Can beer go bad?
How can you tell if it does?
All your questions, answered by a Master Cicerone.
Photo: Getty Images
But when it comes to beer, how can you tell if it’s past its prime?
To answer these questions, we turned toNeil Witte.
He also ownsCraft Quality Solutions, a specialized draft beer company based in Kansas City, Missouri.
With over two decades in the beer business, Witte knows what to look for in beer.
So we asked him: Can beer go bad?
His short answer is yeskind of.
What’s the Shelf Life of Beer?
However, Witte explains, different beers can have different shelf lives.
Certain high-alcohol, malt-forward styles are sometimes brewed with aging in mind.
This is especially true for hop-heavy styles, like India pale ales (IPAs).
It’s not always easy.
“There’s no health risk in drinking old beer.”
First, check the expiration date (if it’s on the packaging).
Finally, attempt to verify your storage area is as dark as possible.
While light doesn’t “age” beer, Witte notes it does have a negative effect on it.
“It turns into a compound that smells almost identical to that of a skunk,” he says.
This phenomenon, called lightstruck, can happen in any beer.
However, Witte advises, the best way to avoid this is simple.
Just keep beer out of sunlight and look for certain packaging that keeps light out as well.
“Brown glass does the best job of blocking UV light.
It doesn’t block 100% of it, but it blocks almost all of it.
Green glass and clear glass, on the other hand, basically provide no protection.”
There are plenty of popular beers that use clear and green glass bottles and lean into lightstruck flavors.
When that’s the brewer’s intent, “there’s nothing wrong with that,” says Witte.
