Why Doesn't Every Brewery Date Their Bottles/Cans?

I'm not sure how easy it is to change the screen print design for each bottling date but that might be something specific to Rogue and other screen print bottles.

 

Seems that Rogue includes every piece of information about the beer, except for the expiration date. Which is what most of us care about.

 

I wonder if dating bottles can be sort of a double edge sword - if they are dated customers can tell if the beer is fresh presumably leading to sales and if the date is perceived as old, leading to no-sales.

 

yes but remember that if you "gamble" on a beer that has no date and it's awful because it' s too old, that brewer will not get a second chance at that customer who may pass up their beers forever more because there are so many choices available.

 

They don't because they don't have to. I try and buy fresh local stuff first then stuff that I know is dated if its a PA or IPA. No date I don't buy. Stouts and Porters not quite so much.

 

Rogue is pretty notorious for being anti-date code - unfortunately, due to the "temporary" aspect of the internet, their original comment/article has disappeared - the only evidence left (that I can find) is this old beer dating page that gives a broken RealBeer link - page down half way to the entry entitled Rogue Ales Brewing Company.

The brewers who code their beers on the bottle glass itself use a printing or etching technology, which is done after the beer is bottled. It has nothing in common with the so-called "painted/silk screened" labels - called "ACL- Applied Ceramic Labeling" by the industry - used by Rogue and other brewers. That type of ACL labeling is done by the bottle manufacturer, before bottle delivery to the brewery. Stone, for just one example, has no problem date coding their ACL bottles.

 

It's one of the great mysteries of the world

 

From my perspective there is no mystery why some breweries choose to not date their beers. @brywhite nailed it with “if the date is perceived as old, leading to no-sales.”

Just my opinion.

Cheers!

P.S. On a related note a number of German breweries, who choose to date their beers, utilize a 1 year best by date (which is waayy too long in my opinion).

P.S.S. When Sierra Nevada exports their beers to Europe they label those beers with a 1 year best by date (which is waayy too long in my opinion).

 

I agree with the no dating = more sales. Some guys just don't know to check dates they assume it's all relatively fresh. I don't think any wholesaler or brewer wants to buy back his beer, the dilemma of availability vs freshness. Props to Stone with the Enjoy By dates, they put it out there in less volume and sell it all.

 

i dont see why it matters in some cases....because some beers taste better after there due date....so really theres no point in putting one right?

 

I think with canning dates we're typically meaning PA's and IPA's and hoppy brews in general.

 

Even with those beers that some people would rather drink after they've been cellared for a period of time, a bottling date would still be preferred so they can know how old it is.

 

They prefer money over the quality of beer the consumer purchases. End of story.

 

A question like this came up elsewhere awhile back and a brewer chimed in that equipment to add dates to bottles is expensive. Not sure how true/relevant but thought I would share.

 

With Rogue, I've noticed some of their beers don't even list the ABV, let alone the bottle date, although they put plenty of other info on there that you could probably calculate the ABV if you had a formula LOL..

 

Just noticed Bear Republic went from "bottled on" to "enjoy by"

 

It would be nice if breweries could at least date their IPAs, since they have a tendency to change quite a bit over time.. I saw a couple IPAs from Mission brewery from San Diego but wasn't willing to pull the trigger when there was KNOWN fresh IPAs nearby..

 

As a smaller brewery if I made a beer and I knew that many people buying it may pass on it once it's over a month old, I may be inclined not to date it. It's not right but I'm sure it plays in.

 

I don't really see why breweries don't date. I don't buy the argument that "Dates = People not buying when beer is old." It seems to me that people will either look for a date, or they won't look for a date.

The people that won't look for a date will buy or not buy the product regardless.

The people that will look for a date will either:
1) Buy it because they see a date and it's fresh
2) Buy it when they don't see a date but know it's fresh (new release)
3) Won't buy it because they see a date and it's old
4) Won't buy it because they don't see a date and worry that it's old
5) Buy or not buy based on some reason other than dates

So, to me, it doesn't seem like much changes. I'm probably wrong though.

I have a much bigger gripe with Enjoy By dates instead of Born On dates. I'd much rather be given a date, know how old it is, and make my decision rather than be given a date and have to remember "Oh goddammit. How long does Sixpoint give their beers? Isn't The Crisp different from Bengali Tiger?" I can't tell you how many times I've passed on their beers because I don't care to figure it out.