Yet another Lagunitas packaging date question

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I don't think so...

 

The only conclusion I can come to is that some people are just lazy, and just don't like change or want to inform the consumer, it's a simple as that.

 

trust me.. you're not.

 

I personally love the taste of Sucks, especially at it's price point. But I almost never buy it because I never know how old it is.

 

I often make a judgement call on many factors if I don't have a date. I often visit many beer sellers on a regular basis, so I can often tell when something new has come in. Another factor is a brewers reputation about consistently putting out a good product, Lagunitas is definitely one of them. Other things come into play as well, storage and handling is another.

From there I make my call.

 

This is simple. Use your purchasing power to buy beer with clear and decipherable date codes.

That is all.

 

Ethan, do your wholesale distributors do a good job of selling fresh beer to your retailers? In my area it is not unusual for the local wholesale distributors to delivery old (e.g., > 4 month old) beers to my local retailers.

Cheers!

 

I worked with a guy who is now retired who knew all the distributors, and some were better than others in that regard, he knew who to avoid, and he had a store that had large turnover of product.

These days I am buying less than I used to and don't have a dedicated store.

 

That's strange, I've never had a Lagunitas beer that didn't have the day it was bottled printed on the neck of every bottle in the pack.

 

I have, off every one of them and the six pack adjoining. On a seasonal that I suspected was from the prior season from a distributor who to my knowledge has stocked other out of date stuff.

I notified Lagunitas who was polite but not helpful.

 

Rats, edit time has elapsed. On my prior post I somehow omitted the sentence that neither the store manager or I could find a date using a magnifying glass and available store light or even a flashlight.

 

Umm. This has less than a squirt of you know what to do with the brewers, and it has EVERYTHING to do with the equipment manufacturers who make the equipment that can handle printing at that speed with those kind of printing challenges. It's not always as easy as you presume it is when you have 5 buttons to sort it all out with, and the machine itself was clearly designed by someone who hates other people.

 

Computer programmers tend to make things obtuse because they happen to be dicks.

 

It is up to the brewer to install the equipment that works best for them. One of our locals simply has the months printed longways on the label edge and a notch on the best by month. Obviously this notching can be done before the labels are even applied.

 

Even though the older equipment is reportedly cantankerous and new equipment obviously is expensive, some craft brewers manage to accomplish the task of clearly marking the date. Comes down to how committed they are to getting a clear date applied. Even though some consumers might not buy unmarked beers, I doubt these folks make any kind of dent in sales - so what is the incentive to brewers to get containers clearly marked if it makes little difference in sales?

 

And that is a fact, Jack!!

Cheers!

 

Maybe these folks could have some abstract computer code and than print something simple like month/day/year. Seriously is that crap so damn difficult!! As far as julian dating I seriously have to ask just who in the hell seriously uses this on a regular daily basis. Seems as if I always use a month/day/year dating system at my job. And I have a daily log, shift summary and regular reports. No julian dating on any of our computer generated reporting purposes. So please keep this crap off of my beer!!

 

I write software for the Navy... so I use Julian dating every damn weekday. Most dates come across on cards as good old YDDD.

 

Where I work we use it on satellite imagery. Julian is great for easily finding the number of days between two dates, but is not easily used by most because most people have to consult a calendar to convert to the more familiar month and day. I suppose there are a few people who can instantly do that in their heads.