If you enjoy this site and find it useful, please take a minute to donate something if you want. Thank you! 3 Dachshunds: Uses a bottling date. It's on the cases only. 10 Barrel: No freshness info. 16 Mile: No freshness info. 21st Amendment: Uses a packaging date. The packaging date is on the bottom of each can and on the side of each six pack. It is a Julian date that will read, for example, 9121. that is the 121st day of 2009 or May 1. Abita: Uses a best by date. It's on the neck of the bottle, near the top. Format is MM/DD/YY. AC Golden: Uses a best consumed by date. From the brewer: We do have a date by which the beer is best consumed. We try to get it video-jetted on the neck label of each bottle, but some of them get by us on packaging day. One of the other ways we track the age of Herman Joseph's Private Reserve is with the brew number. Alamo: Uses a best before date. From the brewer: It is date stamped for 90 days after bottling on both cases and bottles. Alaskan: Uses a best before code. Example: A081509 = Best before August 15, 2009. Alesmith: Uses a bottling date on the cases only. Written on the case with a sharpie and according to the brewer, the format depends on who's writing it. The X, IPA and Anvil have a 6 month shelf-life. The 750ml. bottles can be aged. Allagash: Uses a bottling date. Its a Julian date code laser etched on the bottom of the bottle. America's Brewing Company: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: I have a 4 digit stamp on all 6packs and 4 packs. The first digit is the last number of the year. The following letter is the month (A=January B=February Etc.) the 3 digit is the week it was bottled and the last number is the day. 0A34 means it was bottled January 13th, 2010. Typically my beers last 3 months if stored cold. The bourbon barrel beer can last up to and perhaps over a year due to alcohol content. Anchor: Uses a complex coded three-character bottling date. The first number is the last digit of the year. The next letter is the month and the last character is the day. The months are coded: J = Jan, F = Feb, M = Mar, A = Apr, Y = May, U = Jun L = Jul, G = Aug, S = Sep, O = Oct, N = Nov, D = Dec. The days 1-26 are coded A-Z while days 27-31 are coded with the last digit of the day. Thus 8JT was bottled on January 20, 2008. For Canada: A best before date is on the label. Ex.: 7-2013. Date is 2 years from bottling. Anderson Valley: Uses a Julian bottling date in small print on the bottle neck. The first five numbers printed are the Julian date. The first two numbers in the sequence represent the year, the next three numbers represent the day of the year. Appalachian: Uses a bottled on date. From the brewer: The bottled-on date and batch number are ink jetted on each bottle about shoulder height. It is day of the year 1-365, year, and batch. Arbor: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: The last four digits on the sticker on the bottom of the six-pack carrier is the month and date the beer was bottled. Arcadia: Uses a bottled on date. It's stamped on the bottle shoulder. Atlanta Brewing: Uses a best before date. Example: 133 (batch) and underneath: 7/23/09 (best before). Written in purple ink on the neck of the bottle. Atlantic Brewing (Maine): Best before date stamped on top of end panel of each case. Atwater Block: Uses a production date. From the brewer: Month and year production date, just like Sam Adams. August Schell: Uses a six-digit best before code in MMDDYY format. Avery: Uses a bottling date. For the special series of beers, the month and year are printed on the front label. For all other beers,code dated on the shoulder of the bottle with an inkjet printer indicating the date and time that the bottle was filled. Example: 10184B6, 10 = the first one or two digits of the top line indicate the year; 9 is 2009, 10 is 2010, etc… 184 = Julian date, B6 = the tank it was brewed in. Backcountry: Uses a best consumed before date. On the bottom right hand corner of the label, the month and the year are blackened. Back Forty: Uses a best before date. From the brewer: Its currently being printed on top of the government warning on the label, but were having the label redesigned to accommodate an actual space for the stamp. Back Road: No freshness info. Bad Monkey (GA): No freshness info. Ballast Point: Uses a best before date. Ex.: BE293/03302. BE = Big Eye, 293 = Batch, 03302 is the best before (Mar. 30, 2012). Shelf life is six months. Baltimore-Washington Beer Works: Uses a fill date. It's stamped on the case carton only. Format is MM/DD/YYYY. Barley Island: Uses a bottling date. It's on the cases only. Format is month spelled out, day, year. Bard's Tale: Uses a bottling date. Example: PD10/14/2008. So Oct. 14, 2008. Barrel House: No freshness info. Barrington: Uses a drink by date. Has a drink by month of date. The best if purchased by month is notched into the side of the all of their labels EXCEPT for their Holiday Yule Fuel Barleywine. Bavarian Barbarian: Uses a bottling date. It's on the cases only. Ex.: MAR 22, 2010. Bear Republic: Uses a bottling date. DD/MM/YY is on the neck of the bottle. Hard to read as it's dark ink. Bee Creek: Uses a bottling date. It's on the case label. Format is MM/DD/YYYY. They are also working on a best buy date on the bottom of the six-pack carriers. Beer Works: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: If you can check the code stamped on the case, it is the Julian date and the last digit is the year ["0" for 2010]. We are working on rebuilding the date coder that attaches to our labeller. Bell's: Uses a four-character packaging code. To find out what the code means you need to go to their website and enter the code in the Batch Search box. For example 8400 is Bell's Oberon and was packaged on March 27 2008. As of April 2011, they will also be using a packaging date. The first line shows the batch number, 10302, and the second gives the bottling date. Following the bottling date is a letter that signifies a shelf life category. Currently, we are using A, B, and C to denote six months, twelve months, and unlimited respectively. Brands that would be considered having unlimited shelf lives include Expedition Stout and Third Coast Old Ale. Berkshire: Uses a best by date. It's a yellow label on the shoulder of the bomber. Format is MM/DD/YY and is 6 months from bottling.
Big Boss: Uses a bottled on date. It's on the side in the month/ year format.
Big Muddy: No freshness info. Big Rock Chop & Brewhouse: No freshness info. Big Sky: Uses a best before date. From the brewer: On the shoulder of the bottle there should be two rows of numbers. The second row is the “best by” date. The first six numbers of the second row are mm/dd/yy. The cans have the same system printed on their bottoms. Big Stick: No freshness info. Big Time: No freshness info. Bitter Root: Uses a packaging date. From the brewer: Date stamp on the box is MMMDDYYYY, again, no date stamps on our bottles, just the case packaging. Black Bear: No freshness info. Black Diamond: No freshness info.
Bluegrass: Uses a best before date. Only the regular 12oz. bottles have it.
Blue & Gray: Uses a bottled on date on the bottles. Blue Moon: Uses a seven-character best before date. The three-character month, two-character day, and two-character year so I have JUN0808 for June 8, 2008. Blue Mountain (VA): Uses a best by date. Stamped on the bottles and cans. Ex.: 06/09. Blue Point: Uses a bottling date printed on the neck of the bottle. Example: 1559. 155 = day of the year & 9 = the year itself.
Boak Beverage: No freshness info. Bohemian (UT): Uses a production date. From the brewer: Our 12 packs are stamped on the bottom when they were canned. The 6 packs come on a flat which is also stamped with the production date. Format is MM/DD/YY. Bootlegger's (CA): No freshness info. Boston Beer Co.: Clearly shows the best before date. The month is notched and the year is printed except for seasonal beers like Double Bock and Octoberfest where the year is often not given. Boulder Beer: Uses a pull (best before) date. Example: JUN1809 would be June 18, 2009.
Boulevard: Uses a best by Julian date. Example: 09127 would be the 127th day of 2009 (April 7). The next series of numbers tells you the time it was bottled. The letter represents what tank the beer was fermented in. The code is printed directly on the bottle and also on the cases. Brau Brothers: Uses a bottling code. It's a Julian date code stamped (usually) on the back label. From the brewer: We date our beer for ten days after bottling. Then we hold that beer in our cooler for ten days as a kind of “quarantine”, just to make sure everything’s ok. Breckenridge: Clearly shows the best before date as month and week (but not the year) on the left side of the front label. Brew It Up: No freshness info. Brew Kettle, The (OH): No freshness info. Brewer's Alley: Uses a best before date. From the brewer: We do have a Julian date code which we employ on both the case boxes and the bottle body label. The first three numbers are the day of the year which would be 180 days after packaging, and the last two numbers indicate the year. Brewer's Art: Uses a best by date. From the brewer: There is a date on the back label as a "best by" date. It's one year from bottling. Brew Works (PA): No freshness info. BridgePort: Use a bottling date. From the brewer: All of our beer has a date etched into the neck of the bottle. It will read example: 06908 this is called a julian date. It reads the 69th day of 2010 the 8 on the end is the batch that it came out of. It is good for 6 months after the bottling date. Bristol: Uses a bottled on date. On the bottles, it's on the edge of the labels and for the cases, it's stamped on the side. Brooklyn: Uses a production date. It's a Julian code. For mat is dddy, where ddd= Julian Production Date ; y=last digit of year. It's on the cases and should be on the bottles and cans. Also, the "regular strength" Brooklyn 12 oz. bottles (via Matt in Utica, NY) are dated - "Best Before (Month) (Year)" and then what looks to be the Julian date of bottling stamped on the shoulder of the bottle in yellow. Brown's (NY): Uses a bottling date. It's on the mother carton only. Ex.: March 18, 2010. Browning's: Uses a best before date. From the brewer: Our ESB has a best before date. Our other offering, She Devil, is vintage bottled and has no date. Brugge Brasserie (IN): Uses a bottling date. It's on the carton only. Format is MM/DD/YY. Buckbean: Uses a batch code. You can email them the code to find out when it was packaged. Budweiser: Bottling date AKA Born on date on the rear label. Capital: Uses a bottling date. It's a 4-digit Julian code. First 3 digits are the day of the year and the 4th digit is the year. Example: 0839 would mean it was bottled on the 83rd day of 2009 (Mar. 24). Carolina Beer: Uses a born on date. They have a year shelf life. On the bottles, this info is on the neck. We use Julian dates. Here is an example of how to decipher the code! 1147 022/10 = 11:47 a.m. on Jan. 22, 2010.
Cascade Lakes: Uses a bottling date on the case box only. Central Coast: No freshness info. Central Waters: Uses a bottling date. Freshness is guaranteed for 6 months from the notched date. Cervecera Mexicana: Uses a best before date. Printed on the front label in DD/MM/YY format. Christian Moerlein: Uses a bottling date. Example: 15009 would be the 150th day of 2009. Written in yellow ink on the neck of the bottle. Cigar City: Uses a bottling date. Looks like this: APRIL2012. Underneath that, the number is stamped, example SEVEN. To the left of the label's main design. Cisco: Uses a best after date which is on the cases only. Format is DD/MM/YY. City (WI): Uses a bottling code. From the brewer: Our products have date coding on them which is the actual julian production date. For example something produced on January 31, 2010 would read 0310, (dddy). Typically it is on the bottle (sometimes below the neck label) and cans (usually on the bottom). Sometimes it is also on the packaging, but not always. Clipper City: Uses a best before date. Month and year are notched on the bottom of the front label.
COAST: Uses a bottling date. Format is MM/DD/YY. Example: 021710.
Coastal Extreme: Uses a best before date. From the brewer: On our Amber Ale and Blueberry beers we have a "best before date". We just put in a new line and we will have it on all our bottles from now on. Cooperstown: Uses a sell by date. Shown only on their cases. MM/DD/YYYY.
Coors: Uses a freshness code that you'll see on every bottle and can. The code tells the last day the beer should be available for sale from retailers, bars, and restaurants. We call this the product's "pull date." For example, if the code on a bottle or can of a Coors product reads "NOV14 111B" or "NOV1411132B", then November 14 is the day the product should be removed from a retailer's shelves and no longer be sold to consumers. All Coors "pull dates" fall on a Sunday—that's how you can determine the year the product was packaged. In our example, the product should have been pulled from the shelves on Sunday, November 14, 2004. Corner: See Arbor. Coronado: Uses a bottled on date. It's on the bottle in black ink According to the brewery, they sometimes get the dates inversed. Look for the 09 (for 2009) and calculate the rest. Crabtree: Uses a bottling date. It's on the cases only. Cricket Hill: No freshness info. Dark Horse: No freshness info. Del Norte: No freshness info. Deschutes: Shows the best before date as month (but not year). Also uses a best after date on their Reserve Series. Dick's: Uses a brewed on date. It's stamped on the outside of their cases. Dillon Dam: Uses a bottled on date. It's on the case package and the shelf-life is 90 days. Dominion (and Fordham, both part of Coastal): Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: There should be a date stamp on the 'lower right hand corner' of the bottle . There is a blank space and the date stamp goes right over it. Once packaged our beer is best enjoyed within 150 days from the bottling date. Format: 03/03/10. Dogfish Head: Shows the bottling on the neck of the bottle. DD MM YY format. Dragonmead: Uses a batch code but the brewer won't say what it means. Duck Rabbit: Uses an enjoy by date. Month and year are notched on the right side of the front label. Durango: Uses a bottling date. It's stamped on the case. Dunedin: Uses a batch code. It's on the neck of the bottle in black ink. You have to email the code to the brewery to find out the date. Dust Bowl: No freshness info. East End: Uses a brewed on date for some beers. From the brewer: In some cases, they get a "brewed on" date, but given that most of these hand bottled beers can improve with age, I generally leave that determination to the beer drinker. Eastern Shore: No freshness info. Einhorn: Uses a filling date. On the mother carton only. Example: March 24 2010. Electric: No freshness info. Ellicottville: Uses a brewed on date. It's stamped on the outside of their cases. El Toro: Uses a bottling date on the top of the case. Example: Filled on mm/dd/yy. Elysian: Uses a best before date. It's usually on the bottom right of the label. Example: BEST BY 1-29-10. Empyrean: Uses a best enjoyed by date. From the brewer: We notch the best enjoyed by month and year on our bottle labels. We have a sticker with the best enjoyed by day and month and beer batch on the top of each 6 or 12 pack box. Endurance (MA): No freshness info. Epic Ales: No freshness info. Erie (PA): Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: We have a date on the case of the beer at this time. We use the Julian date code. Estes Park: Uses a bottling date. The date is marked on the cases only with the month and the day of the month. Evolution Craft Brewing: Uses a bottled date. It's on the mother case, format MM/DD/YY. Fauerbach: No freshness info. Feather River: No freshness info. Firehouse (CA): No freshness info. Fire Island: Uses a born on date. From the brewer: Bottles have coding on packages may be read as follows: "08E09" = May 8th, 2009. "08" = 8th, "E" = May (skip I and J), "09" = 2009. Fireman's Brew: Uses a best by date stamped on the cases only. Firestone Walker: Uses a bottling on date. It's on the shoulder of the bottle in ink. Beer is good for 110 days from that date. Fish Brewing (WA): Uses a spawned on (bottling) date. Month is notched on the left side of the front label but year doesn't seem to be there. Flat Earth: No freshness info. Florida Beer: Uses a best by date. Printed around the neck or shoulder of the bottle. Flying Bison: No freshness info. Flying Dog (and Wild Goose): Uses a best before date. From their website: We use a modified Julian calendar to date most of our beers. If you look in the lower right corner of the label you will find a code that reads something like 123FX08. Here is what this means: The first three numbers are the day of the year that the beer will go “out of date”. So using the code above, we know that this beer is considered fresh until the 123rd day of ’08. And yes the last two digits indicate the year while the FX is a code we use internally at the brewery. So this beer went out of date on Friday May 2nd, 2008. e give most of our beers 140 days from the bottling day to be considered fresh. The exceptions to this would be our Road Dog Porter which has a 200 day code and our Canis Major series (Double Dog Double Pale Ale, Gonzo Imperial Porter, Horn Dog Barley Wine, and Kerberos Belgian-Style Tripel) which are vintage dated meaning that if these beers are treated well, they can keep for up to several years. In this case the code will read something like “VINT08EE”. The only part of this code you will need to know is the year this beer was packaged, in this case 2008. Our Wild Dog series does not have a code but again these beers can hold up well for up to several years. Flying Fish: Uses a best before date. Stamped on the box and also laser printed on the bottle cap. It is only the date written, example = 10-03-09, no best before wording. Fort Collins: No freshness info. Founders: Uses a bottled on date. It's on the bottle neck in black ink in the format MM/DD/YY. Four + Brewing: Uses a bottled on date. It's on the label in the lower right hand corner in the format MM/DD/YY. Four Peaks: Uses a marking system that only they know. From the brewer: We have a marking system on the labels that tell us exactly when the beer was bottled that matches to some special cards we have here. For their canned beer , they use a canned date. It's on the 6-pack carton as well as the carton that the 12-packs are packaged in but not on the cans themselves. It's on the bottom in Julian fashion (first 3 numbers are the day of the year and the last 2 numbers are the year itself). Full Sail: Clearly shows the best before date. Furthermore: Uses a best by date. From the brewer: On the mother cartons. Our beer is dated at six months. Format is MM/DD/YY. Galena: Will use a packaging date. From the brewer: As soon as we are bottling our own in June this year will be applying the packaging date on the bottle. General Lafayette: Uses a bottling date. Marked on case boxes only. Geary's: Uses a bottling date. On the top of the end panel of the case boxes. Format is MM/DD/YY. Genesee: Uses a production date. It's a Julian code. DDDY, where DDD = Julian Production Date ; Y=last digit of year. Golden City: Uses a bottling date. It's on the cases only. Goose Island: Clearly shows the bottling date. The first six digits are the date, first two are the month, second two are the day, last two are the year. Gordash (Holy Mackerel): Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: There is a bottling code stamped on the neck but the year is on the label and it is a beer that inproves with age up to 3 years. Gordon Biersch: Clearly shows the bottling date. Grand Teton: Uses a bottling date. Printed on the side of the bottle in yellow ink. Format is MM/DD/YYYY. Gray's Brewing: Uses a bottled on date. Great Beer Co. (CA): No freshness info. Great Divide: Uses a bottling date. Printed on the lower right hand side of the bottle as well as on the cases. Format is MM/DD/YYYY. Great Lakes (Ohio): Clearly shows the best before date at the bottom of the label. A few of their high ABV beers have a bottling date but it is clearly marked as well. Here is a sampling of the shelf life for some of their beers: Burning River - 90 days, Commodore Perry - 90 days, Eliot Ness - 100 days, Dortmunder - 110 days, Edmund Fitzgerald - 180 days. Great Sex: No freshness info. Green Flash: Uses a bottling date. It's on the cartons only. Green Valley: Uses a production date. From the brewer: It is written in a “Julian” code. As an example, let’s say the code is 10084FA96. The “10” denotes the year of production, and the three numbers after mean that the beer was brewed on the 84th day of the year, or today, March 25th. The letters and numbers after that indicate a brewery and packaging line. Gritty McDuff's: Uses a Best if used before date. From the brewer: On our 12 ounce bottles we have a Best if used before date. It is typically on the left side of the label. You'll see a notch for a month and a year. Grumpy Troll: No freshness info. Hair of the Dog: Uses either the year as a vintage or a batch code that you can find out the brewed & bottled date on their website altough they haven't updated it in a few years. Hale's: Uses a bottling date. It's on the outside of the cases boxes. Format is MM/DD/YYYY. Half Acre: No freshness info. Hangar 24: No freshness info. Harmon: No freshness info. Harpoon: Uses a best by date. Laser etched on the bottle. Format is MM/DD/YY. Also, certain beer seem to have a Julian bottling code. It's a 3 digit number stamped on the neck. Hartford Better Beer: No freshness info. Hawaii Nui: Uses a born on date that's date stamped only on the cases. High & Mighty: Uses a bottled on date that is clearly marked on the label. High Falls: Uses a Julian bottling date. Hold the bottle to the light to see it. Example: 1558 would be the 155th day of 2008. Highland: Uses a bottled on date. There should be a date burned in the glass on the bottom of the side under the label. Shelf-life is recommended at 90 days but it can last longer. Format is MM/DD/YY. High Noon Saloon: No freshness info. High Point: Uses a best before date. On the bottles, the month is notched on the left side of the label. On the cases, the date is MM/DD/YYYY. Hometown Beverages: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: We use what is called the "Julian" dating which is printed on the bottle itself just below the neck label. This dating system identifies the exact date the brew was bottled. Hook & Ladder: Uses a best before date. It is a Julian date code. Hoppin' Frog: No freshness info. Hopworks Urban Brewery: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: We've done it a couple ways. One is a date in the lower left side: 0909 1009 1109 1209 (month/year). Currently we remove a line from the hash marks on the left side of the bottle. IPA, DOA, Stout, Pale: Start counting hash marks 2nd from the top, missing hash is the month the beer was bottled. Secession: Top two hash marks are blue, count the green hash marks from the top, missing hash is the month the beer was bottled. We're updating the IPA, DOA, Stout and Pale to read like the Secession. Horseheads: No freshness info. Independence: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: We intend to print the date on which the beer was bottled directly onto the neck of the bottle. Indian Wells: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: It's a Julian date on the bottle. Indigo Imp: No freshness info. Iron Hill: No freshness info. Iron Horse: No freshness info. Iron Springs: No freshness info. Ithaca: Uses a best before date. Month is notched on the side of the label when best to drink before. Bottling date is 3 months from best by date. Jackie O's: Uses a bottled date. They only bottle limited beers and they are only available at the brewpub. Date is handwritten on the bottle. Jacob Leinenkugel: Uses a pull date. From the brewer: You can find the pull date--which represents the date the beer should be taken off the shelves—located on the neck area of your Leinie bottle. Five numbers should appear on the top line. The first two numbers represent the month, the next two numbers represent the day, and the last number represents the year. Therefore, the numbers 07050 would mean this Leinie product should be taken off the retail shelves by July 5, 2010. James Page: See Stevens Point. Jolly Pumpkin: Uses a 3 digit batch number. If you look on their website you can find out when it was brewed and bottled. It seems this function is disabled on their site. Just Beer: No freshness info. Kennebec: No freshness info. Kern River: Uses a bottling date. It's on the cases only. KettleHouse: Uses a best by date on their cans. Spelled out like: dec 06 2010. Kona Brewing: Uses a packaging date. It's either on the bottle or on the top of the label. Shelf-life is 110 days. Format is MM/DD/YYYY. Krebs/Choc Brewing: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: We do date code our 6-pack boxes. The date code is similar to price sticker and is usually applied on the inside of the box on the opening flap. Each one is hand applied so sometimes the location varies. The code is standard Julian dating. The first three numbers are the day of the year the beer was bottled. Kuhnhenn: Uses a bottling date. Only the year is written on the label. Their bottled beers are mostly strong so they can age for a couple of years. LaConner: No freshness info. Lafayette: Uses a packaging date. It's only on the case carton. Lagunitas: Uses a bottling date. It's a Julian date code which is written in black on the neck of the bottle. The first three digits represent the day of the year. Lakefront: Uses bottled on date. There is a bottled on date on the right side of the label. There should be small notches in the paper below the corresponding month and week when the beer was bottled. Our beer is good for about three months from the bottled on date. Lake Placid: Uses bottling date. The first four numbers on the bottle are the Julian date. Lake Superior (MN): Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: We date code the case boxes with the month and week of bottling and the batch number. Lancaster: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: The bottling date is on the neck of bottle, Julian date plus the last Landmark Beer: No freshness info. Latrobe: Uses a production date. From the brewer: It is written in a “Julian” code. As an example, let’s say the code is 10084FA96. The “10” denotes the year of production, and the three numbers after mean that the beer was brewed on the 84th day of the year, or today, March 25th. The letters and numbers after that indicate a brewery and packaging line. Laughing Dog: Uses a bottling and best buy date. For the outer cartons they have the bottling date clearly stamped. On the bottom of the six-packs, there's a best buy date. Format is MM/DD/YYYY. Laurelwood: Uses a bottling date on the cases only. Format is MM/DD/YY. Lawson's Finest Liquids: Uses a batch number. You can email Sean with the # to find out when it was made. Lazy Boy: Uses a bottling date. It's just on the packaging boxes. Lazy Magnolia: Uses a drink-by date. From the brewer: We code our bottles with the drink-by date, which can be found on the small white box on the side of label. Sometimes the labeler can be off by a little, so the date may appear slightly outside of the box. Leelanau: No freshness info. Left Coast: No freshness info. Left Hand: Use a bottled on date. Stamped on the front label, usually on the bottom right side. Format should be MM/DD/YY. Legend (VA): Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: There is an ink jetted date on each bottle just above the top of the label. The ink is purple on a brown bottle and very small so you have to hold it up to strong light to see it. This is the bottling date, not the best before date. Rule of thumb is 3 or 4 months after bottling and the beer should be fine. Lewis & Clark: Uses a best before date. It's marked on the case boxes and is usually 60 days from bottling. Lexington: Uses a bottled on date. It's on the neck of the bottle in black ink. Shelf-life is 90 days. Example JUN 29 2009. Lift Bridge: Uses a bottling date. It's on the neck of the bottle. Format is DDD/Y. Lightning (CA): No freshness info. Lion (PA): Uses a bottling date on their cases and bottles. From the brewer: We use the Julian date code system. It’s the number of days into that year. For instance, 005910 0617 would be Feb 28, 2010 produced at 6:17am. Listermann: No freshness info. Lockdown: No freshness info. Lonerider: No freshness info. Long Trail: Uses a bottling date. It's in yellow ink on the bottle, just above the label. Format is MMDDYY. Lost Abbey: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: There's an ink-jetted bottling date on the lower portion of every bottle. Lost Coast: Uses a bottling date. Written in black ink on the neck of the bottle. Also stamped on the cases. Shelf-life is 6 months. On cases, the first six-digits will represent the date (mm/dd/yy) of packaging, followed by the bottle sequence. On the bottle necks, there should only be the six-digit date (mm/dd/yy) of packaging. Lucky Bucket: Uses a best by date. From the brewer: Right now we put a best by date on the bottom of our six packs. Soon we will print them on the bottle. Format is MM/DD/YY. Lucky Hand: No freshness info. Mad River: No freshness info. Magic Hat: Uses a production date. Ex.: M051. M= December (A=January, B=Feb, etc. I is skipped, so J=September, etc.), 05= 5th day, 1= 2011. Recommended shelf life 120 days from that date. Mammoth: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: We currently don't do a date on the bottle, but we do a date on the outside of the case. From that date, we guarantee the quality for three months. Format is MM/DD/YY. Manchester: Direct from the brewer: The first series of bottles was released in December/January of 2008/2009. They have paper labels and no mark. The only two types brewed like this were the Kombat Ale and the Blonde. The second series included the Devil's Rooster and came out in February. The Blonde in this series had AWFUL labels that are very light and look like newsprint. In March, all bottles were labeled on the cap, in blue ink. I have not seen any of these bottles in stores yet. They all have high quality labels that shed moisture. The last series of bottles includes the Alt Control Delete, Conspiracy Theory Stout, and John Thomas Red. These were only brewed once, from April Mantorville: No freshness info. Marble: Uses a bottling date. It's right next to the government warning. Margaritaville (Landshark): Uses a production date. From the brewer: It is written in a “Julian” code. As an example, let’s say the code is 10084FA96. The “10” denotes the year of production, and the three numbers after mean that the beer was brewed on the 84th day of the year, or today, March 25th. The letters and numbers after that indicate a brewery and packaging line. Marin: Uses a bottling date. On the outside of the cases only. Maritime Pacific: Uses a best before date. It's stamped only on the outside of the cases boxes. Bottling date is 3 months before. Format is MM/DD/YYYY. Marshall (OK): Uses a bottling date. The date is stamped on the case only. Mash House: No freshness info. Mateveza: No freshness info. Maui Brewing: Uses a bottling date. The cans are inked with the date on the bottom margin. Format is MM/DD/YYYY. Mayfield: No freshness info. Mayflower: Uses a packaged on date. It's stamped on the labels. Format is DD/MM/YY. McMenamins: Uses a packaging date. On the box case only. Mendocino: Uses a packaging date. It's on the cases only. Month and day are the first four numbers and the last two are sequential draft packaging numbers.
Mercury: No freshness info. Metropolitan: Uses a best before date. It's on the bottom of the packaging of the six-packs. Format is DD/MM/YY.
Michigan Brewing: Uses a best before date. Shown on the label. Format is MM/DD/YYYY.
Midnight Sun: Uses a packaged on date. For the year-round & seasonal brews, the month (JFMAMJJASOND) and week (12345) are notched on the side of the label. Miller: Uses a pull code on the side of bottles, kegs, and cartons, and on the bottom of cans. Miller codes contain two lines. The first line indicates the date: "01 01 9" indicates that the beer should no longer be available for sale on January 1, 2009. The second line of digits represents brewery production information. In this example, "A 1 52 84" signifies the Production Day: A, Brewery: 1, Line: 52, and Time: 84. Millstream: Uses a bottling date. Direct from the brewer: Our bottles have the bottling date on the label. If you look on the side (usually right) it will have a little notch for what month it was bottled in. For example J would be January, F would be February, etc. Then across the top of the label you have to pretend it has the 30 days in the month up there. To the left side would be the 1st of the month, towards the middle of the label would be around the 15th and to the right of the label would be the 30th of the month. Milwaukee Ale House/Brewing: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: The bottles are coded on bottling date. It is actually coded label cuts on the right side of body label. We generally want the beer consumed within 90 days. Minhas: Uses a best before & production date.The can or bottle code is the Julian date of production plus one year. So, say today's date: 173 10 15 would be the 173rd day of 2010. The 15 refers to the 15th hour of the day. Shelf life is 1 year. Mishawaka: Uses a bottling date. It's on the cases only. Format is MM/DD/YY. Moat Mountain: No freshness info. Mogollon: Uses a packaging date. Only stamped on the cardboard flat of the cases. Format should be DD/MMM/YYYY. Shelf-life is 6 months. Motor City: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: There is a date stamp which reflects the day the beer was bottled. However, this stamp is on the case carrier and not the bottle.The month is spelled out then day and year. Mountaineer: Uses a bottling date. The code is on the case box only. It is the batch number followed by the three digit day of the year it was bottled.
Mountain Town/Mount Pleasant: No freshness info. Mount Shasta: No freshness info. Moylan's: Uses a bottling date which is on the cases. Format is MM/DD/YYYY. Narragansett: Uses a bottling date. The brewery
puts a set of numbers on the bottom of the cans. The first 4 digits are the Nashoba Valley: No freshness info. Natty Greene's: Uses a born on date. From the brewer: the code can be found on the back label over the bar code reads as follow: XXBYYY the XXB is the code for the wholesaler and the YYY is the julian day when it was bottled = born on date. Nebraska Brewing: From the brewer: At this time we do not have bottled dates on our reserve series as each has only one bottling per year. Reference the year on the label to tell them apart. We estimate each will be great for about 2 years. New Belgium: Clearly shows the best before date. New England: Uses packaged on date which is on the inside of the case. Format is MM/DD/YY. New Glarus: Uses a packaged date. Cases: Example “1339 1728” means beer was packaged on the 133rd day of 2009 (Julian Calendar) at 17:28 (Military Time = 5:28 pm). Bottles: “0689 1219” means beer was packaged on the 68th day of 2009 at 12:19. New Holland: Uses a bottling date. They instituted a date code on their bottles this past winter. So anything bottled before that will not have a code. Anything after that will - it should be located on the shoulder of the 12 oz or 22 oz bottle. It is a 4 digit code. The first digit is a letter (A = January, B = February, C = March, etc.) The second two digits are the day of the month (01 - 31). The last digit is the year in the decade (0 - 9). So if you have a date code that reads E319 that would then mean that the beer was packaged on May 31, 2009. New Old Lompoc: No freshness info. Ninkasi: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: Cases are dated and we recommend drinking the beer within 60 days of purchase to ensure freshness. Northampton: No freshness info. North by Northwest: No freshness info. North Coast: Uses a bottling date on cases only. From the brewer: The date code is on the case carton. The first two digits are the year the beer was brewed, the second three are the batch number and the final four are month and day. So if you've got a code that reads 100980726 that means that the beer was brewed in 2010, the batch number is 098 and the day of bottling is 7/26. North Peak: Uses a bottled on date. It's printed on the label directly above the UPC code. Example: DEC1610. Oaken Barrel: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: If you look at the label on the bottle, there is a notch taken out on the month it was brewed. Oakshire: No freshness info. Odell: Clearly shows the expiry date. Beer is dated 4 months from bottling. Odonata: Uses a batch number. It's on the upper left corner of the label. You'll soon be able to use that number to check the bottle log on their website. O'Fallon: Uses a born on date. It's a Julian date stamped on the neck of the bottle. All beers have a 6 month shelf-life except the O'Fallon Gold which is 3 months.
Offshore Ale: Uses both types. From the brewer: On our case cartons we have “Best by” dates stamped on them, our kegs have “Born on” dates on the collar. Our shelf life ranges around 4 months for best flavor. Format is MM/DD/YY.
Olde Burnside: Uses a bottling date. Olde Hickory: Uses a best by date. From the brewer: The side of the label has months/years listed and we mark the best by month and year as we bottle.
Olde Main: No freshness info. Olde Towne: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: The date stamped on the case is the date the beer was bottled. Oggi's: No freshness info. Ommegang: Bottling date on the cases they come in and both a bottled on and best by date on their bottles. It's inked in black on the neck of their bottles. The following are the shelf lives of their brands: Witte – 6 months to 1 year, Rare Vos, Chocolate Indulgence, Ommegeddon, and Biere de Mars – 2 years, Hennepin – 3 years, Abbey Ale and Three Philosophers – 5 years.
OPA-OPA: Uses a packed on date. It's on the side of the label. Oskar Blues: Uses a canned date. It's on the bottom of each can. Best consumed by 4 months. Example: Canned with care: 02/28/10 09:56, Slogan. O'so: Uses a bottled date. It's on the bottom of the six-pack. Otter Creek/Wolaver's: Uses a bottling date on the outside of each case and 12 pack and on each bottle near the shoulder slope in yellow ink. Company says their beer is good way past 6 months from bottling date. Otto's: Uses a bottling date. It's just on the case. Outer Banks: No freshness info. Pabst: Uses an expiration date. Palisade: No freshness info. Paper City: Uses a best before date. Only on the regular brews. Peak Organic: Uses a best before date. The date is on the side of the labels. Pelican: Uses a bottling date. It's on the crown, i guess they mean the bottle cap. The date is the month only. Shelf-life is 3 months. Penobscot Bay: No freshness info. People's Pint: No freshness info. Pete's: Uses an eight-digit code. The last four-digits are the bottling date. The first of these three digits are the day of the year and the fourth digit is the year. For example, 0639 is the 63rd day of 1999. Philadelphia: Uses a bottling and packaging date. From the brewer: The bottles should have a date code on the neck. We often have issues with the coder so it might not be there. We also put the "packaged on" date on the top of the case boxes. Format is MM/DD/YY. Pig's Eye: Uses a production date. Written on the bottom of the can. Format is MM/DD/YY.
Pike (WA): No freshness info. Pioneer: No freshness info.
Pisgah: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: Higher gravity special stuff usually something like "Spring 2009" or something. Other than that we have a # generally over the UPC like 9P54. Which would be the 54th batch of Pale Ale of 09. We probaly only did around 60 batches of pale last year so that can give you an estimate.
Pittsburgh: Uses a bottling date. Example: 267 8 would be the 267th day of 2008. Brewer claims a 6 month shelf life in stores. Pizza Beer: Uses a bottling code. From the brewer: We use the Julian Code. We have not established a best before date because some of the beer we produced two years ago is still tasting like it did when it was bottled. f your bottle has 08 as the 1st #'s you have beer from 2008. We made 4 batches that year Feb - May. If it starts with 09, this was just bottled before xmas 2009 & is the newest batch. Pizza Port: Uses a bottling date. There's a date on the bombers. Ex.: February 2011. Port Brewing: Same as Lost Abbey.
Portsmouth: No freshness info. Port Townsend: No freshness info. Potosi: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: We only date the mother case as we bottle the beer. I'm saying the best used by is 120 days from that date. Prescott: Uses a packaging date. Only on the cans. From the brewer: The code is for us and our distributor to use to track our beer in the market and if there is any beer on the shelves longer 90 days we pull it. So I can assure you that our beer will not be in the market for more than 90 days. Pretty Things: Uses a bottled in date. From the brewer: "Bottled in" month and batch number on the neck label. Pyramid: Clearly shows the best before date.
Raccoon Lodge: Uses vintage dates. From the brewer: The dates we have are more like vintages...08,09 Apricot, Kriek, Vine etc... Rahr: No freshness info. Real Ale (TX): Uses a best consumed by date. From the brewer: All of our bottles are marked with a “best consumed by” date on the back panel. Red Hook: Clearly shows the bottling date. MM DD YY format. The 12-pack sampler box has a packaged on date on it. Same MM DD YY format. Red Oak (UT): Uses a best before date. Stamped on top of the 12 pack case. Format is MM/DD/YY on a white sticker. Redtail (TX): No freshness info. Rivertown: Uses a packaging date. Stamped on cases only. RJ Rockers: Uses a born on date on the bottle. It's in a white box above the UPC code. Rochester Mills: No freshness info. Rock Art: Uses a bottling date. For the bombers, a small sticker is underneath the bottle. Example: 02-09 is Feb. 2009. For regular 12oz. bottles, it's notched on the side the month it was packaged and the numbers on either side show the year...odd numbers equal odd year like 2009 even numbers equal even years like 2008. Rocky Coulee: Uses a born date. From the brewer: Our bottled beer has a date stamped on the case boxes giving the born date. Example, Mar. 24, 2010. Rogue: No freshness info. Rooster Fish: No freshness info. Roslyn: No freshness info. Rubicon: Uses a bottling date. There's an etching on the left side of the label in the MM/DD/YY format. Rush River: Uses a bottling date. Month and week are notched on the side of the label. Russian River: For the Blind Pig & Pliny the Elder, there is a bottled on date. Format is MM/DD/YYYY. For the Belgian style brews & barrel aged beers, there is a batch number that you can enter on their website to get more info on that beer. Rust Belt (Rusty Brew): No freshness info. Saint Arnold: Uses a packaging date. Written in red ink on the bottle but they plan on using on easier to read ink in the future. Shelf-life is 3 months at room temperature and longer if kept cold. Saint Ides: Uses an expiration date. Saint Somewhere: Uses a bottling date. It's on the cases only. Format is MM/DD/YY. Sand Creek: Uses a pull date. It's on the cases only. Format is MM/DD/YY. San Luis: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: We mark the month and week bottled on the label, though I am thinking of switching to a 'best before' system. Santa Cruz Aleworks: Uses a bottling date. On the cases only. Santa Cruz Mountain: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: We stamp the bottle (on the barcode) with our bottle date. Santa Fe: For cases, they use a best before date stamped on the top of the cases. For the bottles, they use a bottled on date. The first number is always a 1. Disregard this number, the next 2 numbers are the month it was “bottled on”. The fourth number is always a 2. Disregard this number, the next 2 numbers are the day it was “bottled on”. The seventh number is always a 3. Disregard this number, the last 2 numbers are the year it was “bottled on”. Example: 102214309 - This would be Feb. 14, 2009. All beers have a 9 month shelf-life. Saranac: Uses a 4 digit bottling date. First 3 digits are for the day of the year and the last digit is the year. So 0218 was bottled on 21st day of 2008 or January 21, 2008. Saugatuck: No freshness info. SchillingBridge: Uses an expiration date. From the brewer: On the bottom of each 6 pack there is an expiration date. Which is 100 days from the day we bottled. Ex.: JUN 19 2010. Schlafly: Uses a bottling date. All 12 oz. bottles are dated with the words "Bottled with Love on:". Schmohz: No freshness info. Sea Dog: Uses a best enjoyed before date. Month and year are notched on the left side of the front label. Sebago: Uses a bottled on date. From the brewer: It is on the neck of our 12 oz. bottles and on the top of the body of our 22 oz., just above the label. Should read BOTTLED MM/DD/YY. Seven Brides: No freshness info. Shenadoah: No freshness info. Sherwood Forest: Uses a brewed on date. The date and month are shown on the bottle. Shipwrecked: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: Cases are stamped with the date on which the beer was bottled (dd/mm/yy). There is no expiration date but our beers are not pasteurized and have a shelf life of about six months, longer if refrigerated. Shipyard: Uses a best enjoyed before date. Month and year are notched on the left side of the front label. Shmaltz: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: It is on the mother carton in a series of letter and numbers indicating the date of bottling (the letter is the month and other numbers are day and year). Short's: Uses a crafted on date. Month and year should be printed on the bottle. Sierra Nevada: Uses a bottling date. Bottles: Example: 106311448; 1=2011; 063=day of year, or Mar 4; 1=bottling line 1; 1448= 2:48pm. Cases: Example: 02/26/09 1 17:50. 02/26/09 = Date Packaged. Silver City: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: We date our cases but not the bottles. Currently we are bottling about once or twice a month and use different colored caps. For example: April = Red, May = Silver, June = Black and Gold. Most of our beers have a good shelf life of about 3 months with the Fat being the best keeper of about 6 months to a year or more. Sixpoint: Uses a best before date. It's stamped on the bottom of the cans and is also on the 4-pack tray. Ex.: BEST BEFORE10NOV2011. Skyscraper: Uses a bottling date on the cases only. Sly Fox: Uses a best by date. It's on the angled silver part of the bottom. They also code 24 and 12 pack cases.
Smuttynose: Uses a best before date and a bottled on date. From the brewer: We began printing "best before" dates on the shoulders of our 12 ounce bottles about six months ago. There are probably a large number of label-notched and date-printed bottles still on the market, though. We have designed changes to our bottle labels that will phase out the notching space. We currently hand-stamp a "bottled on" date on our master cartons and packaged on dates on our 12 pack. Our 22 ounce bottles will continue to have a vintage bottling date on the bottom left side of the label that is notched. Snake River: Uses a notched label for best by with bottles and a sticker for best by on their 6 pack of cans. Snipes Mountain: No freshness info. Snoqualmie Falls: Uses a bottling date. It's stamped on the cases only. Southern Orgeon: Uses a bottling date. Only the cases are stamped. Format would read: Mar 22 2010. Southampton: Uses a production date. It's a Julian code. DDDY, where DDD = Julian Production Date ; Y=last digit of year. Southern Tier: Uses a bottling date. It's on the cases only, printed on the side of the box. South Shore (WI): Uses a bottled on date. From the brewer: It appears on the container mm/dd/yyyy. Speakeasy (CA): Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: On each 6-pack carrier there should be a white circle near the handle with a date stamped on it. Spilker Ales: Uses a best before date. It's on a tag which is on the bottle cap. Format is MM/DD/YY. Spoetzl: Uses an expiration date. From the brewer: The expiration date is coded on each bottle and every case of beer. This code is 120 days from the date that it was bottled. This code is located on the shoulder of the bottle above the body label but below the neck label and is etched into the bottle. Sprecher: Uses a bottling date. It's a Julian code. Example: 091879930. 09 is the year, 187 is the 187th day of the year and 9930 is a batch code. St. Croix: No freshness info. St. George: Uses a bottling date on the cases only. Stampede (TX): No freshness info. Starr Hill: Uses a best before date. From the brewer: We have a ‘best before’ notch on the side of the bottle label. Steamworks (Colorado): Uses a best before date. Stevens Point: Uses a bottling date. It is a Julian code date. Example: 1339 would be the 133rd day of 2009. Should be on the base of the neck of the bottle. Stillwater Ales: No freshness info. Stone Brewing Co: Laser engraved Enjoy Before date on the shoulder of the bottle (old way was on the bottom of the bottle). Hard to read sometimes. MM DD YY format. Most of our core beers, including Stone IPA, Stone Pale Ale and Stone Levitation Ale, are have an enjoy by date that is 90 days from package date. Stone Smoked Porter and Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale are at 120 days, or 4 months. Stoudt's: Uses both kinds of dates. Regular beers should have a best before date on the neck, and their bottle conditioned beers should have a bottling date, as they don’t have an official expiration date. Straub: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: It is below the neck and above the body label. There should also be a date on the outside of all non-returnable cases. Sudwerk:Uses a best by and a bottling date. From the brewer: They’re located on each bottle on the label, as well as on the side of the case of beer. I believe the best by date is on the beer bottle, and the bottling date is on the case. Summit: Uses an ''Enjoy by'' date. It's stamped on the bottles and cases. Format is MM/DD/YYYY. They seem to also use a Julian bottling code. It's on the label of the bottle on the left corner. Ex.: 1049115. 1 = Year (2011), 049 = 49th day of the year (Feb. 18th 2011) and 1154 - Military time (1154 Hrs).
Sun King: Uses a canned date. The day of the year is stamped on the bottom of the can but no year is indicated. Surly: Uses a canned on date. It's on the bottom of each can and also on the cardboard flats the beers come to the store in. Format is MM/DD/YYYY.
Sweetwater: Uses a best before date. Format is MM/DD/YYYY and should be on the label. Their beers have a 3 month shelf-life. Tallgrass: Uses a best by date. On the cases only. Some are the month day year. We are phasing into Julian with yyddd. Terminal Gravity: Uses a bottling date on the mother carton only. Terrapin: Uses a best before date. It's notched on the side of the label. Calculate 6 months to find out the bottling date. The Blind Bat: Uses a brewed on and bottled on date. It's on the bottom right side of the label. Example: Brewed March 15, 2009, Bottled May 24 2009. The Bruery: Uses a best by date. From the brewer: It's on a white bar code label towards the bottom of one of the sides of the case box. It's mm/dd/yy. The Tap/Haverhill: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: We don't have dates on the 12 oz. Bottles, but stamp the date onto the cases. With the new 22 oz. beers we mark month and year they were bottled. We're working on adding that to the 12 oz. Thomas Hooker: Uses a born on date. From the brewer: We just installed a new laser dater which will emblazon a born on date on each bottle. In he past there was a date on the label but it was hard to read and in Euro date format. If you don't see a date, the beer is over a year old. Three Floyds: No freshness info. Thunderhead: Uses a packaging date. From the brewer: I write the julian date on the side of the case flats. We write it day (1-365) followed by a two diget year (10). Tommyknocker: Uses a bottled on date. Left side is the day of the month, bottom is year, letters are the month. Trailhead: No freshness info. Tri-City: No freshness info. Trinity: No freshness info. From the brewer: The only beers that our brewer bottles are cellarable beers.
Troegs: Uses a bottling date. Written in black ink just above the label. Reads BOTTLED ON mm/dd/yyyy. Trout River: No freshness info. Trumer: Uses an enjoy by date. From the brewer: Look at the back label. You should see a date etched vertically next to the barcode. This is an “enjoy by” date. Tuckerman: Uses a best before date which is notched on the label. Tuppers' Hop Pocket: Uses a bottling date on the cases only. Twisted Pine: Uses a bottling date. Only marked on the master cartons. Two Brothers: Uses a best before date. It's on the back label of the bottle. Format is MM/DD/YY. Tyranena: Uses a bottled on date. It's on the neck of the bottle in dark ink. Uinta: Uses a bottled on date. It's printed on the bottom right side of the front label. Format is MM/DD/YY. Uncommon Brewers: Uses a packaging date. It's on the bottom of the can. Format is MM/DD/YY. Upland: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: Every bottle has a label notch on the left hand side showing month and year of bottling. I give our beer 3 to 4 month shelf life depending on which beer. Upright: Uses a packaging date. From the brewer: We bottle condition them for a month at the brewery before sending them out. We started labeling the boxes with dates that are one month after bottling. Victory: Fresh By date on the label. White printing on left side of label. MMM DD YY format. Shelf life of some beers: Hop Devil – 5 months
Prima Pils – 5 months, Victory Lager – 5 months, Hop Wallop – 1 year (this beer is bottle conditioned), Headwaters Pale Ale – 5 months, Summer Love – 5 months, Golden Monkey – 3 years, Storm King – 5 years, Old Horizontal – 5 years
Voodoo: Uses a bottling date. Each case is stamped with a "beers are good for at least one year from date stamped" stamp on
each case. The date stamped is the day the beer is bottled.
Wachusett: Uses a best before date. On the left hand side of the front label, the month is notched. Wagner Valley: Uses a production date. Printed clearly on cases boxes only. Weeping Radish: Uses a bottled on date. From the brewer: We stamp the date that the beer is bottled on the case box but it is not on the individual bottles. Our beer is best within 3 months of the bottling date. Weston Brewing Company & O'Malley's Pub: Uses a best before date. From the brewer: We have best before dates on our year-round packaging. It is on the six packs with a stamp on the top of each on Drop Kick and Cream Ale. Most of our seasonals do not have this due to their limited availability.
Weyerbacher: Uses a bottled on and best before date. The top date is the bottled on date, the one below it is the "best before" date. White Birch: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: The date is clearly presented on the front of the bottle for every batch. I spell out the dates as full month, day and YYYY. White Winter: No freshness info. Whitstran: No freshness info. Widmer: Clearly shows the bottling date. Wild Goose: See Flying Dog. Wild River (OR): Uses a best before date. From the brewer: On the edge of the label there should be a small notch cut in the month of the best before date. Wolf Beer: Uses a recommended before date. Woodstock (GA): No freshness info. Woodstock Inn: Uses a best before date. From the brewer: It's on the side of the face label of the beer bottle and it stamped on the mother carton for the case of beer. Most beers have a 6 month shelf life except the Wassail which has 1 year.
World Brews (CA): No freshness info. Yakima: No freshness info. Yards: Uses a born on date on cases only. MM/DD/YYYY. Yazoo: Bottling date on the label. Yellowstone Valley: Uses a bottling date. It's posted on the cases boxes. From the brewer: It depends on where you buy it. If it is a "shorts" bottle bought at the brewery, we probably put bottles into a re-used case box. Otherwise, format is MM/DD/YY. Yuengling: Uses a production date. Example 09001 would be Jan. 1, 2009.  |