ARMiller's Beer Dates Decoded

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Beer Sayings

Home Brew

Two kinds of dates are given on beer labels: bottling and expiration. Some show the date clearly while others are encoded. Furthermore, some dates are on the labels while others are stamped on the bottle itself.

• Anchor Brewing uses a complex coded three-character bottling date. The first number is the last digit of the year. The next letter is the month and the last character is the day. The months are coded:
  J = Jan, F = Feb, M = Mar, A = Apr, Y = May, U = Jun L = Jul, G = Aug, S = Sep, O = Oct, N = Nov, D = Dec
  The days 1-26 are coded A-Z while days 27-31 are coded with the last digit of the day. Thus 9AJ was bottled on April 10, 1999.

  Bass uses a four-character bottling code. The first two digits are the day of the month, a letter is the month, and a digit is the year.

  Beck's clearly shows the expiration date as month and year.

  Blue Moon uses a six-character expiration date. The four-character month, two-character day, and one-character year gives SEPT159 for September 15, 1999.

  Breckenridge clearly shows the expiration date as month and week (but not year).

  Coors (Herman Josephs, Killians) clearly shows the expiration date as month and day.

  Deschutes shows the expiration date as month (but not year).

  Fuller's clearly shows the expiration date.

  Full Sail Brewing clearly shows the expiration date.

  Gordon Biersch clearly shows the bottling date.

  Grolsch uses a four-character code. The first digit is the year, a letter appears next giving the month, and the last two digits are the day of the month,.

  Guinness uses a coded bottling date of day, month, year. The month is a letter so 16B9 is 16 Feb 99. Previously, the date code was a reversed date like 79 10 21 for 12 January 1997.

  Heineken uses a coded four-character bottling date. The first digit is the year and the remaining three are the day of the year. For example, 9063 is the 63rd day of 1999.

  Miller (Löwenbräu, Red Dog, and Sharp's) uses a five-digit expiration date. The first two digits are the month, the next two are the day, and the fifth digit is the year.

  Molson uses a 13-character bottling code beginning with a letter and three digits. The letter is the month, the first two digits are the day and the last digit is the year. Thus E169 is May 16, 1999.

  Negra Modelo uses a six-character code with the bottling date in the last two characters. The next to last letter gives the month and the last digit is the year. Thus, 2421C9 is March 1999.

  New Belgium (Fat Tire) clearly shows the expiration date.

  Oasis Brewery clearly shows the bottling date.

  Odell's clearly shows the bottling date.

  Paulaner uses a four-digit expiration date. The first two digits are the month, the last two are the year.

  Pete's uses an eight-digit code. The last four-digits are the bottling date. The first of these three digits are the day of the year and the fourth digit is the year. For example, 0639 is the 63rd day of 1999.

  Pilsner Urquell uses a four-character code. The first two digits are the day of the month, a letter appears next giving the month, and the last digit is the year.

  Pyramid clearly shows the expiration date.

  Red Hook clearly shows the bottling date.

  Samual Adams clearly shows the expiration date. The month is notched and the year is printed except for seasonal beers like Double Bock and Octoberfest when no year is given.

  Sierra Nevada uses a coded nine-character bottling date. The first digit is the year and the next three are the day of the year. For example, 9063 is the 63rd day of 1999. Unfortunately, the date is in black ink on a brown bottle. It's nearly impossible to read for the porter.

  Spaten uses a four-digit expiration date. The first two digits are the month, the last two are the year.

  St. Pauli Girl clearly shows the expiration date as month and year.

  Steinlager clearly shows the bottling date.

  Widmer Brewing clearly shows the bottling date.

• Clearly Coded Bottling Date -- Full Sail, Gordon Biersch, Oasis, Odell's, Red Hook, Steinlager, Widmer
• Clearly Coded Expiration Date -- Beck's, Breckenridge, Fuller's, Herman Josephs, New Belgium, Pyramid, Samual Adams, St. Pauli Girl
• Four-digit code, year first (9123) -- Grolsch, Heineken
• Four-digit code, year last (1239) --

For more information, see: I, II, III

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Last revised: October 13, 2005