When it comes to beer, you may have noticed the presence of "Best Before" dates on the packaging. But what exactly do these dates signify, and how should they influence your beer-drinking experience? In this blog post, we'll delve into the difference between "Best Before" and expiry dates for beer, helping you understa I just looked at a couple of Coopers stubbies, and they have a 'best after' instead of 'best before' :-) I forgot about a 6 pack of Coopers Stout, and when I found it last week it had a 'best after date' of 2010. My mates and I reckon that it was nectar. Sadly, beer is one thing where you generally get what you pay for in the mainstream brands. How about best before dates. I just got some beer and the date is best before 2007/ I thought the beer was Ok because I got it from a big shop in a supermarket, I guess I was wrong. Is there a law or something that limits the sales after a certain time after the best before date. Thanks. The L9293 portion of the code is what you want to look at. The L is meaningless. The next four numbers are in a YDDD format. The first number is the last digit of the year, in this case 201 9. The next three numbers are the Julian date, in this case 293. So your beer was canned on the 293rd day of 2019. The Leinenkugel Brewery of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin is an independent brewery purchased by Miller in 1988, but still run by managed by the Leinenkugel family. Leinenkugel's beers use a slightly more-detailed version of the Miller codes. Mickey's Brewing Company is a front used to sell the Mickey's Malt Liquor brands that Miller purchased in 2000. Found this thread as we have a 'BBE Sept 2018' Coopers Ginger Beer kit so again also about 2 years past date. There is a lot of mention of getting new yeast, but also plenty who say the yeast lasts forever, and a thread elsewhere with someone using a 10yo kit including yeast not issues. Never done a brew before, but up for giving it a go! Daniel Beer expiration dates provide important information about its freshness. A beer product typically has two expiration dates: Sell before date: This is the date before which the product can be sold. Best before date: This date indicates until when the beer has optimal taste and qualities (is best to consume). A. Beer is almost always safe to drink. So, my answer is yes. B. Probably not. The "expiration" dates on beer usually reference flavor quality guarantee. Two years past date means they won't taste as great as when they were fresh, but they still might be both drinkable and enjoyable. iamawesome125 • 3 yr. ago. vDXaE.