You can do many things to make sure you get the most out of your beer. One of the biggest tips is to ensure that you buy unpasteurized beer. This will not only help preserve your beer, but it will also add a lot of flavors. Read on to know how long Beer lasts in the fridge.
How Long does Beer Last in the Fridge?
If the temperature is kept stable and the beer is kept out of the light, it can be held in the refrigerator for two to three years before it needs to be opened. Although beer can spoil in the fridge, it lasts longer if the temperature is maintained.
Suppose you store an open bottle or can of beer in the fridge; the likelihood of the beer turning alarming increases. The oxidation will destroy the beer’s taste, flavor, and essence within a day, turning it flat. It will remain edible for more than two to three years if you don’t take it out of the refrigerator or change the temperature.
To appreciate the beer in its original form after opening, it is advisable to consume it within a day or two. Therefore, it is best to place an opened beer in a growler or crowler if you wish to store it. To keep leftover beer properly, use a keg or growler that is darker in color. Once the container is sealed, place it inside the refrigerator.
Beer Expiration Date
Beer does have an expiration date and does go bad. Meanwhile, some of these beer expiration dates might not be taken too seriously, and occasionally beer is consumed after its expiration date.
However, it is best to consume beer as soon after its expiration date as possible while it is still fresh. Why? When drinking beer that has gone bad, there is a good likelihood that the flavor and scent will be unpleasant and last a while.
Expiration Dates
The threshold date displayed on the can, bottle, or package differs on the brewer, bottles used, storage conditions, procedure, and brewing type. Official expiration dates are marked on the containers for almost all beer firms.
It largely depends on how transparent the glass bottle is, regardless of the color of the beer bottle. For instance, the beer in question may become quickly contaminated if it is kept in a clear bottle and easily exposed to light. Because they often do not allow light to pass, metal cans make for better storage.
Generally, a typical beer can be stored for three to nine months after its expiration date without losing quality. If you don’t want it to spoil, keeping it at room temperature is better. But with opened beer, none of these guidelines or cutoff times apply. Your beer can last far past the suggested expiration date if it is in an airtight, sealed bottle.
Does Beer Go Bad in the Fridge?
Beer is a perishable beverage that spoils in the refrigerator. Yeast leavens the dough and is frequently used to make beer. The flour, which is formed of grains, and the yeast interact to influence the dough. Grain-based beverages like beer react with yeast to produce bubbles and carbonate the liquid.
As a result, the organism in the bottle is still partly alive and continues to grow and behave naturally. Therefore, if you store your opened beer in the refrigerator, you must consume it soon after opening it to prevent spoilage.
The protective seal puts all potential processes in the beer on hold because it stops oxygen from entering the bottle. The processes restart and perform their functions as soon as the security seal is broken.
Your beer will consequently begin to lose flavor, become milder, and begin to take on additional flavors that weren’t originally intended.
It will frequently start to develop bitterer and stronger, with a faint but unpleasant sour note that you will undoubtedly not like. Along with changing its appearance to get blurrier, it will also change how it smells, becoming stronger and more offensive.
Even while unopened beer has a fairly long shelf life in the refrigerator, it could still go bad if you don’t drink it within the following several years. Although it would likely still be safe to drink, the taste and aroma will greatly diminish.
Imagine it as a car; the more time you spend parking it in the garage without using it, the less useful it is. Therefore, as beer is intended for consumption, you should consume it before it loses its flavor.
Can I Drink Beer that has been in the Fridge for a Year?
If the beer’s protective seal is still on after being stored in the refrigerator for a year, go ahead. One year is not a very long time in the history of beer; therefore, if your beer is properly sealed, it won’t move throughout this time.
On the other hand, you shouldn’t even approach or consume your beer if it has been sitting in the refrigerator for a year with a cracked seal. However, you can use something else.
It would help if you didn’t consume opened beer after a week, and a year is out of the question because it only keeps well for a few days in the fridge.
The beer is negatively affected by the chemical reactions that the oxygen causes, which speeds up the brewing process’ deterioration. Consider beer a liquid food, as yeast and grains make up their base constituents. After two mugs of beer, you don’t feel as hungry because it contains sugars and carbohydrates.
This is because, similar to eating bread, it satisfies your stomach and feeds you. Therefore, if you look at beer from this perspective, it will make sense why it degrades quickly after it is opened rather than remaining incredibly durable when unopened, like milk, for example.
Can you Drink Out of Date Beer?
Beer that is “best before” date is actually “best before,” which means that while it won’t spoil beyond that date, its quality will be at its peak. So long as the beer hasn’t been opened, it can still be consumed.
If you don’t open the seal, beer can stay fresh for seven to eight months after its best-before date. You can store it for seven to eight months at room temperature, but keep it dry and out of direct sunlight.
The protective seal may become less effective due to the air’s humidity, even though you won’t observe any visible damage. Air will, therefore, gradually contaminate the beer, starting quiet but continuous chemical reactions.
Your beer can last in the refrigerator for up to a year after its best-before date. The highest shelf of your refrigerator, which has the driest air, is where you should store your beer to ensure its safety.
Given that food with high moisture content can be harmful, you should also consider what you place nearby on the same shelf.
Therefore, ensure your beer is always kept safely on the top shelf and not surrounded by moist food. The protective sealing can be damaged by fridge moisture, which can cause your beer to quickly lose quality, especially if the best-before date has passed.
Does Beer Last Longer in Bottles or Cans?
As I previously said, the shelf life of beer varies based on the packaging. Although cans are more prone to heat and heat up more than glass or plastic, this is not a problem because it is likely that they are kept in the dark place.
For several reasons, cans are generally regarded as superior to bottles as beer packaging. Since the metal prevents light from entering the can, beer stays fresher. Have you ever observed that drinking water from a metal cup makes it taste better? Beer experiences the same thing.
Beer tastes sharper but not more aggressively because of the metal. It draws attention to the flavor elements and makes them more distinct and powerful.
Beer in cans is more portable than beer in bottles. Because they are smaller and practically designed, cans are considerably easier to handle. Therefore, if the beer is canned, it will cause far less trouble, whether it is being shipped in quantity for business purposes or carrying it in a bag.
One more advantage of metal for beer is that it doesn’t alter the flavor. Therefore, beer’s flavor in a can is exactly how beer should taste.
Beer in a can or a bottle kept in the same conditions and for the same length of time will not taste the same. Compared to bottled beer, canned beer tastes considerably more natural and recent.
Another public benefit of canned beer is that you will do much less damage to the environment after drinking it and discarding the can. The percentage of recycled cans is much higher than that of recycled plastic.
How Long is Unrefrigerated Beer Good for?
However, some persons cannot or choose not to store their beverages in the refrigerator.
If that’s the case, you must keep it in a cold, dark location when storing it.
If you do not want to store the beer in the refrigerator, it is advisable to keep it in a temperature-controlled space, and you should look for beers in dark bottles.
Darker bottles block UV rays. The sun is the most dangerous thing you could ever expose your beverage to.
The sun’s rays, especially direct sunlight, might trigger the chemical reaction within an hour. We don’t want the beer to get spoiled by the chemical reaction, which usually happens.
Your choice to store your beer outside the refrigerator would undoubtedly shorten its shelf life, so you must be debating if it is the right move.
Most of the time, a beer that hasn’t been chilled can last between six and nine months, but there are several circumstances in which your beer may only stay, at most, four to six months.
In addition, the quality may change based on how much sun exposure the beer receives.
Conclusion
Beer may endure and remain fresh for a very long period if it is properly stored in the refrigerator. But remember that everything has a limit, and drinking beer is no different.
Beer can spoil with time, whether opened or not, canned or bottled. Temperature, airflow, and light all have an impact on rotting.
While keeping your beer in the fridge is the easiest way to keep it fresh, it’s still better to finish it straight away to appreciate its authentic flavor.
