keeping beer fresh

Whether you’re a collector of rare beers from around the world, or simply enjoy having your fridge stocked up with Heineken, it’s important to know how long you can keep your beer, how to tell if it’s gone bad, and how to store it, so you can get your money’s worth and enjoy fresh beer every time! 

How Long Can Beer Stay Fresh? 

As you may know, Best Before dates are simply recommendations by manufacturers and breweries so you may enjoy their product the way they intended it to be enjoyed. After that, it’s not that the beer has gone bad – the beer is good in that it is safe to drink – but rather, it may not be as fresh as the breweries would like. 

Generally, unopened beer (canned or bottled) at room temperature can last 6 to 9 months past its ‘expiry’ date. Unopened beer stored cool in the fridge can be drunk up to two years later. 

Needless to say, opened cans and bottles must be drunk within a day or two – but why would you do that? 

What Makes Beer Go Bad?

There are three major elements that can affect the quality of a beer: exposure to light, oxygen, and bacteria. 

Exposure To Light

Ultraviolet rays in sunlight react with the chemical compounds found in beer hops, breaking it down until it looks and smells unpalatable. If you’re an IPA aficionado, look for bottles in dark or opaque glass, or opt for canned beer to preserve the integrity of those precious hops!

Exposure To Oxygen

Oxidation causes the deterioration in quality of… well, almost anything, over time. (Basically, aging.) When beer comes into contact with oxygen, its taste and aroma can change — from stale flavours reminiscent of cardboard to that of a buttery mouthfeel, or, if you’re lucky, a touch of sherry or caramel in malt-forward beers.

Exposure To Bacteria

While brewers do everything within their means to minimize contamination, it is a fact of life that all things must decay.

Thankfully, alcohol is a natural preservative, and microbes can’t survive in liquids with high alcohol content — so if you like your beers strong, you’re in luck! Keeping your beer chilled also helps to slow down the life cycle of these microorganisms. 

How Do You Know Your Beer Has Gone Bad? 

First, look out for signs of mishandling or improper storage, such as dust, discoloured labels, and, for bottled beer, seepage around the cap. If the bottle is clear enough, you might even see a change in colour of the beer from when you originally purchased it, and sediments at the bottom. 

If, on popping open the beer, it lacks the familiar sizzle of a carbonated beverage, that’s your next clue. The other obvious indicator would be the lack of creamy white foam rising to a head on first pour. 

How Can You Extend A Beer’s Shelf Life? 

Storage

Beer should be placed upright to decelerate the oxidation process and prevent contamination through the cap. 

Beer should also be refrigerated, especially if it was purchased chilled — a change in temperature, from hot to cold or vice versa, is bad for beer. As mentioned, chilling the beer also delays its oxidation process, and the life cycle of microbes.

Alternatively, store your beer in a cool, dark place at a constant temperature. 

A Note On Freezing

As beer is highly carbonated, your bottle or can would first have to survive freezing without exploding. And even if it does, if enough pressure builds up such that the cap becomes loose, air leaks would lead to flat beer. Finally, defrosting the beer for consumption later may also dilute the beer and cause it to go flat.

Packaging

To better block out sunlight, purchase beer in opaque or dark-coloured bottles, or cans. 

To seal out oxygen, cans may be preferred, although beer cannot be packaged without trace amounts of oxygen, and oxidation occurs in canned beer as well. Your best bet would be to keep the beer cool instead.

A Note On Corked Beer Bottles 

Corked beer bottles are meant to prevent the susceptibility of air leakage in the usual beer bottle by creating a very tight seal when the cork expands to fill the bottle neck. While beer should be chilled, the conditions in the fridge are very dry. This causes the cork to shrink, breaking the seal and allowing oxygen and bacteria to creep in. 

Thus, corked beers should be stored upright in a dedicated beer fridge at 13 degrees celsius, a warm enough temperature to provide humidity for the cork. 

Fresh Beers At Your Doorstep

Now that you know how to care for your beer, go ahead and enjoy the bulk purchases of bottles or cans of beer, from Asahi Super Dry, Carlsberg, Budweiser, Hoegaarden, Erdinger and Heineken — at reduced prices courtesy of our CNY warehouse sale (till 28th Feb). Enjoy your post Chinese New Year celebrations with Cellarbration, your preferred beer delivery service (free delivery for all orders $99 and above).