Page 9 - Beverage Master_OctNov 2021

Legal & Finance

Doing so, however, relies on the customer to coding. Ultimately, it is up to you to choose the
be educated about your product, and that might method that you think will both comply with the
not always be as easy as it sounds. Pete Ternes of FDA and provide information to your customers.
Chicago’s Middle Brow beer notes, “90% of con- Regardless of what format you do choose, provid-
sumers don’t know what it means for a particular ing context and information to your customers–
beer to have been packaged on a particular date.” whether that customer is the distributor, the retail-
While there are many craft beer fans who are er, or the end consumer–as to how you arrived at
incredibly well-educated and can ascertain which the decision of what lot and date coding method
beer styles can handle age and which can’t, most you’ve chosen is the best path and can double as
beer-drinkers don’t know the implications of a an excellent marketing and education tool for your
beer’s brewed or packaged-on date. brewery.

Complicating the issue is lack of consistent tem-
perature control once product leaves the brewery.
A brewery may post a shelf life of 45 days for an
IPA, but not the conditions under which that shelf
life has been ascertained or should be maintained.
A beer with a shelf life of 45 days at 38F has a shelf
life of only 11 days at room temperature.

No Easy Answers

Unfortunately, until an industry standard or fed-
eral regulation is put into place, there is no easy
answer about how to best approach lot and date

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