Best before/expiry dates

There are two types of best before date in Breww:

• A date set at the point of packaging.
• A (typically shorter) date that is set at the point of delivery and shown to just that one customer. (This is optional, and most breweries don't use this feature.)

Historically in Breww, for each beer, you would set the best before for each type of container. However, over time, this proved to be too inflexible and so Breww now allows you to define complex rules for how to calculate the best before dates that are used.

The packaging best before dates are shown on packaging labels and shown within Breww. The delivery best before dates (if used) will show on delivery labels.

Individually setting dates on each beer

When creating or editing a beer, you can set the best before date to use for each type of container (kegs, casks & smallpack). These are set as a number of weeks from the packaging/delivery date. If set, this will take precedence over any rules that you have defined.

You can also go to Settings -> Production settings -> Best before rules -> Rules from packaging -> Show overrides to view a list of all beers and their overrides.

Best before date rules (recommended)

To save you from having to set a best before date on every single beer/type of container combination, you can define account-wide rules. This saves a lot of time and allows you to make them even more specific to different situations.

To create your rules, go to Settings -> Production settings -> Best before rules and then choose either Rules from packaging or Rules from delivery depending on which you are looking to define.

Here's an example of the type of rule that you could set:

You can build out your own rules using Breww's complex rule builder. We won't go into the finer details on how to use this tool in this guide, as we have a video guide on how to use this interface in another help guide - Delivery rules. If you need help using the rule builder interface, please check the video in that guide as the same principals apply to this the best before date rules.

The building blocks

The canvas always begins with a Start block, which can't be removed. From the menu above the canvas you can add two kinds of block and then join them together by dragging from one block's connector to the next:

• Condition - a question about what is being packaged or delivered. Give it a name so you can recognise it on the canvas, then build the question itself with the rule builder. A condition has one connector coming in and two going out: a green check mark for "yes, this matched" and a red cross for "no, it didn't".

• Best before - the answer at the end of a path. Choose how much time to add to the packaging (or delivery) date in days, weeks or months, or enable No change to use the packaging/delivery date itself with nothing added. The optional Label is only there to help you keep track of your rules on the canvas and has no effect on the dates.

How Breww works out which rule applies

Breww starts at the Start block and follows the connections. At each condition it checks the drink, product and container in question, then carries on down the green check mark branch if the condition matched, or the red cross branch if it didn't. The first Best before block it arrives at is the one that's used.

This means the position of the blocks on the canvas makes no difference at all - only the way they are joined up matters. It also means every path has to finish at a Best before block, and every connector has to be joined to something. If Breww follows a path and finds a missing connection, it can't work out a date, so it's worth using the preview (below) after any change.

What you can build conditions on

When building a condition, you can ask about:

• The container type, or the type of container (keg, cask or smallpack)
• The gross volume of the container
• The drink's name, tag, ABV or style, and whether it is a guest drink
• The product's name, code or tag

Rules from packaging can also ask about the NR container brand and whether the container is returnable.

Rules from delivery can instead ask about the customer type and the customer's tags, so you can give (for example) export customers a different date from your local pubs.

Previewing and checking your rules

Having built your rules, you can check the best before date that would apply to each of your products (assuming they are packaged today). To do so, use the Best before date preview button shown above the rule builder. Any product that shows no date is one your rules don't currently cover, which usually means a branch is missing a Best before block or a connection.

Additional (from delivery) best before time per customer type

It's possible to add additional time to the best before date, depending on the customer type. Go to Customers -> Settings & tools -> Customer types. Then, click the pencil icon to edit a specific customer type.

Editing best before dates after packaging

You can easily change the best before date on a product, either by heading to the product, or by heading to the batch actions tab on a batch.

Editing the best before on a product

You can extend the best before on a product by selecting the Stock breakdown tab and the Update best before date button.

Extending the best before date on the batch actions

When on a batch, you can select the Actions from the table at the bottom. This lists all the actions associated with this batch. You will then be able to select the Edit BBE button to change the best before date on the products used on that packaging action. This is very handy for when you want to change the best before on the packaging of casks or kegs, as this will allow you to update these in bulk rather than going into each product individually.

Migrating to rules

If you have been using Breww since before best before date rules were available, you may wish to migrate from setting dates individually on each beer to using rules. For a beer/type of container to switch, all you need to do is remove the date set on the beer and ensure you have valid rules in place.

To help you achieve this, you can view a list of all your beers and their individually-set best before dates. From this list, you can edit them individually, or remove the dates in one-click. This list can be found at Settings -> Production settings -> Best before rules -> Rules from packaging -> Show overrides.

Don't forget to check the best before date that would apply to each product (if packaged today) using the Best before date preview` tool.