper cartons are the same as ever. If you have the ink-jet bottles, those are the newest we've got. We've only been doing that since March of this year. Hope this helps, -Bill
Still no plans to move to easily read, user-friendly, "bottled on dates"? Firestone Walker just did, and it's great!
I kind of like solving the bottle code puzzle. hmmm was this beer bottled in the future... is it best by the year 2156...that can't be right...
I totally agree. The last thing I want to do while searching for fresh beer is stop to solve a puzzle. And they don't all use the same codes. Some of these date codes printed on the neck are unreadable for my old eyes. If it's too much hassle, I just put the bottle back and buy something else. I'm not sure what the benefits of Julian or any other date codes are but I doubt they outweigh the benefit of having easy access to clear date information. Having said that, I want to say I have great respect for sierranevadabill for regularly coming onto this website to explain things to the BA community. Cheers
