# 11 Year Old Bailey’s Irish Cream - will it kill me? (Don’t need answer fast). **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 29, 2017, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-year-old-bailey-s-irish-cream-will-it-kill-me-don-t-need-answer-fast/803005 "2017-11-29T03:29:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-year-old-bailey-s-irish-cream-will-it-kill-me-don-t-need-answer-fast/803005/21 "2017-11-29T21:54:13Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > How long have you had that? Only 18 months so I think I’m good. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-year-old-bailey-s-irish-cream-will-it-kill-me-don-t-need-answer-fast/803005/22 "2017-11-29T22:14:32Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > [Wikipedia says 24 months shelf-life](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baileys_Irish_Cream#Storage_and_shelf_life). I might go 6 months beyond that, but 11 years? Nope. When in doubt, toss it out. It says they _guarantee the taste_ for 24 months, even without refrigeration. There’s generally a huge margin between “guaranteed flavor” and “unsafe.” I say go ahead and taste it, but I wouldn’t serve it to guests or bring to a party. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-year-old-bailey-s-irish-cream-will-it-kill-me-don-t-need-answer-fast/803005/23 "2017-11-29T22:24:33Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > It says they _guarantee the taste_ for 24 months, even without refrigeration. There’s generally a huge margin between “guaranteed flavor” and “unsafe.” I say go ahead and taste it, but I wouldn’t serve it to guests or bring to a party. Did you even read that? It says “shelf life” of 24 months. What’s your definition of shelf life? ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-year-old-bailey-s-irish-cream-will-it-kill-me-don-t-need-answer-fast/803005/24 "2017-11-29T22:46:15Z")
I can’t find it but I’m pretty sure it was this forum someone had an old bottle of Bailey’s that had turned to a jello. They broke the bottle around it to get a bottle shaped mold out. There were dares to consume some but I don’t think they went through with it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-year-old-bailey-s-irish-cream-will-it-kill-me-don-t-need-answer-fast/803005/25 "2017-11-29T22:58:18Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > I can’t find it but I’m pretty sure it was this forum someone had an old bottle of Bailey’s that had turned to a jello. They broke the bottle around it to get a bottle shaped mold out. There were dares to consume some but I don’t think they went through with it. [Here’s the thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=543663&highlight=Bailey%27s) (And I found it using the link that you had found in a [similar thread 11 years ago.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=626516)) ETA: Oh, and to skip to the good part [here’s a video of the gelatinized bottle of Irish cream](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usvaTD4uQ8g). Now, this bottle was 20 years old, an off-brand, and unrefrigerated, so your results may vary. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-year-old-bailey-s-irish-cream-will-it-kill-me-don-t-need-answer-fast/803005/26 "2017-11-29T23:04:17Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > [Here’s the thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=543663&highlight=Bailey%27s) (And I found it using the link that you had found in a [similar thread 11 years ago.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=626516)) > > ETA: Oh, and to skip to the good part [here’s a video of the gelatinized bottle of Irish cream](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usvaTD4uQ8g). Now, this bottle was 20 years old, an off-brand, and unrefrigerated, so your results may vary. Ha time flies. I guess I blocked out the guy consuming it. gag. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-year-old-bailey-s-irish-cream-will-it-kill-me-don-t-need-answer-fast/803005/27 "2017-11-29T23:06:01Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > (And I found it using the link that you had found in a [similar thread 11 years ago.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=626516)) Not that it matters, but I didn’t edit in time: the thread I found the link in was 6 years ago, in 2011. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-year-old-bailey-s-irish-cream-will-it-kill-me-don-t-need-answer-fast/803005/28 "2017-11-29T23:19:38Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I was gonna say … won’t kill you, but may not be ideal texturally. I had a five or six year old cream liqueur go chunky on me. It wasn’t refrigerated, but it wasn’t opened either. Actually, looks like it was about a 10-year old bottle of Amarula, according to the thread I linked to. (Sometimes it’s nice to have a way to check your memory via posts on the Dope!) It had separated and, according to another contemporary post of mine, soured, too. Both Amarula and Bailey’s are 17% abv and both are cream liqueurs (and eyeballing the nutritional info, seems like similar %ages of cream). So the main difference here is going to be how much refrigeration retards the separation/coagulation process. ---
**Author:** ![andrewm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@andrewm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewm)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-year-old-bailey-s-irish-cream-will-it-kill-me-don-t-need-answer-fast/803005/29 "2017-11-30T03:18:08Z")
I opened a 20 year old bottle last Christmas that we found in the in-laws’ liquor cabinet (sealed, unrefrigerated) and it was garbage. Totally solidified into a chunky sludgy substance. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-year-old-bailey-s-irish-cream-will-it-kill-me-don-t-need-answer-fast/803005/30 "2017-11-30T03:54:49Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I drank a 6-yr-old bottle of Bailey’s a couple years ago that was still perfectly fine. It’s a gamble. I drank a 6-month old bottle of Bailey’s and was definitely NOT fine. It wasn’t a hangover, it was food poisoning. 'twas a gamble, and I literally crapped out. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-year-old-bailey-s-irish-cream-will-it-kill-me-don-t-need-answer-fast/803005/31 "2017-11-30T04:06:02Z")
I’ll give even odds that it won’t even pour. Personally, I’d see if it would pour just to pour it out. And I like Baileys. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-year-old-bailey-s-irish-cream-will-it-kill-me-don-t-need-answer-fast/803005.md?page=1)