Exam Focus
- Check date codes regularly and know common code types.
- Sell older dated beer before newer beer of the same product.
- Remove out-of-date beer from service inventory.
- Know general freshness windows for draft and packaged beer.
What to know
Regularly check package dates, best-by dates, and common code formats such as month-day-year or Julian dates.
How it applies
For the same product, sell older dated beer before newer beer, and remove out-of-date or questionable beer from service inventory before a guest receives it.
- Check date codes regularly and know common code types.
- Sell older dated beer before newer beer of the same product.
- Remove out-of-date beer from service inventory.
- Know general freshness windows for draft and packaged beer.
Other Certification Notes
Certified Cicerone® Open the Certified Cicerone® topic page
Exam Focus
- Use date codes and first-in, first-out rotation to protect freshness.
- Remove or question out-of-date beer before service.
- Distinguish package and draft freshness checks.
Syllabus detail
- Date-code types: best-by dates, packaging dates, and production codes must be interpreted before freshness decisions can be made.
- Rotation actions: sell older dated beer before newer beer of the same product and remove beer that is out of date or questionable.
- Freshness windows: roughly 45-60 days for many draft beers and about 90-120 days for many packaged beers, with hop-forward, lower-strength, warm-stored, or unpasteurized beers often needing closer review.
Applied knowledge
Treat this as an inventory-control workflow: identify the date code, sell in the right order, and remove beer before the guest becomes the quality check.
- Read the producer's date format before acting; best-by, packaged-on, Julian or ordinal, traditional consumer, and proprietary codes answer different questions.
- Rotate within each product and package format, putting older in-date beer ahead of newer beer while removing anything outside the producer or syllabus freshness window.
- Promote the whole list to prevent slow movers from aging out; hoppy beer such as IPA needs closer attention because aroma and bitterness can fade faster even when refrigerated.
Failure modes and escalation
The common failure is treating a symptom as a single-cause problem. Foam can come from warm beer, dirty glassware, incorrect pressure, blocked vents, line restriction, or a damaged keg seal; stale flavor can come from age, heat, oxygen, light, or dirty dispense. The applied answer is to inspect visible conditions first, keep beer out of service when quality or safety is uncertain, and reserve pressure, gas-blend, line, or chemical decisions for trained staff.
Worked application
If two cases of the same pale ale arrive with different package dates, the older code should be placed for earlier sale and the newer case held behind it. If the older case is already outside the supplier's freshness guidance, rotation is no longer enough; remove it from sale and ask for a manager or supplier decision. Rotation protects quality only when dates are actually checked and acted on.
Why It Matters
- Date checks and first-expiring-first-out rotation stop old beer from hiding behind new deliveries.
- Removing questionable stock before service protects both flavor and guest confidence.
Practical Sensory Exercises
Rotate Inventory practice drill
Arrange six mock packages by package or best-by date, identify which should sell first, and write the action you would take for an unreadable or expired code.
Key Terms
- Best-by date
- A producer date indicating expected quality life.
- Package date
- The date beer was filled into a can, bottle, or keg.
- FIFO
- First in, first out; selling older stock before newer stock.