Anyone know how to figure out the "kegged on" dates for keg beers? I
just got a keg of Sam Adams Octoberfest and I think it might be too
old. It's got a number like 6/17 hand written with a magic marker on
the keg and I can't find any date actually printed on the keg. I know
some beers (like Miller) have codestamps but other do not seem to have
this? Unfortunately, I've learned that you can't trust local distros
and liquour stores in far South regions like Florida. I last got a keg
of Miller from a local store that was over 4 months old the day I
bought it! TIA for any help!

TwoBearCatz > wrote:
>Anyone know how to figure out the "kegged on" dates for keg beers? I
>just got a keg of Sam Adams Octoberfest and I think it might be too
>old. It's got a number like 6/17 hand written with a magic marker on
>the keg and I can't find any date actually printed on the keg. I know
>some beers (like Miller) have codestamps but other do not seem to have
>this? Unfortunately, I've learned that you can't trust local distros
>and liquour stores in far South regions like Florida. I last got a keg
>of Miller from a local store that was over 4 months old the day I
>bought it! TIA for any help!

Call the brewery.

So what is "too old" for a kegged beer? Has the keg
been stored cold? In my experience, kegged beer is treated
with more respect than bottled beer by distributors and
retailers, so it's less likely to be impacted by a bit of
age. It's also in an airtight, completely opaque container,
so will have no skunking issues.
--
Joel Plutchak

"Things just fall apart." - Now They'll Sleep (Belly)

TwoBearCatz wrote:
> Unfortunately, I've learned that you can't trust local distros
> and liquour stores in far South regions like Florida.

You can't trust distributors or retailers *anywhere* (with some rare
exceptions).

Nor can you trust brewers who conveniently "leave off" the dates for
certain distributors, even when they have pre-printed month/year
"notching" areas or "best by" spaces on their labels. If they're going
to purposely leave off the "best by" date so the distributor can sell
old beer, one would think they'd be a bit more sneaky about it and print
up different labels.