Does Beer Go Bad? We Asked an Expert – gearpatrol.com

Editors Note: Due to COVID-19, many breweries and beer shops have begun selling beer online or allowing for delivery or curbside pick-up. If youre able, support these small, local businesses with an order.

Does beer go bad? We chatted with ABC Beer Co. beer bar owner and Certified Cicerone Zach Mack about everything you need to know to make sure your beer haul stays fresh. Take notes.

Definitely, Mack says. You have to look at it as the freshness of this as something like bread or like a food product because thats what it is.

What does skunked beer taste like? If you dont already know, youve probably encountered it before. Mack describes it as a skunky smell like fresh-cut grass or weed or skunk spray. Basically, rotten beer.

Exposure to heat, air and light essentially, Mack says.

These are the three enemies of fresh beer. In this day-and-age of 16-ounce cans being the preferred vessel, light isnt as much of an issue as it used to be it obviously still is for bottles though.

Hops are photosensitive and theyre also sensitive to air, just like everything that breaks down in beer, Mack says. Even when beer is sealed in a can, and cans are better vessels than bottles, it still has some exposure to air thats going to break down the compounds.

While in-person shopping has decreased drastically, knowing how to spot beer thats expired is crucial. Nine times out of ten, turn the can over and look at the bottom, Mack says. Usually they print right on it the date that it was canned unless stated otherwise. If it just gives you a date and its recent, you can assume thats the canned-on date.

For bottles, especially those from larger breweries, Mack says to check the neck to see if theres a bottled-on date or best-by date. Occasionally its on the bottom of the label, tucked away in the corner near the barcode or the address and information.

Weve all seen those giant stacks of beer cases in supermarkets and grocery stores. Thats a good sign theres going to be some too-old beer there. The big tell is those huge stacks youre inevitably going to be left with a bunch of beer thats old. So if youre ever in a place where theres big stacks of beer, double-check the codes on those because thats a huge tell that theres going to be a good amount of expired beer, Mack says.

Generally speaking, fresher beer is better beer, but some beers lend themselves to aging and some dont at all. Mack says beer styles that rely on hop flavor are the most susceptible to going bad quickly. IPAs are very much the most sensitive style to aging because hops die off exponentially quickly, he says.

Thats because IPAs depend on hops for their flavor, and hops are photosensitive. Because of this, IPAs should typically be drunk within three or four weeks after canning/bottling, maximum. Not only will it taste different as time goes on, but it will also produce some pretty rank off-flavors.

The oxidized taste that people talk about is if youve ever grabbed an IPA thats been in your fridge too long and opened it without realizing, it tastes a lot like paper or cardboard. That oxidized flavor comes right through and its pretty nasty, Mack says.

Beers like bourbon barrel-aged stouts, pilsners, sours all styles not reliant on hops for flavor age gracefully and should stay good long enough to drink.

A simple way to extend the life of your beer: stand it up. If space isnt an issue you should always store your beer upright because that reduces surface area, Mack says. If its flat, it exposes more beer to the surface area and oxygen is going to turn it faster.

While observing social distancing and self-isolation norms is priority, Macks golden rule still holds true: The best thing to do if you have any doubts is to ask. Most of the stores stocking beer thats worth buying fresh will know. A good thing to say is Do you guys have anything you just got in this week that you really like? And most times the staff love that because they can say, Oh yeah. This is brand new and we really like it. Its a quick way to find out what really came through.

Ryan Brower serves as Commerce Editor and also writes about beer and surfing for Gear Patrol. He lives in Brooklyn, loves the ocean and almost always has a film camera handy.

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Does Beer Go Bad? We Asked an Expert - gearpatrol.com