I found a bottle of beer in the back of my refrigerator that must be at least a year old. Is it still good or did it turn into toxic chemicals?
How long will a sealed bottle of beer be good in the fridge?
- Thread starter Extra Point
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It's not toxic, but it might be stale. Taste it, and if it tastes good, drink it. But if it tastes bad, dump it.
Hop flavor and bitterness fades over time, so if it is an ipanor something else hoppy, it will taste quite different than if it were fresh.
Besides that though, it should be fine. Beers worst enemy is light and since it was in the fridge, no problem.
Besides that though, it should be fine. Beers worst enemy is light and since it was in the fridge, no problem.
I was told the lighter the beer, the faster it skunks. Don't know if it's true but the guy who told me is in the business fwiw.
Depends on the style. Some beers like IPAs are meant to drink soon after bottling. Other beers, especially a barrel aged stout, a barelywine or a funky/sour beer you can actually age for years.
Beer does not go bad in the sense that it will make you sick, etc. As already mentioned, hop flavors change over time so a hoppy beer (e.g., IPA) is best when drank fresh. Wheat beers are also best fresh. However, stoudts, barleywines and the like often improve with age.
3/3/3 rule. 3 hours room temperature, 3 days fridge, 3 months freezer. Or maybe that's breast milk?
Higher alcohol beers also improve with age - have some 15% dopplebock in the basement that I open one large bottle each year, and it's gotten better each year. Also have some 18% stout that's also been great a year or more later.
Light and heat are enemies to beer. In the back of the fridge for that long should have been fine (hops comments noted above - I don't generally drink hoppy beers, so that's not something I usually encounter).
Light and heat are enemies to beer. In the back of the fridge for that long should have been fine (hops comments noted above - I don't generally drink hoppy beers, so that's not something I usually encounter).
Interesting. I thought the whole purpose of heavily hopped IPAs is that they could survive the long voyage to India.
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Compared to other beers in the mid-1800's. Hoppy beers do not go bad with age, they just don't taste the same, i.e., hoppy.
Yes, it is so they would arrive with any flavor at all. The low-hopped beers arrived nearly tasteless, from what I understand.
Of course, the super-hop craft beers we have today go waaay beyond those original IPAs, and a palate has developed within a segment of the craft beer consumer base that's looking for the biggest, baddest, hoppiest beers possible.
Personally, all the power to you folks who go in for that - more beer for you, since I won't be taking any. :) On the flip side, I'll be happy to take any high ABV, malt-bomb beers loaded with residual sugars off your hands.
The fridge isn't really an ideal place to be aging beers. They age slower in colder temperatures, so if you want it to develop I suggest putting it in a cabinet or closet or something like that.
Beer only skunks when exposed to light. The flavors will change over time, possibly for the better or for worse depending on the style, but it won't skunk from being in the fridge. "Skunk" has become a commonly misused word, people use it to describe any unwanted change in a beer's taste, but it really only refers to a negative reaction resulting from the hops being exposed to light.
That was the original purpose as the increased amount of hops was intended as a preservative. That isn't necessary anymore with today's technology of course, but IPAs are still made, however with the intent of being consumed as fresh as possible to get the most out of the hops.
To answer the OP, beer isn't perishable, it just might not taste the way you want it to if it is old, depending on the style. This is a great source for learning about beer : http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/101/
I'm with you here. I'm not a fan of overhopped beers and I think the drive to make everything as hoppy as possible is threatening to ruin the craft beer market. Too many small brewers have switched their capacity to overhopped beers and scaled back on more balanced ales.
I can't even read reviews in Beer Advocate anymore. Every low-hop session beer is downrated as flavorless by hopheads whose palates have been ruined so they can no longer taste the subtleties in low-hop beers.
Good thing you drank it I would have had to go to Mods to have you expelled from rutgersfan.
Wise choice young man!!
Wise choice young man!!
Still trying to figure out the OP's dilemma:
Cold Beer in frig...too afraid to open it and taste it?
This might be the first case of "Cold Beer-phobia"
Yeah, remove all doubt and just throw it away without opening it.
Cold Beer in frig...too afraid to open it and taste it?
This might be the first case of "Cold Beer-phobia"
Yeah, remove all doubt and just throw it away without opening it.
No adverse effects from my aged beer. Thanks guys. Who knew beer was so complicated.
