# Does Guinness go bad? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 11, 2013, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-guinness-go-bad/673688 "2013-11-11T23:53:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-guinness-go-bad/673688/1 "2013-11-11T23:53:00Z")
Having supper at D’Arcy McGee’s and orders a Guinness for a cold autumn night. It tasted, well, odd. Can’t quite put my finger on it, but I’m not sure it was Guinness. If it was, it didn’t taste right My second pint tasted better. Can Guinness go bad? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-guinness-go-bad/673688/2 "2013-11-12T00:01:52Z")
Draft, can or bottle? If it was draft, was it on a nitro line? Did they bleed the line enough to get you fresh beer? If it was a bottle or can, was it a widget can or bottle? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-guinness-go-bad/673688/3 "2013-11-12T00:07:18Z")
Server pissed in it because you were being a jerk? I wouldn’t think you would, but adulteration kind of comes to mind for an off-taste. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-guinness-go-bad/673688/4 "2013-11-12T00:14:06Z")
Yes, though it might take awhile. I found a draft can ( the one with the little nitrogen widget ) at the back of my fridge that had expired a couple of years ago. It was not drinkable. I was sad :(. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-guinness-go-bad/673688/5 "2013-11-12T00:30:05Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Draft, can or bottle? > > If it was draft, was it on a nitro line? Did they bleed the line enough to get you fresh beer? > If it was a bottle or can, was it a widget can or bottle? No idea - the server brought it to my table in a pint glass. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-guinness-go-bad/673688/6 "2013-11-12T00:33:31Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Server pissed in it because you were being a jerk? I wouldn’t think you would, but adulteration kind of comes to mind for an off-taste. I don’t think I’ve been jerkish. I realise that such things are subjective, but we seem to have a good customer-server relationship. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-guinness-go-bad/673688/7 "2013-11-12T00:34:34Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > It was not drinkable. I was sad :(. Yet another reason to drink early and often! ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-guinness-go-bad/673688/8 "2013-11-12T02:46:19Z")
Is this a place that serves a lot of Guinness? If not, then it could certainly be old beer, which could taste off. If it is, then it’s possible they have a dirty line or something, which can also cause an off taste. It would be fair to ask if they changed the keg between the two…maybe you got the end of the first keg and the start of a fresh one? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-guinness-go-bad/673688/9 "2013-11-12T04:03:41Z")
I often find I’ve gotten a bad Guinness. If I’ve downed six or seven of them, the seventh or eighth invariably makes me throw up. How they get away with this I’ll never know. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-guinness-go-bad/673688/10 "2013-11-12T06:17:59Z")
I am puzzled. IME, Guinness stout in the UK varies from batch to batch. Guinness served from a tap in the US tastes like dirty socks: I assume it has gone stale. Admittedly, I haven’t tried a Guinness in the US in years, so maybe that’s changed. Isn’t this well known? Serious question. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-guinness-go-bad/673688/11 "2013-11-12T06:40:41Z")
Some would say Guinness does not go bad because it starts out that way … ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-guinness-go-bad/673688/12 "2013-11-12T07:59:26Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Some would say Guinness does not go bad because it starts out that way … And they would be very very wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-guinness-go-bad/673688/13 "2013-11-12T08:16:00Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Yes, though it might take awhile. I found a draft can ( the one with the little nitrogen widget ) at the back of my fridge that had expired a couple of years ago. It was not drinkable. I was sad :(. You keep Guinness in your fridge? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-guinness-go-bad/673688/14 "2013-11-12T08:26:24Z")
It could be a case of the … what do you call those cables it’s pumped through? We’ll call them cables. The cable system could need cleaning. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-guinness-go-bad/673688/15 "2013-11-12T09:36:13Z")
It could also have been a bad barrel. When I worked in an irish pub it happened now and again. How did it taste? Was it sort of watery, with the head just dissapearing after a sort while? Did you tell the bartender about it? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-guinness-go-bad/673688/16 "2013-11-12T12:59:54Z")
I do know that if your bartender manipulates the pour to form a picture in the head, even if it is a shamrock, you are allowed (nay, _encouraged_) to stab him in the neck with a fork. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-guinness-go-bad/673688/17 "2013-11-12T14:37:51Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I do know that if your bartender manipulates the pour to form a picture in the head, even if it is a shamrock, you are allowed (nay, _encouraged_) to stab him in the neck with a fork. I have come across two barmen in London who, on a **very** busy night, took their time to draw shamrocks in Beamish, but not in Guinness. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-guinness-go-bad/673688/18 "2013-11-12T16:58:11Z")
Dirty line is the first thing I thought of as well. There’s one pub in town that’s always the best place to get a Guinness because they keep their lines fastidiously clean. Most other places taste a little off. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-guinness-go-bad/673688/19 "2013-11-12T18:14:27Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > You keep Guinness in your fridge? I’m an _American_ :D. But more seriously, canned Guinness is apparently supposed to be [chilled](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/GuinnessBeer.jpg/450px-GuinnessBeer.jpg). I’ll happily drink room temperature from a tap, but I’ve always stuck the cans in the fridge. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-guinness-go-bad/673688/20 "2013-11-13T00:59:12Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > It could be a case of the … what do you call those cables it’s pumped through? We’ll call them cables. The cable system could need cleaning. Seriously. > [@pravnik](#): > > Dirty line is the first thing I thought of as well. There’s one pub in town that’s always the best place to get a Guinness because they keep their lines fastidiously clean. Most other places taste a little off. I’ve had lots of Brits tell me of the hazards of dirty lines. I was in one British pub here in Bangkok, owned and operated by an Englishman, with an English friend, and my friend ordered a pint of some ale he had been extolling the virtues of. When he tasted it, he made a sour face. Tasted all skunky. Had the owner taste it. The owner made a face and apologized. The line was the culprit turns out. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-guinness-go-bad/673688.md?page=2)