I just realized my latest Beer 101 column was posted last week. I continue my multi-part look at beer freshness and aging by tackling the unbelievably daunting task of “best before” date codes on beer. The indecipherable nature of date codes on beer packaging has long been a source of frustration for me. There is no standard system, meaning the combination of letters, numbers and symbols usually ends up being fairly meaningless for most consumers.What does 2121C0 mean, after all? Yes, that really is a date code.

The first hurdle, as I explain in the column, is that some brewers used “best before” codes and other used “brewed on” or “packaged on”, so we can’t even get agreement on what the hell to tell the consumer. I can understand why most beer drinkers ignore the dates and hope their local liquor store is scrupulous enough to remove old stock. Of course, how many minimum wage earning private liquor store employees know the date code system themselves?

It is an important issue, as I shouldn’t have to explain to this crowd (but if I do, check out the last Beer 101 lesson for a primer). If I may rant for a moment, best before dates are basic pieces of consumer protection. Would you buy a quart of milk without a best before date? I doubt it. Now, I realize, unlike milk, beer past its prime won’t harm you – it will just taste bad, but that is no excuse for obfuscating when the beer reaches its over the hill mark. Of course, I suspect that is the point. Keeping the consumer in the dark is a big part of industrialized brewing these days. The more you educate beer drinkers, the less likely they are to accept the homogenized, de-clawed version of beer they have been served for the past 40 years. If you don’t know that Canadian can go bad, you are less likely to move a few feet down the shelf and pick up a Charlie Flint or a Phil’s Pils.

There is no reason at all that a standardized system couldn’t be devised (large corporations agreed on a Universal Parcel Code, which was a more daunting task). Or, heaven forbid, brewers could just stamp an identifiable date on their boxes. What would be wrong with JUL1510?

I should note, as I close off my rant, that micro and craft brewers tend to be more straightforward with their dates, as they are more committed to making their beer as best as they can. As for the big boys? Well good luck. Although reading the column might give you a leg up. Read Beer 101 here.

As an added tool, after writing the column I stumbled across a Canadian who posts date code information for hundreds of breweries. Here is a link to his Canadian breweries page.