how long will beer stay good?

[benfranklin]

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I am of the opinion that the whole idea of "Freshness" in beer is just dumb marketing hype. The process of making booze involves making stuff rot, so after it's fermented and aged, how is it still fresh? If stored in a cool dark place beer should be drinkable for a few years, although skunking can take place if it goes from cold to warm a couple times.

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Most commercial beers are pasturized, which kills the yeast. Thus no futher fermentation can take place. The general rule is that pasturized beer is good for 3-4 months before it starts to go bad.

Anything in a can is pasturized, and will go bad after about 3 months. All beers are either lagers or ales. Lagers will not improve, and will also go bad.

Some beers (like homebrew and some commercial ales) are bottled with live yeast. In bottling homebrew, you add a little sugar to the batch before bottling to give the yeast something to work on in the bottle. Fermentation continues in the bottle, and the beer improves with age. I usually give my homebrew at least a month in the bottle before I even taste it. I have a barleywine that I bottled in August of 2004 that I just started drinking. Prime stuff (9% alc.)!!

[NT!]

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toss it

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nah.. at worst i'm keeping it as a souvenier

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Give it to an unwelcome guest and make them chug it

NT

[el capitan]

FOR-ev-ER

[imitation]

for as long as you aren't gay

[Alobar]

save it for the next mooch that comes over you your place and trys to bogart some beer

[john voight]

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i have this balashi in my fridge since i came back from aruba OCT 2004. what say you beer wizards of OOT?

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I have read taht beer has a life of 1 year. IMO this is false- it highly depends on brand + conditions.

I have drank Natty Ices that were disgusting after like 8 months (don't know why).

Recently I drank a German beer that I picked up in Germany 3 years ago, it was fine. The beer was an ale, and it had yeast at the bottom (which is normal for the beer). I would say 60% chance it has gone bad, 40% chance it is decent.

[XXXNoahXXX]

I went to place place down the street (Sunset Bar and Grill in Allston, MA) and I got a vintage Sam Adams from some year in the 90s. I forget what year specifically, but it tasted very good.

Not sure if your fridge is the proper storage, however. Best put that one on the souvenir shelf.

[john voight]

[ QUOTE ]
I went to place place down the street (Sunset Bar and Grill in Allston, MA) and I got a vintage Sam Adams from some year in the 90s. I forget what year specifically, but it tasted very good.

Not sure if your fridge is the proper storage, however. Best put that one on the souvenir shelf.

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I'm guessing this is some kind of special beer, that is designed for this. I doubt you can find many beers that will taste good after 10 years.

[Lazy Meatball]

Sunset Bar and Grill has the best Nachos.

anyways, I'm guessing the beer in this ghost-bumped thread has been drank or disposed of now that it's 2 and a half years old.

[daryn]

it is still in the same fridge. it caught my eye yesterday actually.