1. Look for the “Best Before” Date: Most beer bottles will have a “best before” date printed somewhere on the label. This is the date when your beer will still taste its best, so make sure you drink it before that day! 2. Check for an Expiration Date: If there is no “best before” date, then look for an expiration or “use-by” date. The date on beer bottles serves as a “born on date” for the beer, meaning that it is an indicator of when the beer was packaged and put into its final form. The date is usually indicated either on the side or the bottom of the bottle and usually follows either a Julian or Gregorian calendar month-day-year format. So I ordered a vial of White Labs Pilsner lager yeast from Brewmaster's Warehouse about 5 days ago. I finally got it today and when I was checking the dates, the best before date was for 12/11/10. Still usable or should I return it and have them send me another? Stella has a year shelf life, believe the code is manufactured 01/16/20–so probably past its Best Buy date—it won’t hurt to drink, but it will probably taste cardboardy. You can always call the brewery and ask to decoder the best by date. General Beer Brewing Discussion . Best before dates on beers. Thread starter ammiteur Best before dates on beers. Thread starter ammiteur connoisseur; The style will have a huge impact on what happens to the flavors over time. Light body, low ABV beers tend to have their flavor deteriorate faster than darker, high ABV beer. So a 10% ABV Imperial Stout will handle years of age while a 4% American Lager will see flavor changes in the first year. Use-by dates represent the last day that the manufacturer recommends consuming the product for quality reasons . "Like best-by dates, this can relate to taste, texture, and even appearance of a product, but these foods can still be considered safe to consume afterwards," Jones says. However, they may not retain flavor and texture of an item The best-before date is more about product quality. Therefore, you're still free to drink the beer, but there's no guarantee you'll like it. Of course, you want to apply this information with caution; not all products with a best-before date are safe to consume after the specified date. If the food is safe for consumption—or not—is left up NQVHo.

best before dates on beer