On Reading “Best Before” Labels

One of our neighbours from down the street brought us a large bottle of beer in a nice gift bag when they came to our pre-Christmas levy. It was a bottle of Picaroons, from a brewery in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Nice, appreciated gift. My only concern is that the Best Before date reads:

G250 Feb0198

Should I: chuckle?; call the police?; close the blinds permanently?; move? Am I reading the date incorrectly?

One thought on “On Reading “Best Before” Labels”

  1. [Original comments…]

    blake mikesell – January 25, 2006 1:31 AM
    http://www.myspace.com/nicola_tesla
    Chances are if the beer is quality, you have nothing to worry about as long as it was in the right conditions.

    As a brewer myself, I try to keep my beers as long as possible (though temptation is great) to get the best flavour out of my beer.

    I have seen some labels from overseas breweries put the joke expiration date of 2025 on bottles to indicate that you should keep them as long as possible.

    I say beer, like wine, gets better with age. As long as its not too light.

    Mike – January 25, 2006 7:14 AM
    http://www.mikecampbell.net/the_campblog.htm
    Thanks Blake.

    Alan – January 25, 2006 8:13 AM
    Depends on the strength, too. The weaker the alcohol the less likely it is well preserved. Real ale yeasts in stronger beers hit a wall at a certain strength that stops them from eating everything possible. Lower strength ones can be left very thin over time due to almost total attenuation.

    Mark Dixon – May 8, 2006 11:05 AM
    http://blog.markdixon.ca
    I worked at Picaroons brewery the Summer of 98 so there is a good chance that it was me who bottled that bottle. I spent most of my time that Summer in rubber boots and hip-waders operating the bottler that bottled 3 bottles at a time.

    The best part of that job was being an official taster (free beer). Picaroons is some of the best beer I have tasted (I am no longer biased – I do not work there any longer).
    Cheers,
    Mark

    josh – February 12, 2009 12:00 AM
    G = July
    25 = the day
    0 = the year

    so 25 of july 2000 😉

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