How long does beer keep?

[Michael Davis]

Probably nobody here has left it in the refrigerator long enough, but I've got like 75 bottles left over from my last party and I'm having another party at the end of this month. My last party was in mid-December. Is the beer still good or do I need to throw it? Note that I won't be drinking any of it so if it's only slightly bad I don't really care.

-Michael

[IggyWH]

[ QUOTE ]
Probably nobody here has left it in the refrigerator long enough, but I've got like 75 bottles left over from my last party and I'm having another party at the end of this month. My last party was in mid-December. Is the beer still good or do I need to throw it? Note that I won't be drinking any of it so if it's only slightly bad I don't really care.

-Michael

[/ QUOTE ]

It really depends on the beer. Some beer keeps and some doesn't. I have had Yuengling that was 6 months old and it tasted fine. I've had Miller Lite that was a month old that tasted like dirt. Crack one open and give it a try.

[Michael Davis]

No, I've only had one full beer plus a few sips and it all tastes terrible so I wouldn't know the difference.

I have Corona and Bud and Heineken and then some weirdo independent brewery stuff.

-Michael

[emonrad87]

Invite a couple of friends over and let them taste a couple of them. I'm sure they wouldnt mind.

[Michael Davis]

I don't have friends. Maybe I could give them to my neighbors.

-Michael

[A_C_Slater]

Are these Business parties then?

[IggyWH]

[ QUOTE ]
I have Corona and Bud and Heineken and then some weirdo independent brewery stuff.

-Michael

[/ QUOTE ]

I think the Corona will be fine, especially if you have lemon or lime to put in them. Bud always tastes like crap so it'll be fine old.

The Heinie, I would guess will taste like crap. I've had old cases (and by old I mean like a month) and it tastes foul.

[fluxrad]

There should be an expiration date on the bottles.

If not - beer should keep for a few months, but not much longer.

Just pull out a bottle about a week before the party and drink it. If it tastes OK, then you're fine. If it tastes bad...

You could have a serious problem. I remember a party I was at where one of our guests had brought his own case of beer that he'd been keeping in his refrigerator for probably close to a year. We didn't know that at the time (the coroner's report had the expiration date on it). He was hapily drinking, playing some mario brothers, quarters, arsehole, etc. and we figured he was fine for the night. About 2:45 things were winding down and by that time most of the guests had left except for my girlfriend, a few mutual friends, and this guy.

I sat down to finish the last round of arsehole (as usual, I was the arsehole) and the guy excused himself to go to the bathroom. Not long after, we heard this screaming coming from the bathroom. I figured he'd just unzipped his fly while someone was still in there (we were all pretty drunk and it's happened before ;-). Suffice it to say, I was wrong.

As I opened the door to the bathroom, I saw him lying on the floor with his back propped up against the toilet seat. He was holding his stomach like he was in serious pain. I figured we'd have to call the ambulance since he'd obviously had alcohol poisoning. When suddenly, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he went rather limp. I was extremely worried at this point, and needless to say I almost bolted for the door when I saw his stomach rip open and an alien tear forth from the gory entrails that, by this time, had been splattered all over the room.

The coroner's report showed that an alien had deposited it's ova into the wort at the brewery. Usually, this isn't a problem as the ova don't become nearly viable until the beer has been drunk, urinated, and finds its way to the local sewage treatment plant. Of course, the CIA has a separate facility at each of these plants to deal with the ova once they've hatched. Unluckily for our friend, he had lost his taste buds in Viet Nam and had no idea the beer was as bad as it was.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is, it's considered a faux pas to serve your guests 4 month old beer.

[IggyWH]

gg... you had me going there for a while.

[kdog]

[ QUOTE ]
Note that I won't be drinking any of it so if it's only slightly bad I don't really care.


[/ QUOTE ]

Also note that those drinking it will be doing so because it's free and won't really care either. Especially after they drink a few of them.

[fluxrad]

[ QUOTE ]
Some beer keeps and some doesn't. I have had Yuengling that was 6 months old and it tasted fine. I've had Miller Lite that was a month old that tasted like dirt. Crack one open and give it a try.

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL - I don't think that's a particularly good indicator of whether or not the Miller Lite has gone bad /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[A_C_Slater]

hahahaahahha.

Marvelous. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Michael Davis]

Of sorts. I'm not sure what you call fellow graduate students but they are more like coworkers than friends to me.

-Michael

[jason_t]

[ QUOTE ]

No, I've only had one full beer plus a few sips and it all tastes terrible so I wouldn't know the difference.

I have Corona and Bud and Heineken and then some weirdo independent brewery stuff. Check if they have expiration dates though.


[/ QUOTE ]

The Corona, Bud and Heineken will be fine; they are pasteurized and filtered at the factory for a long shelf life. The microbrews are probably dead.

[fatmongo]

Last year I had a sip of a can of bud light from the mid-early 90s as some sort of bachelor party ritual. It was definitely bad, but nobody got sick or anything. Actually, it kinda tasted like wine. Thats a stretch I guess. Luckily it was only a sip.

[Zeno]

In general, beer in glass gooder longer, beer in can badder sooner.

-Zeno, Engish Graduate Student Major.

[Michael Davis]

All glass.

-Michael

[Clarkmeister]

You don't seem like a very happy person to me. But what the hell do I know. I'm forming an opinion based on posts on poker message board. /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[peachy]

it should save just fine for a month...ive had some for 6 months that was just fine

[astroglide]

i bet i seem like a pretty happy guy

[private joker]

[ QUOTE ]
In general, beer in glass gooder longer, beer in can badder sooner.


[/ QUOTE ]

Another good rule of thumb is that beer in a darker glass bottle lasts longer than beer in a clear bottle. Dark green or brown glass stops light from coming in, and lengthy exposure to light will shorten a beer's life span.

[wacki]

[ QUOTE ]
You don't seem like a very happy person to me. But what the hell do I know. I'm forming an opinion based on posts on poker message board. /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Graduate school is like that. Your friends move on and you hang out with coworkers. There is nothing abnormal about that.

[Clarkmeister]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You don't seem like a very happy person to me. But what the hell do I know. I'm forming an opinion based on posts on poker message board. /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Graduate school is like that. Your friends move on and you hang out with coworkers. There is nothing abnormal about that.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh, I don't think its abnormal at all. I think many (most?) people aren't very happy.

[jason_t]

[ QUOTE ]
Of sorts. I'm not sure what you call fellow graduate students but they are more like coworkers than friends to me.

[/ QUOTE ]

Some of my best friends are fellow graduate students but almost all of the rest I just view as colleagues. Some are bitter enemies.

[wacki]

[ QUOTE ]
I think many (most?) people aren't very happy.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed, which is why prozac is like water. I sure has hell have had my ups and downs. Right now I'm on an upswing. Woohooo!!!!!!

[3rdEye]

My beer usually doesn't last long enough in the fridge for me to attest to this question, but I've never had a problem with drinking beer that has been kept cold for a given amount of time.

[wacki]

[ QUOTE ]
In general, beer in glass gooder longer, beer in can badder sooner.

-Zeno, Engish Graduate Student Major.

[/ QUOTE ]

Never heard that one. Light and oxygen are the 2 most powerful beer killers. That is why so many bottles are brown. There are many beers that I've stuck in the a trunk of a car during the summer and didn't have any problem drinking them a month later.

[BruinEric]

First of all, the answer is "it depends." Your domestic beers are almost assuredly "fine" in the sense that they are not spoiled. They generally taste bad even fresh, but I'm sure their taste hasn't degraded much from the original intent of the megaloplis-uberbrew-corporation.

For example, it is recommended taht an unpasteurized but filtered beer that is not what we call "high gravity" would have a "freshness date" of around 90 days.

Your domestics are pasteurized and will surely last at least that and more. If beer is in green or clear bottles and they are exposed to a lot of sunlight, skunking can occur, but you'd only really know that from a taste.

Your beers from a microbrewery are probably ales and are typical/normal beers which should be freshest for 90 days from bottling. Since we're talking since Decmeber here, I'd serve the beers.

You didn't ask, but as an aside, you might not like beer because all you've had is horrible stuff like Corona. Fizzy Yellow Beer sucks.

Some day when you have a chance, get yourself an unfiltered hefeweizen served with a small slice of lemon in it while eating a nice light lunch. This is a delightful introduction to beers outside the world of crappy domestics.

Then, someday with a meat & potatoes dinner, try a Brown Ale. Newcastle is regularly available.

If you enjoy those, try something with a hoppy character and get yourself an Anchor Steam to accompany grilled fish and sourdough bread.

Always drink these beers from a glass.

Assuming you're near UCLA, you have lots of options. You can buy my favorite beers from Stone Brewing at most Vons and BevMo, etc., but you'd best start with just the Stone Pale Ale first. Other Stone beers are quite hoppy and not always for the newbie beer drinker.

[jason_t]

[ QUOTE ]
Some day when you have a chance, get yourself an unfiltered hefeweizen served with a small slice of lemon in it while eating a nice light lunch. This is a delightful introduction to beers outside the world of crappy domestics.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes!

[ QUOTE ]

Then, someday with a meat & potatoes dinner, try a Brown Ale. Newcastle is regularly available.

[/ QUOTE ]

Or a Sam Smith's Nut Brown Ale.

[ QUOTE ]
If you enjoy those, try something with a hoppy character and get yourself an Anchor Steam to accompany grilled fish and sourdough bread.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm partial to Sierra Nevada or a Bayhawk California Pale Ale.

[ QUOTE ]
Always drink these beers from a glass.

[/ QUOTE ]

Do you know where I can find some seriously good beer drinking glasses?

[ QUOTE ]
Assuming you're near UCLA, you have lots of options. You can buy my favorite beers from Stone Brewing at most Vons and BevMo, etc., but you'd best start with just the Stone Pale Ale first. Other Stone beers are quite hoppy and not always for the newbie beer drinker.

[/ QUOTE ]

The Stone beers are delicious; I find them at Whole Foods on Gayley near UCLA.

[Rushmore]

You need to check the "freshness date."

I understand this is a totally legitimate and not at all made up marketing thing, and can give you a good idea about the freshness of your beer.

[benfranklin]

[ QUOTE ]

Do you know where I can find some seriously good beer drinking glasses?


[/ QUOTE ]

Beer Glasses (http://www.northernbrewer.com/glassware.html)

Check out the yellow pages in your area for homebrewing supplies. Most stores carry a large selection of beer glasses.

[BruinEric]

[ QUOTE ]

Do you know where I can find some seriously good beer drinking glasses?


[/ QUOTE ]

I know the Stone Brewing online catalog has an assortment of "perfect" glasses (i.e. a special design for every beer style). Site is stonebrew.com

You can probably get the same sort of glasses without logos somewhere on the internet. A quick trip to ratebeer.com forums or beeradvocate.com forums might help.

As for the beers I recommended, I made sure to stick with VERY commonly available brews. I really recently enjoyed a Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye, but wouldn't fling it out there for the general consumer since who knows where it might be sold.

I'm a sucker for Steam Style beer, it's my favorite lager. I've never tried the Bayhawk brews, even though they're not far from me.

I just had part of a 750ml bottle of Ommegang Rare Vos Belgian-style Ale. Good drinking. It would go perfectly with a poultry meal like Thanksgiving. Maybe this year, no wine for that meal.

Thread hijack complete! /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[nothumb]

In my first house off-campus in college, we kept a few cans of Hi Life from our very first party at the house. We used to periodically give them to unwelcome guests to drink, or preferably shotgun. One kid shotgunned two of them at around the six month mark, started complaining and puked (outside, or he'd be dead now) in short order. I drank the last one upon moving out 1.5 years later and it was truly foul, I felt sick to my stomach for most of the day and I am basically a garbage disposal when it comes to consuming and retaining potables and non-potables alike.

Actually, I drank a Bud Light last week that was about 4 months old and it was pretty skunky. I finished it, but it made me feel a little queasy.

Anyway, short answer, serve it, if they don't like it, screw 'em.

NT

[Michael Davis]

The final variable I suppose is that all the women drink wine and other supposedly sophisticated crap and since I'm the only guy in the group the only other guys there will be boyfriends and other such figures, so I hope they get sick.

-Michael

[nothumb]

In that case, take it out of the fridge for a day or so and put it back in.

NT

[beerbandit]

75 bottles of beer from dec -- those might not have made it through the next weekend for me

look here (http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/101/store.php)

not a bad site for info

skunked beer (http://www.beeradvocate.com/news/stories_read/527/)



cheers

[Rick Nebiolo]

[ QUOTE ]
Oh, I don't think its abnormal at all. I think many (most?) people aren't very happy.

[/ QUOTE ]

People to a large degree are responsible for their own happiness and have a duty to work on it for the simple reason happy people (and I don't mean "silly happy") are generally easier to be around, bring up better children, and accomplish more in life.

Unfortunately, I didn't think this way ten to fifteen years ago.

~ Rick

[bunky9590]

If its in clarky's fridge? Not very long at all. /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[Boris]

I have no idea.