Why Beers Need “Packaged On” Dates

I recently completed a beer trade with a couple of friends and ended up with the equivalent of two mixed six-packs after the swap.

- Jonathan Ingram

Once home, I put the 12 beers, which reflected the eclectic tastes of my fellow craft enthusiasts, into two separate camps on my kitchen table. One had either “bottled on,” or “canned on,” or “best by” dates and the other side had none. As it turned out, it was a 50-50 split when it came to identifying the age of the beer – or not – among this far-reaching sample of American craft.

I was disappointed but not necessarily surprised. But isn’t it time that all craft brewers come to the aid of the consumers that keep them in business by adding notice of when their beers were put into bottles or cans?

Craft’s calling card has always been fresh in the sense of being unique, whether it be a creative approach to styles, names of beers, labels and can design, marketing via social media and on and on. So why can’t craft brewers commit to providing notice on when its beer was freshly packaged?

I tend to not think this is a make-or-break industry issue. It’s a little like the mythical argument that poor quality craft beer that tastes sub-par hurts the entire independent brewing industry. Doesn’t the marketplace, which now has plenty of competition in all 50 states, sort the quality issue out pretty quickly?

When it comes to stale beer on the shelves, I don’t think anybody interested in craft is going to stop buying beer from independent brewers due to one bad experience with a six-pack. It’s more of an identity question. How do craft brewers want to present themselves to the community they participate in? Do they want a community where the beer drinker continues to feel a direct kinship to the brewer?