Glenn_R

Whilst going thru the cupboards the other day I found a bottle of beer I brought back from Holland ages ago. The use by date on it was 12/00!!

Will it be ok to drink? And more importantly will it be now strong enough that I get legless on 1/2 pint??

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

What kind of beer?

Most beers are pasteurised and then bottled, so they're dead - they'll last a while in the bottle but will eventually just go off like any other food. I doubt it'll kill you, but you may do as well to miss out the middle man and pour it straight down the bog

If it's got some sediment in it, though, then it's a 'bottle conditioned' beer, and will have been undergoing a slow secondary fermentation for a while at least. By now it too may be fit only for unblocking drains - but some beers (the strongest ones especially) do last that sort of time and are even improved by age. I have a couple of '88 bottles of Thomas Hardy's Ale (12%) in the cupboard which should be about fit to drink by now!

Glenn_R

It's a bottle of Leffe. Just hate to see beer going to waste

Chip

Isnt that the Belgian stuff that looks like pi$$ anyway.

Drink it, it wont hurt you.

Chip

Glenn_R

LOL! Chip, u r right - I probably wont notice the difference

unclebuck

Probably be stronger than it usually would be - then it'll give you the ****s.

UB

GarethE

iTrader: (1)

Drink it sat on the bog, that way any problems and you're already in the right place

DEEDEE

WIND I would say WIND you will blow for ENGLAND

dpb

..Depends how desperate you r i should think .......cant see how it would get any stronger

Chip

Cos its still fermenting in the bottle.

Chip.

dpb

what is there in there still to do the fermentin - and where does the oxygen come from

GC8

If its clear its OK; I went on a beer run in 1997 and went silly; gave the remainder away in 2001 3yrs over its use by date and all bar about 5 bottles were fine.

Simon

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Have a taster

if it's flat or tastes crap then bin it, otherwise drink it

A sell by has never stopped me before (he say's whilst eating a fruit corner 1 week after its use by date )

Dream Weaver

They are only £1.30 at Asda though.

Leffe is a great beer!!

sillysi

I work in a Brewery Bottled beer should be OK up to 6 months after it's sell by date.

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Save it and give it to a relative you don't like next time they're round

fast bloke

How is it suppposed to know it has gone off

Vette_76

When I worked in a pub, me and another barman got a load of bottles of Kronenberg for free one evening - 'cos they were out of date (by varying periods of time).

The stuff up to a year old was perfectly fine, some of the older bottles (about 3 years old) were a little cloudy, but we drank 'em anyway (never could say no to free beer!!)

Cloudy ones had a weird after-taste, but weren't too bad, although my perception of good and bad is probably a little sketchy after 12 bottles of lager!!

NACRO

quote: "and where does the oxygen come from"

Ever heard of anaerobic respiration?


In this case it's irrelevant anyway as Leffe is a mass produced pasteurised product, albeit a better than normal one. So it won't have got stronger, it may have gone flat and gone off however.

In the interests of health and safety I'd like to point out that it's possible to get food poisoning from beer.

Chip

From the Belgian beer guide:

Refermentée en Bouteille
The majority of Belgian bottled beers are refermented in the bottle, and the bi-product of this is a layer of yeast sediment which if the beer is poured carefully should remain in the bottle. Generally, the bottle should have been allowed to settle in an upright position for some time beforehand, but if, even after careful pouring into the correct glass , the beer is still cloudy then it doesn't matter, the taste will be affected a bit but the yeast is quite nutritious.

So some beers do have a natural sediment in them. This does not mean it has gone off.

Chip.

Chip.

NACRO

I don't think standard Leffe is bottle conditioned. Therefore it can't improve, just decline.

Shark

LMAO

Thanks

David