title: SimpleDateFormat without the Timezone Offset in Java (GMT+00:00) for Custom Timezone
body: <p>Is it possible to format a date time in Java using the SimpleDateFormat class to give the timezone part of a date without having the +0000 after it.  </p>
  
  <p><strong>Edit</strong></p>
  
  <p>We are changing the Default Timezone within Java as follows:</p>
  
  <pre><code>SimpleTimeZone tz = new SimpleTimeZone(0, "Out Timezone");        
  TimeZone.setDefault(tz);
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Unfortunately, I am in no position to remove this code.  I would hazard a guess at the whole system stopping working.  I think the initial author put this in to work around some day light saving issues.</p>
  
  <p>With this in mind, I want to format the date as:</p>
  
  <p><strong>2011-12-27 09:00 GMT</strong></p>
  
  <p>or</p>
  
  <p><strong>2011-12-27 09:00 BST</strong></p>
  
  <p>I can only get the SimpleDateFormat to output as:</p>
  
  <p>2011-12-27 09:00:00 GMT+00:00</p>
  
  <p>which uses the format string <strong>yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss z</strong></p>
  
  <p>I cannot see anywhere where the simple timezone has any reference to winter time (GMT) id or summer time id (BST).</p>