Does beer go bad?

ButterMan
Indianapolis
I have about 3 Coronas and a couple of IPA's in my fridge that have been there probably about 2-3 years. I don't drink much unless im at the SC or watching football with friends.and usually do shots with my OTC girls when they make house calls. So this beer has just been sitting there. Can I still drink this shit?

29 comments

Latest

mikeya02
8 years ago
Yes, of course you can
Dominic77
8 years ago
I have sampled some 5-6 month old and some 9 month old budweiser some time. Deep in the bottom of the fridge. It tasted horrible both times. Maybe Corona or your craft beer IPAs would do better or maybe not.

I would pass.
chessmaster
8 years ago
Let us know.
Subraman
8 years ago
It might just taste bad... although with the Corona, I don't know how you'd tell :)

Beers go bad but if they're sitting in the fridge, they're probably fine. The good Lord intended for beer to be bottled in brown bottles, because with clear or green bottles, light making it through the glass reacts with the hop oils and skunks the beers. It doesn't take a whole lot of light to do that, which is why Heineken, Molson, Corona, etc. ALWAYS taste skunky to anyone who is a bit more sensitive to skunked beer... and all but the dullest senses will taste skunkiness in those beers when they've exposed to much light.

So, your Coronas probably hit a new level of undrinkable.

Although they won't go BAD bad, if they were kept refrigerated, your brown-bottled IPAs will lose flavor and can develop flat papery flavors as they age.
mikeya02
8 years ago
Surely you can take one sip, and tell us
JamesSD
8 years ago
The flavor probably isn't good, but it's not likely going to make you sick.
ButterMan
8 years ago
Well I see your not a corona man supra...LOL I like my beer blonde for the most part. Corona and MGD to be exact. And a little bit of blue moon too. Ok your right mikey im going to crack open a corona and give you and update in 5 mins!
Dominic77
8 years ago
bottoms up!
ButterMan
8 years ago
Update!...The corona tastes fine to me. I put a little lemon squeeze in there and I think i'm gonna just drink the whole thing. if i don't make you guys just take care of my CF for me. I know i can count on you to do the right thing:)
ime
8 years ago
Basically any non bottle conditioned beer (no active yeast) can and will go bad. How bad probably depends on style, temperature changes and light exposure. Clear glass will go fastest, if its been in the fridge it's probably fine. IPA' S you should drink as fresh as possible hop oil breaks down fast so you will lose the hop taste.
NinaBambina
8 years ago
I ran into this problem once. Several years ago, before I moved to the burbs, I had an apartment in Detroit proper (gross). There was a convenience store a couple blocks away that notoriously sold spoiled produce / food products. So one day my sister and our friend came over and we grabbed a six pack. We started drinking it and none of us were enjoying the taste. I started searching the bottle for a "use by" or expiration date. Found a label that said "best by:" and the date was like a year prior to currrent time. We started freaking out, but I noted that it said "best by" instead of expired. Apparently if it says "best by:" and gives you a date, they are talking about quality if taste; won't make you sick, but might not taste fresh.

You will be fine.
Jascoi
8 years ago
i still have sum Budweiser cans in my fridge probably two years old. a a few days ago I cracked one open. seemed to be fine.
ime
8 years ago
If its Belgian it's probably fine I have some very hard to acquire in the USA Westvleteren 12's that are about 4 years old and really have no break down in taste actually probably getting into their prime drinking form in the next year or two.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profil…

the first time I tried one it was already 7 years old and still one of the best beers I have ever had.


Don't drink shitty beer.
motorhead
8 years ago
I'm a fellow non-drinker for the most part. I bought a 12-pack of Coor's on New Year's Eve 2014. So about 20 months ago. I drank a couple but decided I don't care for Coors. I usually drink Miller Lite when I drink beer. So I can't imagine it's any better now. It's not in the frig. I guess I should throw it away but I hate wasting food.
ButterMan
8 years ago
I know alcohol doesnt go bad but i wasn't sure about beer. but it taste like any Corona so far. And you got me thinking Nina..the label on the IPA says best enjoyed by Dec 2014. yea i don't think im gonna go there!
Dominic77
8 years ago
So you're arguing over reclaiming maybe $10 in beer. non-brilliant!

Just buy some new ones.
shailynn
8 years ago
Been there.

The number 1 culprit to beer is light and heat. If you keep it out of heat, at a steady constant temperature and out of light you can prolong the life.

Craft beer tends to age better than the standards.

I found some really old beer I forgot about in my garage fridge the other day. One of them happened to be a Sierra Nevada Hoptimum from 2014. For fun I opened it up and it still tasted decent. Was certainly drinkable because it was so hoppy to begin with.

Ever drink a can of Coke that's a few years old. Yeah it may taste a little off but it's not going to kill you!
sharkhunter
8 years ago
If it doesn't taste good, I would throw it out if it was long past the expiration.
gawker
8 years ago
If it's been cold it'll probably be drinkable. I just washed a six pack of Sam Adams Pumpkin down the drain. It was 3 years old in my garage and had gone "skunky". Smelled bad; tasted worse.
Corvus
8 years ago
Motorhead, I just have to ask, when you bought that Coors a couple of years ago. Why didn't you buy beer instead?
shadowcat
8 years ago
Not beer but I have a bottle of "Vino Viagro" that a stripper gave me 12 years ago upon returning from the Philippines. It is suppose to be an aphrodisiac but I'm not about to try it now. I just keep it as a conversation piece.
Hugh_G_Rection
8 years ago
While IME is right that it is probably better to drink an IPA while it is fresh for a hoppy taste, I'll go with what Shailynn said. The whole rationale for a heavily hopped, slightly more alcoholic beer was that the English manufactured this beer to survive being shipped in casks to the tropics- India was a colony- in the age of the Clipper ships before the advent of refrigerated holds. This beer has an intrinsically longer shelf life as long as you keep it out of light and keep it cooler- and being in the refrigerator certainly can't hurt it.
Call.Me.Ishmael
8 years ago
I home brew beer, ciders, and meads.

TL;DR: Yes, but it won't kill you.

Beer can go bad or stale, but it takes a long time and/or some sort of exposure to air to make it go rancid to the point that it will make you sick.

The Coronas will go stale before the IPAs because it's a low hop beer.

IPAs are, by definition, beers with higher levels of hops. Hops are a natural preservative. IPA stands for India Pale Ale, dating back from the 19th and early 20th century when the British Empire shipped over-hopped ales to places like India. The extra hops kept the beer from going bad in the barrels during the long journey.
Hugh_G_Rection
8 years ago
^^^^ Totally on point, Ishmael, but we forgot one other factor with the Coronas (and Heinekens for that matter)

Brown bottles filter out light much more effectively than clear glass bottles or green bottles. A major factor you should consider on the shelf life of beer that you buy at a party store....
londonguy
8 years ago
All U.S. beer is bad :-)
Subraman
8 years ago
-->"^^^^ Totally on point, Ishmael, but we forgot one other factor with the Coronas (and Heinekens for that matter)"

We didn't forget, I said it right up at the top in the first few responses. Agree about the hoppiness acting as a preservative, in theory, but the clear bottle is more of a factor, IME. For someone who is at all sensitive to skunkiness, beers like Heineken and Molson come pre-skunked, for exactly this reason.
Subraman
8 years ago
Although I'll also re-snark my earlier comment: I have no idea how to tell if a Corona goes "bad", or is somehow worse than another Corona :) :)
Jascoi
8 years ago
honestly i do not like beer. i much prefer mixed cocktails... especially girl drinks. butt i do drink lots of beer in mexico. for the cost and the amount... i can sip at it and make it last much longer than any other drink. and having a beer at hong kong lets me occupy a table with less hastle especially when it's busy.
dos eques. bohemia. indio. modello negro.
crazyjoe
8 years ago
God is great
Beer is good
And prople are crazy
You must be a member to leave a comment.Join Now
Got something to say?
Start your own discussion