Beer expiry date question

[Stylo]

Just got home and there's 2 dozen plus stubbies sitting by the rubbish bins, unopened and looking like they're ready to be thrown out.

Heineken, Steinlager, DB Export you name it. Asked my missus, she says she's been cleaning out the fridge at her work and they all need to be thrown out because they're 'dated' some of them going back to 2010. I'm struggling with throwing them out. Opened one dated 2010 and it tasted perfect. Had another and it tasted the same.

Just counted I have 29 assorted stubbies ready for the bin. I can't throw them out, can I ?

[bgd]

Just drink them. If it tastes off bin it. I'm working through some pretty old stock and so far haven't found anything off. Actually I think some of them taste better with age.

Use a glass, that way you can check appearance before the taste test.

[cs363]

No. It's your duty to drink them. :yes:

I think the fact that they've been in a fridge for most of that time is a plus as I understand quality is affected by both temperature and light.
As bgd says above, use a glass so you can check appearance if you're worried.

[Tazz]

Yeah glass them first.
I had 20 year old cupboard beer once, never again. Ever.

Where is she working that beers can sit idle in the fridge for 6-7 years! It's an outrage!

[Laava]

Yes they will go off! You need to drink them all and quickly before that happens!

[Tazz]

Yes they will go off! You need to drink them all and quickly before that happens!


http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR9VOxVBn__5l2NrtR2kSBPj-h7d4GMcChJRPV9rvbcj6B13LbcZA

[FJRider]

If you have doubts ... drink a dozen or so "Fresh" ones first. Then proceed with disposing of the "Old" ones ...

Any taste difference won't be then noticed ...

[Oakie]

Having worked in the 'Food and Beverage' industry a while back I can safely say ... biff them. The only use bottled beer of that age could be is to throw them at the neighbour's dog when he craps on your lawn.

[WNJ]

Just drink them they should be ok

[Genie]

How can one throw away beer?

Waste not want not!

[nodrog]

why does your wife dispose of work rubbish at home?

[FJRider]

why does your wife dispose of work rubbish at home?

She brought it home because she knows he likes a beer ...


and ...


He has good health/Life insurance.

[ruaphu]

Fark been there with three year out of date stienies, no issues. None looked bad, all poured well, smelt the same, nice in clear still tasted the same.................., like chite.

See no issues. Go forth, be a man, lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Murray]

Having worked in the 'Food and Beverage' industry a while back I can safely say ... biff them. The only use bottled beer of that age could be is to throw them at the neighbour's dog when he craps on your lawn.

Having worked in industry for a long time - the date is a "Best Before" date which not many people seem to understand these days.

Should be fine but perhaps not as good as it possibly could be and will get worse over longer time, but will not do any damage.

It is not a "use by" date which generally means there could be bad consequences.


Amazing how many people complain if a room has a bag of chips or a chocolate in the mini bar with a past Best Before date, as if its going to kill them like..

[FJRider]

Having worked in industry for a long time - the date is a "Best Before" date which not many people seem to understand these days.



Having drunk a few varieties of beers over the years ... some weren't that great to start with ... :scratch:


Many are of the opinion ... beer drinkers have no taste ... that's (apparently) why they drink beer and not wine ... :pinch:

[willytheekid]

:shit:

https://www.govloop.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Stop.png


...now step away from the beer
...ring a courier immediately, and send that suspect beer to me, for testing!:shifty:


Im JUST thinking of your safety mate :innocent:





:drool:...god I hope this works

[awayatc]

Having worked in the 'Food and Beverage' industry a while back I can safely say ... biff them. The only use bottled beer of that age could be is to throw them at the neighbour's dog when he craps on your lawn.

how enlightening.....
you can safely say....? How...?

bollocks!

nothing new introduced into the bottle after a certain date,
all that happens is oxidation,
which is easy to spot, even if you dont work "in the industry"
colour change, bad smell and beer gone stale...
beer stored cool and dark keeps well after date...
enjoy!
dates are very conservative

[Tazz]

Having worked in the 'Food and Beverage' industry a while back I can safely say ... biff them. The only use bottled beer of that age could be is to throw them at the neighbour's dog when he craps on your lawn.

Should be right if they were sitting in the fridge all that time though shirley.

I used to always carry 'emergency' beers in the car and if one or two escaped into hiding places they were shot well before the use by due to rolling around and the heat, but anything I'd had past that from the fridge is fine.

Some of the best buys are just to get you to by more, or as mentioned the product is just not at its peak anymore, but beer definitely does go bad in the wrong conditions. Tried to down a bottle of 15 year past it's prime DB as a bet when boarding. Had just been sitting in a cupboard with rust on the bottom of the bottle cap and a good amount of floaters to sieve with your teeth. Couldn't finish it. Just as well, was probably actual poison by that stage.

[Oakie]

how enlightening.....
you can safely say....? How...?

bollocks!

nothing new introduced into the bottle after a certain date,
all that happens is oxidation,
which is easy to spot, even if you dont work "in the industry"
colour change, bad smell and beer gone stale...
beer stored cool and dark keeps well after date...
enjoy!
dates are very conservative

According to OP, these were 'best before' some date in 2010 so the beer could be 6 years old. I think standard best before dating is something like 6 to 9 months after bottling and yes, of course there is a generous margin for error ... probably an extra 6 months in reality but I don't know. Now if there is a good seal on it (preferably not screw cap) and it's been kept in a contolled darkish climate (like a fridge) for a bit past the 'Best Before' date then no worries. Five or six years sitting on a shelf though and bad things may have happened.

edit: Actuallly I'd be really intereseted to hear OP's thoughts on it if he does try a few.

[awayatc]

Reread first post.....

op did open a few......

[Tazz]

No sign of him for a few days, best case scenario?:


http://www.kbear.fm/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/beer-in-bathtub2.jpg

[p.dath]

There really is only one way to find out if they are all good or not ...

[husaberg]

Having worked in industry for a long time - the date is a "Best Before" date which not many people seem to understand these days.

Should be fine but perhaps not as good as it possibly could be and will get worse over longer time, but will not do any damage.

It is not a "use by" date which generally means there could be bad consequences.


Amazing how many people complain if a room has a bag of chips or a chocolate in the mini bar with a past Best Before date, as if its going to kill them like..

Funny enough where i worked we had to dispose of (I probably shouldn't say how much but enough to kill a certainly stupefy every human inhabitant a small city) of tranquilizer
Which was combination of Xylazine and Ketamine (yes that stuff)
The reason we had to get rid of it was because it had no expiry date.
We were assured by everyone including the manufactures that it was still effective but because we could not fill in the forms stating its expiry it had to go.
I would hate to think of the cost and the new stuff likely needs replacing every 10 years.
The irony was what it was to be used for because it would not have mattered whether it was 100% effective or dangerous or not.
Often expiry dates are just an arbitrary date plucked out of the sky.
Shit we used to eat WW2 ration packs on camps I think people still do.

[awayatc]

Just a yarn...

when gulf war 1 was on the verge of being bestowed upon us by old man Bush,
I happened to be in the Gulf myself.....
Eventhough alcohol is frowned upon by Arabs overall (hard to tell at times through ever present forms of headgear)..
The more enlightened United Emirates have enclaves in which you can buy beer.
I happened to be in one if these free havens, catering for Gulf shipping and visiting infidels....
Because of the pending war, western shipping was pretty much non existent.(insurance didnt want to cover anymore of course...)
As a result the stocks of normally expensive European beers were going to run past their best before dates before the infidels would return.
So when I wandered past one such outlet, being very obvious of non ragtop variety, I was immediately accosted by shop owner:
Could I please, please take some of this soon to be out if date stock of his hands...?
And so it came , In the spirit of multi cultural help and understanding, that I staggered back shipbound with a disproportional large amount of Amstel, Stella, Heineken and assorted German beers..
I worked up a thirst just lugging them around.....
but how could I say no to us $5 per 24 can slab.....?

I dare say that my memories of the outbreak of that war a few days later are a bit fuzzy and unclear...
I distinctly remember awsome fireworks displays and helicopters hovering above the deck, jolly good show it was
way better then mark 2.....

[F5 Dave]

A friends wife is a big co brewery chemist. Induction was trying beer of different ages. She could pick the old ones. Refrigeration she was not scared of but light was bad. Of course many packs are open with light bottles and stored in bright supermarket fridges.

Its a taste not a safety thing. If you like it drink it. I'm picky which isn't necessarily a good thing.

[FLUB]

Amazing how many people complain if a room has a bag of chips or a chocolate in the mini bar with a past Best Before date, as if its going to kill them like..

At mini bar prices I'd expect those chips or chocolates to have been hand made, packed and delivered that same day 😀

[FJRider]

Fark been there with three year out of date stienies,

Shit beer can't get any worse ... if it did ... how could you tell .. :calm:

[F5 Dave]

It'd probably give you a terrible hangover. Oh. Right.

[husaberg]

I can remember people going on about Carona going stale, as it was in clear bottles and took so long to ship here. They used to say that's why they served it with lemon in it.
I doubt If I could taste if it was off it always tasted like cat piss to me.

[awa355]

Compared with the amount of expired medications kept in most homes that keep getting wheeled out, I doubt that a couple of expired beers could do much harm. To be honest, I cant ever remember looking for a expiry date on a beer can.

[husaberg]

Compared with the amount of expired medications kept in most homes that keep getting wheeled out, I doubt that a couple of expired beers could do much harm. To be honest, I cant ever remember looking for a expiry date on a beer can.

Trust me a beer which is bad you will know straight away it literally smells like shit.
methyl mercaptan the thing that makes shit and farts smell like shit.
Is what is produced when hops degrade. I think its from sunlight though not age.

[AllanB]

Listen up - this is an opportunity to shower with your wife.

Have her read this article and offer to assist her.


https://www.truthinaging.com/review/how-can-beer-help-your-hair

[F5 Dave]

Well I learnt something. Commercial beers are loaded with chemicals so its better not to be putting then in your body let alone your hair. At which point it rendered said article as crackpot which it was already sounding.

Anyway, isn't the approved method to open the door or curtain, clearly drunk shouting Sausagetime!

[Murray]

At mini bar prices I'd expect those chips or chocolates to have been hand made, packed and delivered that same day 😀

the only reason prices are so high is the number of dishonest people we have - Its not worth chasing a chocolate bar, or bag of chips, coke etc and there is also the cost of replacing best before prices. You would be surprised the number of bottles with water,tea (something else), holes in bottom of cans etc etc. Try charging a credit card and they will deny and there are more paying by eftpos who just leave with a "no nothing" and even the better ones are travelling with kids "no nothing used" and all fizzy, chips and chocolate are gone. When chased up "No Johnny said he didnt have it and he wouldnt lie - are you saying my child is a liar"

[FJRider]

Well I learnt something. Commercial beers are loaded with chemicals so its better not to be putting then in your body let alone your hair. At which point it rendered said article as crackpot which it was already sounding.

Anyway, isn't the approved method to open the door or curtain, clearly drunk shouting Sausagetime!

Only % of alcomahol is important. The rest is just "Flavour" ... :shifty:

[Ixion]

Meh, I just drank a bottle of Speights Old Dark with an expiry of June 2008, which I found inside the gargre wall ( it's a long story) . I left the last inch in the bottle , which was pretty sedimented, but the rest was all good. Y'r bikers, beer's beer, stop being so emo and Nancy boy and drink it up.

[Oakie]

Meh, I just drank a bottle of Speights Old Dark with an expiry of June 2008, which I found inside the gargre wall ( it's a long story) . I left the last inch in the bottle , which was pretty sedimented, but the rest was all good. Y'r bikers, beer's beer, stop being so emo and Nancy boy and drink it up.

Good God! Haven't heard from you for years. Thought you must have gone to live in a cave or something.

[Stylo]

I had a good look at the bottles today I mentioned that had been left by the bin in my opening post, here we go,

Turns out some of them were 'dated' back to 2005 and, they hadn't been left in a fridge as I wrongly stated but rather they had been in a cupboard, same thing but not as cold but still more open to the changes of temperature.

Heinekens and Steinlagers, all dated around 09/10 = full of floaters ... Binned - what a
shame.

The 'rubbish' beer left was DB Export and Tui's , checked a DB Export with a date of 05 ( ten years old) today and , 'Gulp' took the top off and, smelt alright so I finished it off then had another, not bad but not the best.

The bad news is I forgot that the shops weren't open today so I didn't buy any beer yesterday, good news is I still have a few bottles of 10 year old beer to sample so I'll keep going , isn't that what you would do ?

[Oakie]

"that man deserves a (fresh) DB".

You will get someone to let us know if you die horribly in the night won't you?

[husaberg]

I had a good look at the bottles today I mentioned that had been left by the bin in my opening post, here we go,

Turns out some of them were 'dated' back to 2005 and, they hadn't been left in a fridge as I wrongly stated but rather they had been in a cupboard, same thing but not as cold but still more open to the changes of temperature.

Heinekens and Steinlagers, all dated around 09/10 = full of floaters ... Binned - what a
shame.

The 'rubbish' beer left was DB Export and Tui's , checked a DB Export with a date of 05 ( ten years old) today and , 'Gulp' took the top off and, smelt alright so I finished it off then had another, not bad but not the best.

The bad news is I forgot that the shops weren't open today so I didn't buy any beer yesterday, good news is I still have a few bottles of 10 year old beer to sample so I'll keep going , isn't that what you would do ?

I was thinking if this was to be a scientific test it needs some more rigous protocols
maybe a blind test where you buy a dozen of each and get blindfolded drink them at random and see if you can pick out the old beer from the other twelve. (just for science)

[Berries]

Anyway, isn't the approved method to open the door or curtain, clearly drunk shouting Sausagetime!
Not on Air New Zealand.



DAMHIK

[Waihou Thumper]

Trust me a beer which is bad you will know straight away it literally smells like shit.
methyl mercaptan the thing that makes shit and farts smell like shit.
Is what is produced when hops degrade. I think its from sunlight though not age.

Methanol and Hydrogen Sulphide? = Methanethiol by-product
Like after eating asparagus....
We all produce the chemical but not all smell the 'asparagus pee' :)

[F5 Dave]

. . .

Heinekens and Steinlagers, all dated around 09/10 = full of floaters ... Binned - what a
shame.



The bad news is I forgot that the shops weren't open today so I didn't buy any beer yesterday, good news is I still have a few bottles of 10 year old beer to sample so I'll keep going , isn't that what you would do ?
They would have been the first to go. Worst hangover beer ever. Then the Tui would be binned. The Export is an emergency beer.