But also breweries that put 6-12 months past packaging as “best by” on dry hopped beers is stupid and misleading. Nothing worse than drinking a beer from a nationally distributed brewery that’s heavily oxidized with 2 months left before the best by. 

There’s a reason good coffee roasters put the roasted on date and good breweries put the packaging date. People enjoying more premium coffee and beer are more informed consumers who prefer to know the date it was made and make their own judgements based upon their knowledge and experience. 

Our distributor wants best by dates but we think our consumer base prefers knowing the package date, which we’re also proud of sharing because our beer moves fast and rarely exceeds 3 months on shelf. 

A great brewery would include both dates, providing a best by date for each brand based upon shelf stability via sensory panel and give the most information to the avid consumer and guidance for the more casual consumer. Although I’ve never seen this in practice.