Beer Dates

2nd Shift: Uses a bottled on date. It's a hand sticker on the bottom of the bottle, format MM/YYYY.

3 Dachshunds: Uses a bottling date. It's on the cases only.

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.

603 Brewing: Uses a bottled on date which is handwritten on the bottle.

Abbey Beverage: Uses a bottling date. On the lower left side of the label is the month and year of bottling. Monks' Ale and Monks' Wit have a 6 month shelf life, the Dubbel and Tripel have 9 months.

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 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.

Adelbert's: Uses a bottling date and batch number on each label.

Alameda: Uses a bottling date on their bottles. Ex: 20DEC12.

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.

Ale Apothecary: Uses a bottling date. Hand stamped on the beer.

Ale Asylum: Uses a best by date. It's on the label and marks 90 days after the product was packaged.

Ale Industries: No standard freshness info but they change the artwork for their labels seasonally giving the beers a 3 month window. Once the new artwork is out, they pull the old one after 30 days.

Alesmith: Uses a bottling date on the cases and bottles. Bottles: On the shoulder of the bottle in yellow ink. Cases: 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.

Ale Syndicate: Keg only but they have a packaging date on them.

AleWerks (Williamsburg): Uses a bottling date on their bottle. Ex: 15JAN13.

Allagash: Uses a bottling date. Its a Julian date code laser printed in a box on the edge of the label.

Almanac: Uses a packaging date. Stamped on the master cases only.

American Brewing Company: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: We 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 the beers last 3 months if stored cold.

Anchor: Uses a bottling date. The first number is the last digit of the year. The next letter is the month and the last charcter is the day. Months are coded as following: 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.

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. The date doesn`t seem to be on the cans but is on the cases.

Angel City: Will be using a best before date on their bottles very soon (Sept. 2013).

Anheuser-Busch: Born on date on the rear label.

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.

Atlantic Brewing (Maine): Best before date stamped on top of end panel of each case.

Atlas Brew Works: Beers will be available in the summer of 2013. They will have batch numbers that you can look up on their website to get PDFs of brew logs, cellar logs and packaging logs.

Atwater Block: Uses a production date. From the brewer: Month and year production date.

Auburn Alehouse: Uses a packaging date. On the bottles, it's on the label. Their draft beer has a neck collar saying when it was packaged which corresponds to its filter/transfer and co2 volume check.

August Schell: Uses a six-digit pull date code in MMDDYY format. It's on the outside packaging, on the neck of the bottles and under the cans. Under that code, there is a number for brewery purposes that is the day it was packaged.

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 is 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 bottled on date. 12oz. bottles are good for 3 months after the bottled on date.

Back East: Uses a packaging date on their cases and kegs.

Back Forty: Uses a best before date. From the brewer: Its currently being printed on top of the government warning on the label, but we're having the label redesigned to accommodate an actual space for the stamp.

Baderbräu: Uses a bottling date on the bottles and cases.

Badger Hill: Uses a bottling date. It's a different version of the Julian date code. Undecipherable without going here.

Bad Water: Uses a packaged on date on every case and keg.

Ballast Point: As of April 2013, uses a bottling date. It's a Julian date code. First two digits represent the year, next three digits is the Julian date. Ex: 13094 would be April 4th, 2013.

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.

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.

Battle Road: Uses a packaged date which is stamped on the bottle.

Baxter: Uses a canned date. It's on the bottom of the cans.

Bear Republic:

Uses a best buy

date. The code is printed below the label on the glass. In some cases, it's at the very bottom of the bottle.

Date is 6 months from bottling.

Beer Engineers: No freshness info but all their packaged beers are higher in ABV so can be aged.

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.

Belfast Bay: Uses a best before date. The label reads BEST BEFORE: J F M A M J J A S O N D 12 13 14 so there would be 1 notch under a month and another under a year.

Bellevue: Uses a bottling date.

Bell's: Uses a bottling date. It's on the back label along with the batch number. Following the bottling date is a letter signifying the shelf life category. A, B & C corresponds to six months, twelve months and unlimited respectively.

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 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.

Bitter Root: Uses a packaging date. From the brewer: Date stamp on the box is MMMDDYYYY. No date stamps on the bottles.

Black Diamond: Uses a born on date which is notched on the side of the label.

Black Raven: Uses a bottling date. Ex: 4/16/2013.

Blackstone: Uses a best before date. It's notched on the side of the label.

Blind Bat (The): 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.

Block 15: Uses a bottling and best before date for their monthly Hop Experience Ale. Their other beers are made to cellar and have the year they were blended on the bottle.

Blue Frog Grog & Grill: Uses a bottling date. On the cases only. Format is MM/DD/YY.

Bluegrass: Uses a best before date. Only the regular 12oz. bottles have it.

Blue & Gray: Uses a bottled on date on the bottles.

Blue Mountain (VA): Uses a best by date. Stamped on the bottles and cans. Ex.: 06/09. Date is 120 days from canning.

Blue Pants: Uses a bottling date. Format is MM/DD/YY on the bottles.

Blue Point: Uses a bottling date printed on the neck of the bottle. Example: 1559. 155 = day of the year & 9 = the year itself.

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): Uses a bottling date on the case box only.

Boston Beer Co (Sam Adams): 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.

Bottle Tree: Uses a bottling date. Shows the Julian date on all bottles.

Boulder Beer: Uses a pull (best before) date. Example: JUN1809 would be June 18, 2009.

Boulevard: Uses a packaged Julian date & a best by date. Packaged date: 3022 0850 C would be packaged on January, 22 2013 at 8:50 am from bright beer tank "C" from which the beer was packaged. The code is printed directly on the bottle and also on the master cases. Best By date: BEST BY 05/22/13 .

Bozeman: Uses a canning date. Date and time is written on the can.

Brash: Uses a bottled on date on all their bottles.

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 notched directly on the bottle. Format is a bit odd. Ex: 11B25B14 would be Nov. 25, 2014.

Brew Kettle, The (OH): Uses a packaging date on the case carton only.

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.

Brewmaster Jack: Uses a bottling date. On the 22oz. bottles, it's hand stamped on the label. On the 12oz., month and year are notched on the side of the label.

Brew Works: See Fegley's Brew Works.

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.

Bronx: Uses a canning date on their beers.

Brooklyn: Uses a production date. It's a Julian code. Format 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.

Bruery (The): Uses a best by date. Laser printed on the bottle and it's also on a white bar code label towards the bottom on one of the sides of the case box. It's MM/DD/YY.

Brugge Brasserie (IN): Uses a bottling date. It's on the carton only. Format is MM/DD/YY.

Buckeye: Uses a bottled on date on the outside case only.

Budweiser: See Anheuser-Busch.

Buffalo Bill's: Uses a best before date on their bottles. Ex: 021513.

Butternuts: Uses a packaged on and best before date. From the brewer: On the 12 pack I have a date it was packed and a best by date.

Caldera: Uses a packaged on date. From the brewer: Just on the case tray. Good for six months.

Calicraft: Uses a bottling code. It's on the bottle portion of the bottle.

Cambridge: Uses a bottled on date. It names the month and the year. There's also an inkjet date with the actual bottling date.

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).

Captain Lawrence: Uses a born on date.

Captured By Porches: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: Look for it on the left hand side of the label along the edge. There will be 2 red marks under the month and day to mark the specific day.

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/Raccoon Lodge: Uses vintage dates. From the brewer: The dates we have are more like vintages...08,09 Apricot, Kriek, Vine etc...

Cascade Lakes: Uses a bottling date on the case box only.

Cedar Creek: Uses a canning date on the cases only.

Central Coast: Uses a bottling date. It's on their labels.

Central Waters: Uses a bottling date. Used to be a notch on the label, now it's a Julian date on the neck of the bottle.

Choc Brewing: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: We do date code our 6-pack boxes. The date code is similar to a 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.

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.

Church Brew Works: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: The date stamped on our cases, bottom of mini-kegs and labels of the quad and Trippel, is the packaged on date. All beer has a 120 day shelf life, except higher ABV beers. Also, each label on our 12 oz. bottles is notched. The top left is Jan, top middle is Feb., top right is Mar. This pattern continues clock wise around the label. Right side of label from top to bottom is April, May, June. Bottom of label from right to left is July, Aug, Sept. and left side of label from bottom to top is Oct., Nov., Dec. We give a single notch for each time we package a given style of beer in a month. So if a label has three notches in the bottom left hand corner then it is the third bottling in Sept. for that style of beer.

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 before 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.

City Steam: Uses a bottling date which is etched on.

Clown Shoes: Uses a bottling date. Labelled on each bottle with month/day/year.

COAST: Uses a bottling date. Format is MM/DD/YY. Example: 021710.

Coastal Empire: Uses a packaging date which is time stamped on the beer.

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.

Cody Brewing: Uses a bottled on date on their bottles. c

Columbus: Uses a bottling date. It's a Julian date code. Ex.: 12365 would be the 365th day of 2012.

Cooperstown: Uses a packaged on date. It's on their cases and six-packs. MM/DD/YYYY.

Coors: Uses a freshness code. The code tells the last day the beer should be available for sale. 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. 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. They just got a laser etcher and are trying to sort out glitches so soon each bottle will be laser etched with the date (July 2013).

Cottrell: Uses a best before date on their beers.

Covington Brewhouse: Uses a packaging date. It is stamped inside the middle slot of their six-pack carrier.

Crabtree: Uses a bottling date. It's on the cases only.

Crooked Stave: Uses batch numbers but no way to tell bottling date from them.

Dark Horse: Uses a bottling date. Halfway up the neck of the bottle in Julian format: DDD-YY. First three numbers are the day of the year. YY is the last 2 digits of the year. 13=2013.

DC Brau: Uses a canned on date. It's a sticker on the top of each six-pack, format is MMDDYY. No dates on the bombers though.

Deschutes: Shows the best before date as month (but not year). Listed as month/day/year and is 120 days out. Black Butte & Obsidian is 200 days. Also uses a best after date on their Reserve Series.

Detroit Beer Co: Uses a bottled on date. Printed on the glass below the label, usually towards the back label. Format is a random letter or two followed by the date of the month, the month spelled out and the year. Ex: S22DEC2013.

Devils Backbone: Uses a bottled on date.

Diamond Knot: Uses a bottling date.

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.

D.L. Geary's: Uses a bottling date. On the top of the end panel of the case boxes. Format is MM/DD/YY.

Dogfish Head: Shows the bottling on the neck of the bottle. DD MM YY format.

Drake's: Uses a bottling date. It's in a MM/DD/YY format on all bottles between the neck and the shoulder of the bottle. Now in yellow ink to make it easier to read. Also cases are stamped with the date before they are palletized.

Duck Rabbit: Uses an enjoy by date. Month and year are notched on the right side of the front label.

DuClaw: Uses a bottling date.

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.

Duquesne Beer: Uses a brewed date on all their cases.

Dust Bowl: Uses a bottled on date. It's on the bottom left of the front label.

Eagle Rock: Uses a bottling date on the cases and very soon the bottles.

East End: From the brewer: 100% of our bottled beers are getting either a brewed on or packaged on date, with the exception of our Gratitude Barleywine which is color coded by year and all our kegs get tagged with a packaging date on the keg cap.

Eel River: Uses a packaged on date. Format is MMM/DD/YY.

Einhorn: Uses a filling date. On the mother carton only. Example: March 24 2010.

Ellicottville: Uses a brewed on date. It's stamped on the outside of their cases as well as the bottles.

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.

Epic Ales: Uses a batch number. You can email the brewer to get more details about the batch.

Epic Brewing: Uses a release number that you can then use on their website to find out brewing and packing details.

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.

Evil Genius: Uses a bottled on date each bottle and case box.

Evolution Craft Brewing: Uses a bottled date. It's on the mother case, format MM/DD/YY.

Fat Head's: Uses a bottling date. It's written in yellow ink on the bottle in the back.

Fegley's Brew Works: Uses a bottling date on the cases only.

Figure 8: They are starting to produce their own labels and these will have a packaged date.

Finch's: Uses a canning date on the case.

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 date. It's burned into the label on the bottom left hand side. They also have a "Fresh Beer Reporter" on their website.

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 Rock: Uses a bottling date on their 22 oz bottles.

Florida Beer: Uses a best by date. Printed around the neck or shoulder of the bottle.

Flying Bison: Uses a bottling date on their labels.

Flying Dog: Uses a best before date. 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 123A12. The first three numbers are the day of the year that the beer will be out of date. The middle letter is a code we use internally to keep track of what batch of beer we’re on. And the last two numbers are the year. If we decipher the code above, it translates to the 123rd day of 2012, aka May 2, 2012. That date indicates when your beer is no longer considered fresh, which, for most of our beers, is 140 days from the bottling date. The exceptions to this are beers that are vintage dated and have codes like VINT11EE.

Flying Fish: Uses a best by date. Stamped on the box and also printed on the label. Possible 7 month shelf life on their beers (Exit 16 confirmed as such).

Foolproof: Uses a packaging date on each six-pack and keg.

Foothills: Uses a bottling date on their outside packaging.

Fordham: Uses a bottling date.

Fort George: Uses a canning date. It's printed on the bottom of the can.

Founders: Uses a bottled on date. It's on the bottle neck in yellow ink in the format MM/DD/YY. They also have a packaged date on the cases.

Four Peaks: They use a packaging date. It's on the 6-packs, 12-packs as well as on individual bottles and cans. 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).

#Freedom Craft Brewery: Uses a best before date. It`s on the label next to the UPC code. Also, their 6-pack carriers have an NFC inlay which allows NFC-enabled cellphones to read the specs of the bottle (ABV, IBU, brew date, bottle date and brewer`s and bottler`s initials.

Free State: Uses a best by date. Month & week are marked.

Free Will: Uses a bottling date on the cases only.

Fremont: Uses a bottling date.

French Broad: Uses a bottling date on the cases only.

Frog Island: Only kegs but they have a best before date of 60 days on them.

Full Pint: Uses a best by date. Cleary printed on the label. Example: AUG2013.

Full Sail: Clearly shows the best before date. From the brewer: We use 120 days from the bottling date as our best by on the label. On the heavier beers, (7%abv and higher), the best by is 180 days out.

Fullsteam: Uses a best before date on their growlers which have a shelf life of at least 60 days. They plan on bottling soon and will probably carry over the dating.

Full Tilt: Uses a packaging date on the cases only.

Funkwerks: Uses a cellaring date. Bottles say Cellar By x months.

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.

Genesee: Uses a production date. It's a Julian code. DDDY, where DDD = Julian Production Date ; Y=last digit of year.

Ghost River: Uses a bottling date on their bottles and cases.

Golden City: Uses a bottling date. It's on the cases only.

Golden Road: Uses a canned on date.

GoodLife: Uses a bottling date.

Good People: Uses a canning date. It's a sticker on top of the 6-pack topper only, not on the individual cans.

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. They also use a best before date on their cases which is a year out from the bottling date.

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 Canyon: Uses a bombed on (bottling) date on their bombers.

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 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 Brewing Co: Clearly shows the best before date at the bottom of the label. A few of their high ABV beers have a bottling date that is clearly marked. 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 Northern Brew: Uses a best before date that is stamped on their cases.

Green Flash: Uses a bottled on date. It's on the cartons and now, more importantly, on the bottles. On the bottom of the bottle, below the label. Best Before dates have been seen in CO specifically.

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.

Grey Sail: Uses a canning date. It's a sticker on each six-pack.

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.

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: Uses a packaging date on their cases. The code on the cans is the manufacturer's code, not Half Acre's.

Hardywood Park: Uses vintage dates on some of their beers.

Harpoon: Uses a best by date. Laser etched on the bottle. Format is MM/DD/YY. Also, certain beer seem to have a Julian bottlingcode. It's a 3 digit number stamped on the neck.

Hatuey: Uses a Julian date code which is stamped on the shoulder of the bottle.

Hawaii Nui: Uses a born on date that's date stamped only on the cases.

Heater Allen: Just started putting a bottling date on their bottles, will eventually be on all their future beers.

Heretic: Uses a bottling date. It's on the left side of their labels. Format is MM/DD/YY followed by the batch number.

Hermitage: Uses a bottled/packed on date on the bottles and cases.

Heavy Seas: Uses a best before date. Month and year are notched on the bottom of the front label.

High & Mighty: Uses a bottled on date that is clearly marked on the label.

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 Point: Uses a best before date. On their cases and bottles, the date is 6 months from packaging. On their keg labels, it's 3 months.

High Water: Uses a bottling date. It's in a MM/DD/YY format on all bottles between the neck and the shoulder of the bottle. Also cases are stamped with the date before they are palletized.

Hill Farmstead: Has a date on some of their bottles.

Hinterland: Uses a bottling date. It's on the cases as well as inside the four-packs.

Hook & Ladder: Uses a best before date. It is a Julian date code.

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.

Horny Goat Hideaway: Uses a bottling date which is the Julian date.

Hubert: Uses a bottling date.

Icicle Brewing: Uses a bottling date on the cases only. They only bottle one beer, Bootjack IPA.

Idle Hands: Uses a bottled on date. It's an 8-digit code stamped on the label (YYYYMMDD).

Indeed: Uses a bottling and born on date on all their packaged beer.

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.

Ipswich: See Mercury.

Iron Fist: Uses a bottling date on the outside of the cases.

Iron Springs: Uses a bottling date on the bottle itself.

Ithaca: Uses a bottled on date. Printed on the neck of the bottles in white ink.

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.

Jack's Abby: Uses a bottling date on all their bottles.

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 the 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.

Jester King: Uses a bottling date. It's on the back label. Ex: Jan 2013. They also include the batch number.

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.

Justice: They are in the middle of a label change. New labels will have a bottling date (Aug. 2013)

Karbach: Uses a packaging date. It's a Julian on the cans/bottles and has a shelf life of 110 days. On the cans, it`s on the bottom underneath.

Karl Strauss: Uses a bottling date. It's the Julian date code and it's on the neck of the bottle. Recommended shelf life is 120 days.

Keegan Ales: Uses a bottled on date on the case box.

Kern River: Uses a bottling date. It's on the cases only.

KettleHouse: Uses a canned on date on their cans and cartons. Spelled out like: dec 06 2010.

Knee Deep: Uses a bottling date. Example: 06/04/13.

Kona Brewing: Uses a packaging date. It's either on the bottle or on the top of the label. Shelf-life is 120 days. Format is MM/DD/YYYY.

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.

La Cumbre: Uses a canning date on a sticker on top of the can stacker.

Lagunitas: Uses a bottling date. Julian date code which is written in black on the neck of the bottle. There are 2 lines. First line has 3 digits followed by a space, then one more digit. The first three digits represent the day of the year, last digit is the last number of the year. Ex: 135 3 would be the 135th day of 2013 (May 15). Second line is batch number and military time.

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. Their beer is good for about three months from the bottled on date.

Lake Louie: Uses a bottling date. It's a Julian date code followed by the year. Ex: 071 13 would be the 71st day of 2013.

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.

Lakewood: Uses a bottling date on their beers.

Lancaster: Uses a bottling date. From the brewer: The bottling date is on the neck of bottle, Julian date plus the last two digits of year.

Latitude 33: Uses a bottling date on the cases only.

Latitude 42: Plan on canning by end of summer 2013. They will use a canning date.

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 and born on date for bottles. Format is MM/DD/YY.

Lavery: Uses a bottled on and best by date. It's on the master carton only. Also, from the brewer: Code for bottles - red cap = 2012, black cap = 2013, silver cap = 2014.

Lawson's Finest Liquids: Uses a batch number. You can email Sean (the brewer) 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 labeller can be off by a little, so the date may appear slightly outside of the box.

Leech Lake: Uses a bottled date. It's on a label on the back of the bottle or keg. Format is MM/DD/YY.

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.

Liberty Street (MI): Uses a manufacturing date on their bottles. Format is MM.DD.YY.

Lift Bridge: Uses a bottling date. It's on the neck of the bottle. Format is DDD/Y.

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.

Logsdon Farmhouse Ales: Uses a best before date on bottles, bottling date on cases.

Lompoc: Uses a bottled date on their cases and barrel-aged beer only.

Lonerider: Uses a best by date. Format is MMDDYYY except for the 22oz. bottles (Most Wanted series) which have the year: YYYY.

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. There's an ink-jetted bottling date on shoulder 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.

Lucid: Uses a bottling date. It's a different version of the Julian date code. Undecipherable without going here.

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: Uses a born on date on the master cases and soon on individual bottles.

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.

Maine Beer: Uses a bottling date. Clearly written on the back label, ex: 072912.

Mankota: Uses a drink by date. Bottles are date stamped and shelf life is 120 days.

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.

Manzanita: Uses a bottling date on the case only.

Marble (MA): Uses a bottling date. It's right next to the government warning.

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.

Matt Brewing: 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.

Maui Brewing: Uses a bottling date. The cans are inked with the date on the bottom margin. Format is MM/DD/YYYY.

Mayflower: Uses a packaged on date. It's stamped on the labels. Format is DD/MM/YY.

McKenzie: Uses bottle numbers. Only bottles in small quantities.

McMenamins: Uses a packaging date. On the box case only.

Mendocino: Uses a packaging date. It's on the cases only in a format for internal use.

Mercury: Uses a bottled on date. It's stamped on the bottle, format MM/DD/YY.

Metropolitan: Uses a best before date. It's on the bottom of the packaging of the six-packs. Format is DD/MM/YY. The date is 5 months from bottling.

Midnight Sun: Uses a packaged on date. Format is: JUN 09 2013. 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.

Moat Mountain: Uses a canning date for cans and a bottling date on their bombers, only on the master cases for now.

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.

Monday Night: Uses a best before date on the case box only.

Mother Earth Brew (CA): Uses a bottling date. Stamped on the cases only.

Mother Earth Brewing: Uses a bottling date. All bottles have a MM/DD//YY date on the label.

Mother's Brewing: Uses packaged date. It's a standard day/month/year.

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.

Mount Pleasant: Uses a bottling date. It's a Julian date code. On the upper right hand side of the label is an 8 digit number. First 3 digits are the day of the year, next 2 is the year and the last 3 are the batch number.

Moylan's: Uses a bottling date which is on the cases. Format is MM/DD/YYYY.

Mystic: Uses a batch number. Some of the batch info is on the website but you can always email the brewer for specifics.

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.

Maine Beer: Uses a bottling date. Clearly written on the back label, ex: 072912.

Mankota: Uses a drink by date. Bottles are date stamped and shelf life is 120 days.

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.

Manzanita: Uses a bottling date on the case only.

Marble (MA): Uses a bottling date. It's right next to the government warning.

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.

Matt Brewing: 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.

Maui Brewing: Uses a bottling date. The cans are inked with the date on the bottom margin. Format is MM/DD/YYYY.

Mayflower: Uses a packaged on date. It's stamped on the labels. Format is DD/MM/YY.

McKenzie: Uses bottle numbers. Only bottles in small quantities.

McMenamins: Uses a packaging date. On the box case only.

Mendocino: Uses a packaging date. It's on the cases only in a format for internal use.

Mercury: Uses a bottled on date. It's stamped on the bottle, format MM/DD/YY.

Metropolitan: Uses a best before date. It's on the bottom of the packaging of the six-packs. Format is DD/MM/YY. The date is 5 months from bottling.

Midnight Sun: Uses a packaged on date. Format is: JUN 09 2013. 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.

Moat Mountain: Uses a canning date for cans and a bottling date on their bombers, only on the master cases for now.

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.

Monday Night: Uses a best before date on the case box only.

Mother Earth Brew (CA): Uses a bottling date. Stamped on the cases only.

Mother Earth Brewing: Uses a bottling date. All bottles have a MM/DD//YY date on the label.

Mother's Brewing: Uses packaged date. It's a standard day/month/year.

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.

Mount Pleasant: Uses a bottling date. It's a Julian date code. On the upper right hand side of the label is an 8 digit number. First 3 digits are the day of the year, next 2 is the year and the last 3 are the batch number.

Moylan's: Uses a bottling date which is on the cases. Format is MM/DD/YYYY.

Mystic: Uses a batch number. Some of the batch info is on the website but you can always email the brewer for specifics.

Narragansett: Uses a bottling date. The brewery puts a set of numbers on the bottom of the cans. The first 3 numbers are the day of the year, and the last digit is the last number of the year. For example, if the first 4 numbers on the bottom of the can are 1481, this means the beer was born on the 148th day of 2011.

National (MD): Uses a bottling date on their back label.

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.

Nectar Ales: See Firestone Walker.

New Belgium: Clearly shows the best before date. Also has a bottling date. There is a 9 digit number on the lower-right part of the label, or the bottom of the can: the format is YYMMDDXXX, where the packaging date is MM/DD/YY.

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. 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.

Night Shift: Uses a bottling date on all their beers.

Nimbus: Uses a bottling date.

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.

No-Li Brewhouse: Uses a bottling date on the cases only.

North Coast: Uses a bottling date on cases only. From the brewer: If bought by the case, the dates are only ON the case. However, if purchased by the six-pack, bottling date is in white ink toward the bottom of the bottle 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. Also, certain beers like the Old Stock uses the MM/DD/YYYY format.

North Peak: Possibly not dating their beers anymore. Nothing appears on the bottles since April 2013. Uses a bottled ondate. It's printed on the label directly above the UPC code. Example: DEC1610.

Nosdunk: Uses a bottling date.

Notch: Uses a bottled on date. It's printed on the shoulder of the bottle and the bottom of the can.

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.

Odell: Clearly shows the expiry date. Beer is dated 4 months from bottling.

Odd Side Ales: Uses a bottling date. It's stamped on the bottle in black ink on the top right portion of the label. Ex: MFG06/0413.

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.

Off Color: Uses bottled on date. Carriers have this date and bottles are slated to have it by the end of Oct. 2013

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.

Old Dominion: 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.

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 Mecklenburg: Uses a bottling date on all their beers.

Old Schoolhouse: Has dates on their cases only. Uses a bottled on date for all their cases except the imperial stout which has abest after date.

Olvalde: No freshness info since most of their beers are cellarable though they do have the vintage year on them. Will have a bottled on date on very low production bottles.

Omission: Uses a bottling date. You can find out more info about any given batch on their website.

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.

Pabst: Uses an expiration date.

Palo Alto: Uses a bottling date on all their bottles.

Paper City: Uses a best before date. Only on the regular brews.

Paradise Creek: Uses a bottling date on their beers.

Peak Organic: Uses a best before date. The date is on the side of the labels.

Pedernales: Uses a packaging date. It's on the cases boxes as well as their keg caps.

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.

Pennsylvania (Penn): Uses a best before date. It's stamped on the outside of the cases like this: 'Best Before Month/Day/Year'. Our beer packaged in 2/12 packs (St. Nick, Nut Roll and Gourmet) have the date stickered on the outside, as the stamp tends to smudge.

Perennial: Uses a bottling date though doesn't seem consistent.

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 Brewing: Uses a bottling date.

Piney River: Uses a canning date on their cans.

Pipeworks: Uses a batch number that you can use to find the bottling date on their website.

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.

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.

Pizza Port: Uses a bottling date. There's a date on the bombers. Ex.: February 2011.

Port Brewing: See Lost Abbey.

Port City: Uses a bottling date. Cases are stamped and kegs also on the collar.

Portsmouth: Uses a best before date.

Potosi: Uses a bottling date. It's a Julian date code. First 3 numbers are the day of the year and the last number is the year.

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.

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.

Ranger Creek: Uses a bottling date on all their bottled beer.

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 and the cans are stamped on the bottom with the same date.

Red Brick: Uses a bottled on date. Format is month/day/year.

Red Hare: Uses a canning date. Just the cases are stamped with the date they were packaged but by Nov. 2012, each can will have a canning date on it.

RedHook: 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 Lodge Ales: Uses a bottling date. Written in black ink on the side of the bottle, just below the label.

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.

Red Rock: Uses a bottling date on their beers.

Reuben's Brews: Uses a born on or bottling date.

Revolution: Uses a packaged on date on their beers.

Right Brain: Uses a bottling date.The cases are stamped with this date.

Rising Tide: Uses a born on date. For example: 100BORN072212. This means this is batch 100 and was ready to drink on July 22, 2012.

Rivertown (OH): Uses a bottled on 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.

Rock Art: Uses a bottling date. For all their 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.

Rockmill: Has a batch number on the bottom of the bottle that tells them internally what date it was bottled.

Rocky Coulee: Uses a born on date. From the brewer: Our bottled beer has a date stamped on the case boxes giving the born date. Example, Mar. 24, 2010.

Rubicon: Used a bottling date on their old labels. There was an etching on the left side of the label in the MM/DD/YY format. The new labels have no freshness info.

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.

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.

Sam Adams: See Boston Beer Co.

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: Uses a best by date which is 120 days from bottling/canning. Bottles: Only the cases are stamped, on the top. Cans: individual cans are marked with these dates. Kegs also have the same shelf life and are labelled as such.

SanTan: Uses a canning date. It's on the bottom of the can. Recommended shelf life is 60-90 days.

Saranac: See Matt Brewing.

Saugatuck: Uses a best by date. It's on the upper right corner of the label, batch number is underneath. Format is YY/MM/DD.

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:". Their is also a a sticker with thebottling date on the bottom of their 750ml. bottles.

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: Uses a bottled on date on the neck of 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.

Side Project: Uses a batch code. The batch information can be seen on their website. Brett Project has an actual bottling code, ex: 010713 is July 1, 2013.

Sierra Nevada: Uses a packaging date. Format is MM/DD//YY. For more info, go here.

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.

Ska: Uses a best by date. On the cans, it's printed almost at the bottom (where the side transitions to the bottom. For the bottles, it's printed on the top shoulder, on the glass.

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 have 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 best by date which is near the bottom of the can.

Snipes Mountain: No longer bottles but they have a kegged on date on their kegs.

Snoqualmie Falls: Uses a bottling date. It's stamped on the cases only.

Sockeye: Uses a canning date. Stamped on six-packs and case boxes.

Sound Brewery: Date stamps its cases only. They bottle once a week.

Southern Oregon: 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 Prohibition: Uses an Enjoy By date. It's on the top of the holders of the 4 and 6 packs.

Southern Tier: Uses a bottling date. It's on the cases only and also on the bottles themselves. It's near the bottom of the label on the glass, format is "DOB mm/dd/yy".

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. 12oz. bottles now have the date also and soon, the 22oz. will also have them (Sept. 2013).

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.

Squatters Beers: Uses a Best Enjoyed By date on their bottles. Format is MM/DD/YY.

St. George: Uses a bottling date on the cases only.

Starr Hill: Uses a packaged on date. It's printed in blue ink above the label in MM/DD/YY format. The letter after the YY indicates the hour it was bottled: A = 8AM, B = 9AM, etc...

Steamworks (CO): Uses a best before date.

Steel Toe: Uses a bottling date on their boxes.

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 as well as on the case box in the same format.

Stillwater Ales: Uses a bottling date. They started rolling it out on their new bottles.

Stone Brewing Co: Laser engraved Enjoy By 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.

Straight to Ale: Uses a canning date on all their cans.

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 Julianbottling 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. Format is YYDDD. YY: Year, DDD: Juliandate.

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.

Susquehanna: Uses a best before date with a 120 to 150 day window.

Swamp Head: Uses a bottled on date. Only on the case boxes. Their beer is best within 3 months of that date but some of their bottles are cellarable and the runs are very small. They have a kegged on date on their kegs which is pulled under 90 days.

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.

Switchback: Uses a bottled on date on the cases only. Ex. Aug 20, no year given.

Tallgrass: Uses a best by date. On the cases only. Some are the month day year. We are phasing into Julian with yyddd.

Tap Brewing: 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.

Terminal Gravity: Uses a bottling date on the mother carton only.

Terrapin: Uses a best by date. It's notched on the side of the label, on cans and on their kegs. Calculate 6 months prior to find the bottling date. Seasonal Sessions and Monster Beers releases are not notched but do have a shelf life: 6 months for Seasonal, 1 year for Monster. Bottlings for these are released within a week of each other. Side Projects and Special Releases are style-dependent

Third Street Brewhouse (MN): Uses a produced date.

Thomas Creek: Uses a production date. They print a Julian date code for production on the shoulder of each bottle. If you hold up the bottle to the light, you should see the printed code somewhere in the shoulder/neck area body label and neck label. If the code says something like TCR048BA. Translates to: Thomas Creek Red Feb. 17, 2010.

Thomas Hooker: Uses a born on date. From the brewer: Laser printed born on date on each bottle.

Three Creeks: Uses a bottling date.

Three Floyds: Uses a bottling date printed on the bottle.

Thunderhead: Uses a best by date on the bottom of their cans.

Tied House: Uses a bottled/packed on date on the bottles and cases.

Tommyknocker: Uses a bottled on date. Left side is the day of the month, bottom is year, letters are the month.

Traveler Beer: Uses a best before date.

Troegs: Uses a bottling date. Written in black ink just above the label. Reads BOTTLED ON mm/dd/yyyy.

Trumer: Uses an enjoy by date. From the brewer: It is vertically etched on the left side of the back label, and is in a MMDDYY format (063013 would thus mean June 30, 2013). It is positioned next to the UPC bar code.The date is 150 days from bottling.

Tuckerman Brewing Co: Uses a best before date which is notched on the label. Also, the cases are stamped with a “When Ready” date for the warehouse.

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 and also on the bottom of their cans. 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 and best before date. Best before date is on the 10z. cans and bottles, bottled on date is on the 750ml. bottles.

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.

Upstate: Uses a canned date. It's a sticker on each 4-pack.

Upstream: Uses a brewed on and bottling date. They only do small batches of barrel-aged brews in bottles.

Urban Chestnut: Will use a packaging date very shortly.

Victory: Enjoy By date is now directly etched on the bottle. Format is still MMM DD YY format. There might still be some with the date on the labels. 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 The date is 4 months from bottling.

Wagner Valley: Uses a production date. Printed clearly on cases boxes only.

Wasatch Beers: Uses a Best Enjoyed By date on their bottles. Format is MM/DD/YY.

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.

Westbrook: Uses bottled on date on all their bottles/cans.

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.

West Sixth: Uses a brewed on date stamped on their cases only.

Weyerbacher: Uses a bottled on and best before date. The top date is the bottled on date, the one below it is the "freshest by" 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 month or season and YYYY.

Widmer: Clearly shows the bottling date.

Wild Heaven: Uses a packaging date. Cases have a sticker with the Julian date code.

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.

Wild Wolf: Uses a bottled on date on their cans and will soon do the same on their bottles (Sept. 2013).

Williamsburg: See AleWerks.

Wolaver's: See Otter Creek.

Wolf Beer: Uses a recommended before date.

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. For their kegs, uses a born on date with 90 days after that.

Wormtown: Uses a bottling date. Month and year are noted but unsure if only on the case or the bottle as well.

Yards: Uses a packaging/bottling date that appears on all cases AND bottles (found on or just underneath the should of the bottle) in typical mm/dd/yyyy format.

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.