How long does it keep really?

[kornkob]

So I recently picked up a big pile of brown Groloch (no-- not groloch-style-- groloch-- says so on the cap and on the side of the bottle) bottles from my Dad. In his basement of doom he had stored these bottles in one corner, against the original foundation furthest from the water heater and furnace. (this basement is a HUGE pile of 'stuff' and contains the body from a 53 dodge pickup, a 20mm gatling gun barrel, a 2 foot diameter camera iris and a 28 inch parabolic mirror among other things---which tells you want an adventure this was) Average temp in the old basement hovers at 60 year round and it is reasonably dry (sandstone foundation blocks---- so it can never be really dry).

In any case, when I got the cases out to the car (used a dolly) and was loading them into the trunk I noticed that at least half of them still have beer in them.

I am reasonably confident that this beer is very old-- Dad hasn't brewed in years. But the beer's presence prompted the question: would drinking the contents be dangerous? I mean, is there anything that this beer could have become or have grown that would present a significant risk if I were to, say, crack open a 2003(or maybe that was 2001-- Pop is starting to forget stuff) stout, pour it off it's sediment and take a pull?

After all, beer is some damn good stuff but I'm not a big fan of hospitals. : )

 

[Genghis77]

According to everything I have read, no pathagens harmful to man can survive in beer. Of course, the contents could be other than beer. Sniff and sip. If all seems okay it should be good.

 

[McCall St. Brewer]

Is this stuff homebrew? I concur with the last post-- if it's beer in there it may or may not taste good any more, but there shouldn't be anything dangerous in it.

 

[david_42]

I had a 1993 homebrew at the last holiday party, granted it was a barley wine, but only tasting will tell. Four or five years in a cool location, dark location. Probably ok.

 

[Dude]

Damn son, you might have discovered a goldmine there!!!!!!!

Imagine if it was a big barleywine or something....mmmm good.

 

[cowain]

yeah, if it's a "real beer" it should not be harmful to you. However, depending on the style of the beer, it might not be tasty anymore. I have a trippel that's been aging for almost two years now.

 

[mpetty]

Like everyone else says, it's a crapshoot.

One of my brewing buddies found a bunch of homebrewing equipment from the 80's in his grandfather's basement. Along with that was about 25 assorted Samuel Adams styles. They all tasted quite bad, especially the Boston Lager.

 

[kornkob]

Yes, cracked one open and discoverd taht hte seal was bad--- bottle of nastiness. What I thought was a stout may not have been-- it appears it was a big bottle of nasty.

Cracked open a different one and the seal was good. Not much head but definately under pressure.


I discovered that my pops had made a mead sometime in the past few years. VERY sweet--- especially at room temp. We'll try another that is a bit cooler tonight.

Incidentally for those folks who don't use labels. Neither did pop-- and now he's got no idea what he gave me. : )

 

[McCall St. Brewer]

How long does canned commericial beer keep? All those Bud "born on date" commericials aside, the stuff is pasteurized and everything, right? I just noticed some Leinenkugel in my fridge at work that's been there for "awhile."

Will it taste really yucky or just really average? It's been refridgerated constantly.

 

[boo boo]

I"ve tasted 2 year old brew that was a bit yeasty but OK. It was most likely yeasty from the get go anyway, but still drinkable. This was made from a canned kit BTW.