Get Fresh With Your Beer: Understanding Shelf-Life

Get Fresh With Your Beer: Understanding Shelf-Life


When a decision was made to change how we relay the shelf-life of our beer, some of you may have wondered:

"Why can't I see a packaging date on my beer anymore?"

"What does a best-by date tell me about my beer?"

Instead of having a packaging date, we have a best-by date, which is when the beer should be consumed to ensure our fans enjoy our beer within the timeframe that our brewers intended. Seeing a packaging date is great the closer that date is to when you purchase and crack open that beer. But what happens when you find a bottle or can stashed in the back of the fridge, and it's a little farther from that packaged-on date? Depending on the beer, it could still be perfectly tasty or past its prime.
  1. Some of our stouts are more robust and can withstand storage periods of about a year, provided they are kept in a cool and dark space. Refrigeration isn't completely necessary for any of our beers, but the key is always to avoid heat and light. Our double IPAs and some of our lagers such as Octoberfest have a 3-month shelf life.
  2. Hopslam along with all of our double IPAs is best enjoyed as fresh as possible.

But what if I want to know my beer's birthday?

The purpose of a best-by date is for transparency and ease to our customers, but we totally understand and respect the beer connoisseur's curiosity! Here is a breakdown of our core brands' shelf life:

21 Weeks
  1. Two Hearted IPA
  2. Hopslam
  3. Octoberfest
26 Weeks
  1. Oberon
  2. Oberon Eclipse
  3. Hazy Hearted
  4. Big Hearted
  5. Light Hearted Ale
  6. Lager for the Lakes
  7. Amber Ale
  8. Kalamazoo Stout
  9. Porter
  10. Christmas Ale
52 Weeks
  1. Special Double Cream Stout
1+ Year/Unlimited
  1. Black Note
  2. Cherry Stout
  3. Expedition Stout

To figure out when your beer was packaged, subtract the shelf-life from the best-by date, and there is your answer! 
If you happen to see a beer on the shelves near you that is past its best-by date, we want to know! These beers are supposed to be removed, but sometimes things get missed. You can let us know by submitting a Quality Ticket on our Contact Page and sharing the store and packaging information with us so we can follow up with one of our representatives. 
If you want to learn more about finding packaging information from best-by dates to batch numbers, please refer to our article here.


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