Does Beer Expire?

Wine collectors spend a lot of energy figuring out when exactly to open up their most precious bottles, and I count myself among this group. But with beer, there seems to be a fair bit of debate as to whether to not it will ever go bad.

The good news is that you don’t have to worry…much.

“Beer doesn’t expire per se, but it does fail to retain its freshness,” says Tara Nurin, beer and spirits journalist and educator, and author of A Woman’s Place Is in the Brewhouse: A Forgotten History of Alewives, Brewsters, Witches, and CEOs. “This means that as long as you’re drinking a beer with alcohol — NA beers are different — an old beer won’t kill you or even make you sick. However, depending on the style and quality of the beer, it can lose its luster.”

Many beers have expiration or drink-by dates on their labels or cans, but that doesn’t mean that they’ll suddenly turn bad on that specific day. The key is to look for signs that the brew is past its prime once you open it. 

Nurin explains that the red flags that indicate a beer that hasn’t aged gracefully will depend on the style, ingredients, and how it was stored.  “Generally, oxidation appears as cardboard, sherry or vinegar. A hoppy beer — especially a hazy IPA — will usually not stay fresh more than a month or two, and you’ll know it when it lacks the brightness or the ‘zip’ it once had,” she says.

Which beers last longest?

“Beers that are maltier and/or higher in alcohol typically last longest,” Nurin says. “Dark, boozy, malty styles like barleywines and imperial stouts  can sometimes taste delightful years or decades later. Belgian styles that are re-fermented in the bottle — meaning yeast has been added right before capping — are some of the longest lasting because the yeast continues to transform the beer in the package.”

Hoppy beers, on the other hand, generally won’t last as long. “You want to drink most hoppy beers fresh because the hop flavors break down quickly,” Nurin says. “Yet, counterintuitively, some of the strongest, hoppiest beers out there age beautifully…If, say, a double IPA is brewed with a lot of alcohol and a sturdy malt backbone, the hops can dissipate and you’re still left with an incredible beer that holds up on its own.”