Stone Smeared Bottled On Dates

Got it. I'm sure they now know and I'll bet that whatever is wrong will be fixed ASAP. Cheers.

 

I suppose that's super hecka funny until you accidentally end up with an old outdated IPA, of which Stone releases many, and what they're best known for... But on a related note, except for those that print dates on the labels, it appears to be a common problem, and a reason I wouldn't buy a specific beer.

 

I have this problem with DFH as well.

 

this is very common with any brewery that uses that method to put ink on glass, green flash (now dates best by on paper label) also used to have the same method as stone as well as port brewing and bear republic. if the bottle is cold it condenses water to the bottle and makes the ink easily rub away. I've hear of possible intentional removal of best by/bottled on dates but usually can find an intact date on a bottle further back in the cooler. lagunitas uses a different method and while it's harder to read I've never seen a date missing.

 

RuinTen smeared me, couldn't read the date for sh*T!

 

I see smeared enjoy by dates on Stone's "Go to" more often than I see legible dates.

 

As far as I know, despite having a spot on the new labels for a date, Green Flash hasn't stamped a date on ANY of those labels. This is coming from someone who has had multiple of the new-label Hop Head Red, West Coast IPA, Imperial IPA, 30th St pale ale, Hop Odyssey Black IPA, and Road Warrior... No dates on a one of them!

 

Can you believe this? Stone...

 

I swear some retailers smear them. Or I'm paranoid. No, they smear them.

 

I am sure the beer tastes exactly the same with a smeared label vs. unsmeared. Or does the ink lend a flavor profile I am unaware of?

 

My Unapologetic date was also smeared.

 

Stone must be DP'd!

Storm the brewery, it's a DP party!

 

I HATE brewers that don't date their bottles/cans, especially IPAs. But I have not written letters to any of them, nor did I write a letter to Stone.

 

I know breweries like to be kept in the loop over any issues that might affect the quality of their beer. They can't fix it if they don't know about it. Despite what we may think, not every quality manager trolls the BeerAdvocate or RateBeer forums. I've emailed some QC issues with packaging to some breweries and I know they really appreciate it. I usually get a very nice email back thanking me for bringing the issue to light.

As an aside, I know that Stone has another laser-etched date code at the near the base of their bottles for QC and complaint purposes. I think the first three digits are the julian bottled-on code date.