I’m not much of a beer drinker, but when I do drink beer the only thing I will touch is Guinness.
Once, Baglady thought she was being nice (she was) and brought me home 12 bottles of Guinness from the grocery store. Unfortunately I don’t drink alchohol at home (unless we are hosting a party or something). So the beer has just been sitting in a corner of the kitchen.
I was thinking that Demo’s BBQ tomorrow might be a good way to get some of it consumed. But then I realized just how long those bottles have been sitting in that corner. 14 months. According to the code on the label the beer was bottled 4/26/99.
So my question is: Is this beer still any good (ignoring the questionable nature of drinking Guiness out of a bottle)?
It’s probably fine. Beer manufacturers are obliged by law to print an expiry date, because well, it’s a food group, right
However, I’ve had many an expired beer in my day. One of my favourite beer taverns in my old hometown of Maastricht specialised in keeping beers in his cellar to let them “ripe”. I’ve had beers that were 6 years over their date.
A Guinness is not the sort of beer to “ripe” with age, but then again, the 16 months your Guinness is overdue won’t affect the taste much.
It should be grand. I’ve drank a lot of out of date Guinness and never had any problems.
Just as an aside , it’s a lovely calm night here and Guinness’s are currently brewing and you can smell it all over the city . I really love this smell .
Ahhhh… the smell of the Brewery! I used to live near the Ridder brewery in Maastricht, and I could actually tell from the smell what beer they were brewing that day (they had a few special beers, like the very distinguished smelling White Beer “Wieckse Witte”).
Drink up, obfu. The Paddy said it’s OK, and he knows his stuff
I don’t think that time should seriously affect the quality, given that this is a commercial product, produced under strict sanitation procedures. My husband does quite a bit of home brewing. Sometimes, an old bottle will get opened which has been contaminated. It will bubble all over the place in an obvious manner. However, the older (uncontaminated) bottles tend to get better as they get older. My advice: if it foams all over the place; throw it out. If it doesn’t, it’s still good, and possibly better.
It will not have been improved by the aging, but most Guinness is so skunky by the time it gets over here that it makes no difference. I think they dump old stout on dumb Americans who don’t know any better.
No, most beer gets real nasty after sitting around that long, especially if it wasn’t refrigerated. Give it to some dumbf**k you don’t like.
Get another 12 pack – a fresh one, so you can compare them. At best you’ll have a full case. At worst, if the original 12 suck, at least you’ll have the new stuff.
An aside to the OP, but related to the current discussion:
Coopers Brewery, located in Adelaide, South Australia, last year released a collector’s production run of vintage lager. Only a relatively small quantity was made, which sold at three times the price of their regular beer varieties.
Coopers made excellent publicity out of the event, even getting covergae at the end of TV news bulletins, instead of the obligatory animal story.
The vintage beer had been aged a little, and was sold with a label that touted its “excellent cellaring qualities”, as well as its superior flavours. I haven’t been lucky enough to sample any, but I am reliably informed that it is seriously good.
Clearly, they built this stuff to last. I believe them - Coopers, IMHO, make the best tasting beers in Australia, as well as a range of phenomenally successful home brewing kits and ingredients, that taste just as nice as their commercial product.
The vintage beer must have been good. Even at $60 for two dozen stubbies, the whole production run sold out within days of its release, as have the subsequent two runs.
you’re shitting me, 60 big ones for half a case?? From a bottle shop?? $5 a beer?? Are we talking Aussie dollars, or did you convert to US for the majority here?? Either way, that would have been amazing piss…
And, trust me, Guiness does not go off.* Drink one of them, and if you get sick, send the rest to me. About 18 months ago, I made some homebrew stout. Last night I found an unopened bottle, drank it and apart from the pink elephants I felt no ill effect.
*Actually, it does. Like a frog in a sock. But only a few people will know what this means…
Mate, I said two dozen stubbies, ie a whole case. That makes each beer worth $2.50, and I was quoting Aussie dollars in this instance.
Although the price sounds inflated, just think about how much the wine enthusiasts pay for Grange Hermitage. As for me, I’ll stick to something more affordable when I drink red wine, like Jacobs Creek for example. The same goes for my beer drinking.
A beer thread and now we have three Australians in it. Heh.
Coopers beer particularly the Red (sparkling ale) does improve with age, but I believe the beer mentioned is the Hahn Millenium Ale. I’ve seen it for about A$12 for a single longneck (750 mls). They have just released another “vintage”. As yet, I’ve thought it too pricey to sample.
While we mentioning Grange, I remember reading about a Grange Maintenance Day that was held by the Penfolds Winery as a free service to all Grange collectors.
The idea was that they could take their precious bottles along and have them inspected by the experts. Rebottling, recorking, relabelling etc, was all part of the grtitiude shown for being loyal to the product.
Penfolds also had available samples from every Grange vintage produced, so that one could have a sample of one’s own investment, without having to open a precious bottle of one’s own stock.
Apparently, many owners of more elderly vintages were rather dismayed that what they had invested hundreds or thousands of dollars in, was very ordinary indeed.
It seems that standards of excellence in Australian wine making have come a long way in a few years. Hence the Jacobs Creek we buy today could hold its own against a Hermitage from 30-40 years ago.
No wonder the French stopped us from using their regional names like bordeaux, champagne and burgundy. We probably do it better than them as well!
fuck yeah. My dad for his 1st wedding aniversary to my step mum opened a bottle of 30 yr old stuff he bought when he was 20. I had a glass and immediately brought out some JC bought that evening from the local Liqourland. No prizes for guessing which was more popular…
