Expired Beer?

Question

I have some Mich Ultra that "expired" back in Sept. 2005. Are they still safe to drink? Would they taste okay if they are safe to drink?

If they aren't safe to drink, is there anything I can do with them? Fertilize my lawn? I feel guilty for wasting them.

FYI...it's been sitting around in my fridge because I don't drink the stuff. I'm a Guinness and Harp's kinda girl. I bought it for some friends who helped me move into my house, but they barely touched it. And I really rarely drink.

Answer 1

Time-expired beer does not make you sick, but the flavour may have changed and turned bread-like.

Answer 2

I assume (since it's Mich Ultra) that these are bottles, not cans, you're talking about. Bottled beers will retain their original flavor, and characteristics, for much longer than canned beers.

Has your beer been kept in the fridge this whole time? Or at least, in a cool place, with a fairly steady temperature? If it has been exposed to temperature variances, OR if it has been moved around alot, it probably has lost some of it's carbonation. Even the best seal around a bottle cap will allow some carbon dioxide to escape, ESPECIALLY is the bottle is agitated, or allowed to get too warm.

My advice would be: put one into the fridge for a few hours. When it's good and cold, have a few friends try it (pour off small amounts into shot glasses). If the general consensus is favorable, then go ahead and drink it. If everyone thinks it tastes too flat, then discard it. In either case, they can't hurt you (unless, of course, you drink enough to do something stupid!).

As for disposing of the beer, if you decide not to drink it...you can use the beer as an ingredient in lots of recipes (flatness won't matter). There are recipes for stews, corned beef, chili, roasts that call for beer. There are also countless marinades that you can mix up using beer and other ingredients. I'm also told that beer can be used as a rinse for your hair (it makes your hair shine, or something).

I hate to see beer go to waste, too!

Answer 3

Definitely safe to drink. All mass produced beer is pasteurized. Expiration dates were started by Sam Adams as a type of marketing ploy. Enjoy your beer! Only true beer aficionados would be able to notice any flavor difference between fresh and slightly expired beer.

Answer 4

Bud products are dated for freshness that date is there to let you know how old the beer is. After 120 days of the born on date it has lost its freshness which means its skunky. Don't drink it, don't clean with it, find a hobo and give it to him he'll drink it, or just throw it away..

Answer 5

By all means I would NOT advise that u drink it! I have worked in a Bar before & ALL expired beer was disposed of immediently.

If u wanna make use of it though, its rumoured that Beer is great for cleaning silverware.

Answer 6

They'll still be fine. The Best By date is a government and business health convention, and even though they put it on beer it's pointless because a bottle or can of beer will last for years

Answer 7

GEEZE! I wish I could keep beer around my house for that long. Most of my stuff gets downed even before its "born on" date...

But as Charles Papazian sez in "Joy of Home Brewing", no known pathogens grow in beer. (Yeast and alcohol prevent bacterial growth)

If you don't want to drink it, then I suggest using it to make bread or as a base for a marinade.

Answer 8

Before you "kids" were born we never had expiration dates on anything and we used to eat and drink stuff that had been hanging around. If you don't fancy drinking it, pass it this way.

Otherwise use it on your hair will make it shiny.

Answer 9

there is absolutely no toxicity in expired beer.

beer has an expiration date because the manufacturer has put one on it, and wants you to drink the best possible (fresh) product, i.e., fizzy, not flat, and not skunky. once the date expires, the manufacture hopes you will throw it away and buy more.

you can use "expired" beer in cooking, marinades, beer can chicken, cooking roasts, etc.

Answer 10

Don't drink them. Make a mix with 1 cupa ammonia, 1 cup dish soap and one beer. Put it in a hose end container and water your lawn with it. I have the greenest lawn in my neighborhood.