Trust the Best By date

Thanks. I'll give it a try.

 

Best Buy dates a year out are at most dubious, but them you have storage conditions. The beer that leaves Germany as an example are probably loaded onto pallets or into shipping containers to their destination. Is it too much to speculate that some or most of these beer might never ever see the insides of a cooler until bought? They sit on a boat, they sit in a dock getting thru customs, they sit in a distributors warehouse, they sit on a stores floor or on the shelf. Seems to be a deadly combination depending on the season of heat or cold and age. It’s no wonder why so many of these beers... aren’t exactly great drinking beers. It’s one thing for me to bitch about a two month old beer brewed right here, it’s seems a another thing with these imported beers.

 

I didn't say that NO US brewery ever used a "1 Year" suggested shelf life on one beer, only that they are not "often a full year apart". One outlier, to me, doesn't really qualify as "often". @drtth above explains why your can does and it's a bullshit reason. I guess they couldn't squeeze:
"BB 01 APRIL 2020 EXCEPT IN THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES, ALASKA and HAWAII WHERE FRESH BEER AGES NORMALLY"
onto the bottom of the can.

I do. Here's the base of an (empty) can of Sixpoint Resin:

Different redhead. Plus, we only got the daily newspaper, Pop* wouldn't pop for the Sunday edition with the color comics section so I never believed Brown's infatuation was really redheaded.

* "25¢ for something you're just gonna throw away tomorrow! Get a !@#$ job if you wanna read the goddam funny pages in color!" I just think he didn't want to put pants on and drive to the store on Sunday morning.

 

Finally figured it out, so here are the pics (thank you officerbill!). All the Jammer varieties are dated similarly. I understand the issue with my use of the word, often, and accept that that was a bit of hyperbole when it comes to US manufacturers.

 

Love it! Sounds like my Dad. Spot on!

 

Gose style beers have a lower pH in comparison to other beer styles and in theory this should permit these beers to have a longer shelf life (in comparison).

Maybe @SixpointMikey can provide further input here.

Cheers!

 

I approach BBD with a grain of salt. If the date is down the road like a ways down the road I consider the beer sort of fresh and get. If the BBD is very close or even a few months away I walk. Just my own approach and others I am sure have their own method. Never really got a horrible beer this way, so I run with it as my norm.
Cheers

 

Probably still good? Why bother dating them then? That assistant needs to find another line of work.

 

It’s a wonder why any of this stuff is drinkable. What’s the best case scenario to your reefer? I don’t buy anything but Weistephaner off the shelf, but other than that I can easily check on Urquell, and 4 months is as good as it gets up mostly older. Even with the bottles and protective cover it’s still usually 5-6 months old, and certainly not what was originally put into that bottle.

 

Except for Stone, I don't touch anything that is even a month or two before the Best Before date.

Canned/bottled dates are all that matters.

I can do the math, thank you very much. I can also adjust my expectations based upon style.

 

You still get PU in the enclosed 6packs?

 

I’ve never seen a 6 here only 12

 

Ahh, we only get the 6packs.

 

I can never find dates within the last year that warrant a buy. Wish there was a choice of cans too.

 

Did you even bother trying another bottle? Maybe you had a bottle with a bad cap and the beer experienced a more rapid oxidation than was expected? Maybe cans are waaaaay better at keeping beer fresh, which is morebelievable in this situation. But there you have two more options that I didnt see posted earlier.

 

I really like DAB dark.....the dates on the case were always very good. I tried to buy some the other week and was told it’s no longer available in PA. The replacer is Wolters Black beer. Great, it’s a few $ less too. I go to grab the case and it’s all best by October 2018. One day I might get to try this beer.

Enjoy

 

But that method doesn't take into consideration the great range in the "shelf life" periods brewers use. Say you want a pilsner, and the choice is between Bell's Lager of the Lakes and Jever.

LotL's only got 2 month left ("a few"), Jever's got 6 months ("a ways down the road" - ½ a year!) But the Bell's is only 1 month from bottling while the Jever was bottled 9 months ago.

 

That sucks, but at least you knew what you were getting into. For IPAs, at least, I will go no longer than 3 months max. I love Tröegs beer and had Perpetual around the best by date (believe it is 120 days from canning date) not too long ago and it just wasn't good. Much better fresh.

 

I would go with the fresher bottling then. Say beer one was made 30 days ago and is only good for 3 mos more. Beer two was made 6 mos ago and is still good for 6 mos, I would pick up the 30 day old 7 out of 10 times unless I really wanted the other for a reason.
Another factor I use is past experience. Let's revisit the above but I have a long history with beer two and know its fantastic all the way till its BBD. I will then use that knowledge when I buy.
Nothing is ever in stone but this is pretty much how I decide on certain items.
FYI if its a stout or other long shelf beer I worry way less since I never had a lot of issues with them outside of maybe the coffee falling off but that is a given.
Cheers