I really like this brewery but gotta question the Best Buy date on a 6 pack on Bengali I grabbed today: May 2016? Even if this was canned yesterday (and me being in Illinois pretty unlikely) I gotta question a 9+ month shelf life for an American IPA. I understand the original English IPA's were brewed to survive long journeys blah blah blah but this seems extreme. Even local Goose Island IPA claims only a 6 month lifespan and even that I've been a bit suspect of. I'm sure Sixpoint will chime in at some point (and where's the promised variety pack BTW?) but no worries this six pack will be history by the end of August. 2015. Cheers!
Perhaps you are suspicious of it because of all the chatter on here about 24 hours past canning is too many? Several factors go into setting a best by date, the most important of which is the amount of residual oxygen left in the container after it is filled. Some bottling lines give a shelf life of 3 months, others give a shelf life of 5-6 months. One of the virtures of a properly maintained canning line is that it extends the shelf life even further. Will the beer taste different at 6 months than at 1 week? Of course. The issue is really whether or not the beer is still enjoyable or is showing signs of being stale at the best by age. I just finished a DIPA which when fresh had an almost overwhelming bitterness for me that masked the other hop flavors. Tonight's beer was about 4-5 weeks past canning and much more enjoyable for me that the first, freshest can I had 3-4 weeks ago.
I think it is a 12 month best by date. Of course when I was in the store yesterday i forgot that and stopped reading when I saw best by July. I have to go back because I am pretty sure it was July 2016. If so I will be buying some
only Bengali, Sweet Action, and Crisp have that one-year dating for our core beers - solely for export reasons (batch dating) Resin is currently set at 7 months - we are in the process of reviewing our code dating, but as you may (or may not) know, its complicated - because we have to do this in collaboration with our wholesalers. That being said, significant progress has already been made, and there is more coming in the future... p.s. regarding "variety packs" - once again our turnaround speed on taking feedback and delivering outstanding products will be blinding, sit tight and wait for imminent updates