Ok my aunt bought a bottle of Guinness for cooking a couple of years ago and never used it … now she has the same idea of using it again and is wondering if its still good … thanks
If not opened and stored in a cool place, it’ll be fine. I’ve drank beer that was over a decade old, and it was, well, as good as it ever was, given that it was Miller Genuine Draft.
Stranger
My brother made a delightful dark lager which he aged in the bottle for a year. So, such as Guinness is, it is probably still ok.
Well, it’s not Murphy’s, but it’ll do in a pinch.
Stranger
I know you meant to say “in a punch”.
ok thanks …
Stranger, this is going to be the first time I’ve ever disagreed with you about anything, because you know everything about everything except beer, it seems.
Bottle conditioned beer is good indefinitely. Pasteurized, force carbonated beer is not. Most craft brewers put an expiration date on their beer for good reason. That shit expires. 6-8 months is a typical expiration. A couple of years is well beyond expiration.
Guinness Draught is particularly prone to funkiness over time. Extra Stout less so, but pasteurized beer expires. Unlike your typical response, I don’t know why. But I promise you that it’s true.
I personally would just try it. It ain’t gonna kill ya. But it’s likely not to taste “fresh,” at any rate. Most beers are meant to be drunk within 6-8 months, as Jake Jones says. I’ve had expired beer, but not specifically Guinness, and it’s still drinkable, but definitely has a “staleness” about it. It’s noticeable enough for me that I stay away from buying the clearance seasonal beers (like my local beer store will often have, say, the leftover September haul of Oktoberfest beers on sale some time in the spring.)
The main exception to this rule is high gravity, high alcohol beers like imperial stouts or IPAs and barleywines. So far as I know, it really doesn’t matter whether the beer is pasteurized or not. See here for details. But the high alcohol brews generally do well with aging up to about 5 years. And I’ve had low-to-mid alcohol bottle conditioned beers start to taste stale at a year, as well, so it seems to be more a factor of the strength of the beer as to how it puts up with aging.
Actually, some high ABV beers are suitable for cellaring. Last year I enjoyed Dogfish Head 120 in four different vintages, aged in small kegs. The oldest was six year old. They were in the 18-20 %ABV range.
The difference in taste between the different years was extraordinary until I’d had a couple sips of each, at which point I was too drunk to appreciate the subtleties.
If the bottle was exposed to light the beer might be skunked. Riboflavin and one of the chemicals in hops can react when exposed to visible or ultraviolet light to produce a chemical that smells very much like skunk spray. In my experience bottled Guinness always comes in brown bottles. That reduces the risk of skunking compared to clear and green glass, but doesn’t entirely eliminate it. If you do decide to use it, at least smell and taste it before adding it to the recipe.
IPAs generally age very poorly. Stouts and porters, Belgian or farmhouse ales, and barleywines are normally the best candidates.
As for Guinness, it won’t hurt you but I’m not sure it will be good. It’s very low ABV and not a typical aging stout. I would definitely try it, but bring a backup just in case.
To be clear, that should be parsed as imperial [stouts or IPAs]. That is, [imperial stouts] or [imperial IPAs], and not regular IPAs. Dogfish Head 120, as mentioned, is a great example of an IIPA that ages well.
I’ll conceed the point. However, for cooking, I don’t know if it will really make much of a difference.
Stranger
That is strange given that the whole point of IPAs was that they could be shipped from Britan to India and still be good.
That’s actually a bit of beer-making lore. Plenty of beers survived the journey just fine, but they also tended to be high alcohol. One of many sources when you google “IPA myths.”
Served ice cold? Where did they get ice in India? From the Himalayas?
No idea on the ice-cold part, but if you read up about it, the IPA was hardly the only beer able to survive the journey.
Taking 6 months to ship != cellaring for 3+ years.
Most grocery store beers should be drunk within 6 months, regardless of type. Though some do carry fancier beers that can age fine these days, usually in bombers.