Ask The Brewmasters

This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

Hi folks,

I just want to make sure I am in line with industry standards for ~expiration~ date coding. I am checking on behalf of a 30k bbl brewery (though these are pretty wide spread across the craft sector):

90 days: any IPA's, Dipa's, pale ales, fruited IPA's, fruited beer (non-sour)

120 days: sours, non-IPA's (ex.: hefeweizen, saison, etc.) 

6 months: non-hoppy lagers (if really good O2 control), stouts, strong ales, barrel aged stouts, etc.

6 months to a year: any mixed ferm. product, any product above say, ~12, maybe closer to 15%

Please let me know what you all stick to. Thanks a bunch!! 

Hi Anonymous , I have found that trying to use " Industry Standards " as your base line for shelf life is at best a starting point . You may have a product that has excellent shelf life , so why limit it to a " IND STD" , I have found that most folks do not test shelf stability and they just guess at it or use a " Standard " 

We worked hard on proving to ourselves that our products more than complied with our expiration, We did a lot of testing including Extreme heat on our library samples and when we found the ability to change process and extend a date or a issue that caused earlier expiration ( New Products or a seasonal product that had limited shelf  exposure ) we would up grade or down grade the shelf life of a product

Best of luck dialing in your shelf life !!

Thanks 

WSP

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W. Scott Pyatt
COO
Catawba Brewing Co / Palmetto Brewing co
Glen Alpine NC
(828) 527-8097
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