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[BigJonsson]

How long after you buy beer does it take for the beer to go bad?

 

[Tommie Hu$tle]

A long time maybe a year or so. Don't ask how I know but, I do.

 

[BigJonsson]

Sweet, so all my leftover beer from my house party in the summer should still be good

 

[Willco]

Forever.

 

[Escape Goat]

Good to the last drop

 

[Tommie Hu$tle]

Sweet, so all my leftover beer from my house party in the summer should still be good

Oh yeah that's still sweet and tasty.

 

[heavy liquid]

Anheuser-Busch, Miller and Coors give their beers between 110 and 140 days on the market before they're supposed to be taken from the shelves. Old beer is supposed to be pulled from the shelves and returned to the brewery, where it is destroyed.

Most small brewers opt for a longer "best-before" period because they lack the turnover of the major players and don't want their beers to seem old based upon a date stamp. To make matters worse, the big guys usually have better bottle fillers than the little guys and pasteurize their beer.

I'd say somewhere around 4 months if it's refrigerated. Take off maybe around a month if it's not.

 

[Tommie Hu$tle]

Anheuser-Busch, Miller and Coors give their beers between 110 and 140 days on the market before they're supposed to be taken from the shelves. Old beer is supposed to be pulled from the shelves and returned to the brewery, where it is destroyed.

Most small brewers opt for a longer "best-before" period because they lack the turnover of the major players and don't want their beers to seem old based upon a date stamp. To make matters worse, the big guys usually have better bottle fillers than the little guys and pasteurize their beer.

I'd say somewhere around 4 months if it's refrigerated. Take off maybe around a month if it's not.

No it's good for WAY longer than that.

 

[Winged Creature]

beer should last you up to a year, mmmmm beer

 

[heavy liquid]

http://www.tastings.com/beer/perishable.html

Freshness period: The drinking window

The length of time it takes for a beer to become stale (a papery note, dulled hop character, or other off flavors) is determined by the alcoholic strength and hopping level of the beer. Both alcohol and hops help preserve beer. Thus hoppier, stronger beers keep for longer. Typically, the freshness period for a lager is four months; for stronger craft-brewed ales, five months. High-gravity, high-strength beers such as doppelbocks typically carry a six- to twelve-month freshness period. All of the preceding assumes proper handling of the beer.

How can you determine the "drinking window" of a beer? It depends on the dating system used by the brewery. Taking a typical example of Boston Beer's Samuel Adams brands, the freshness period is the time between shipment from the brewery and the freshness date, or "consume by" date, marked on the label or capsule. In the case of a beer with a "born on" date (Anheuser-Busch products, for example), the freshness period is approximately four months after the date on the label.

Keep in mind that some beer can be aged. But not your run-of-mill-beers:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/101/store.php

Wine is not the only drink that can be aged for maturation. Many beers benefit from extended aging. We're not talking about your average beer with a mere shelf life of 3-6 months, tops -- before quality begins to degrade. We're talking about beers that beg for maturation and strict storage like vintage beers, barleywines, imperial stouts, Belgian strong ales, lambics, old ales and so on. Ideally, any type of beer that can be laid-down for a year or two, or even more, in order to build a slew of complexities and thus further its character in a positive way.

 

[ConfusingJazz]

Really, the question is, is it beer to be tasted, or beer to get you drunk? And seeing that it was served at a house party, I am banking on the latter. If I am right, go right ahead. If not, there is no point in just throwing it away, try it and see. What would happen, are you going to die from skunky beer?

 

[Malakhov]

Old beer tastes like piss.

 

[Nerevar]

seriously, are you just going to chug it and try and get drunk? It'll probably serve your purpose, but the stuff will taste like absolute shit. Especially if it was piss-beer in the first place. Do yourself a favor and get some more rather than drinking beer that's over half a year old.

 

[BigJonsson]

LOL

And it's not piss-beer