How Long Can Bottled Beer Last? - Información de la cerveza

What is the shelf life of beer? – The shelf life of beer will depend on the container and location of storage. If stored properly in a refrigerated area, bottled beer will last up to six months. If stored in a warm environment, bottled beer can spoil in three months. Other containers, such as crowlers and growlers have shorter shelf lives.

Contents

0.1 Does bottled beer go bad?
0.2 How long does bottled beer last unopened?
0.3 How many years does bottled beer last?
0.4 Will unopened beer go bad?
0.5 Does alcohol ever go bad?

1 How long does beer last in plastic bottles?
- 1.1 What is the shelf life of beer by style?
2 Does beer improve with age?
3 Will old beer get you drunk?
- - 3.0.1 How long does beer last in plastic bottles?
- 3.1 Does expired beer still get you drunk?
  - 3.1.1 What is the shelf life of beer by style?

Does bottled beer go bad?

Yes—but its flavor will degrade over time. Beer is a perishable product that stales when it’s exposed to light, oxygen, and heat, which degrade the organic compounds that make beer smell and taste great. But even when its flavor is declining, it can be perfectly safe to drink.

How long does bottled beer last unopened?

How Long Does Beer Last In The Fridge – From Fresh to Flat

Unopened	Pantry	Fridge
Bottled Beer lasts for	6-9 Months	6 months-2 Years
Canned Beer lasts for	6-9 Months	6 months-2 Years
Homemade Beer lasts for	6-9 Months	6 months-2 Years

How many years does bottled beer last?

When Does Beer Expire? – At room temperature, beer lasts about 5 to 9 months beyond the expiration date listed on the label. In a refrigerator, beer can last up to an additional two or three years. This applies to bottled beer, cans, growlers, you name it.

Will unopened beer go bad?

Beer Storage by Container – Aside from factors like temperature and the type of beer, it’s crucial to know how to store beer based on its container to ensure the beer remains fresh. A general rule is that the best-before date on any type of beer is an accurate guide. It doesn’t mean that the beer will immediately expire by that date but, instead, that the beer will decline in quality only after the listed date — assuming you store it correctly.

Kegs: The clock starts on kegs as soon as they get filled and sealed. Even an untapped keg is best to use sooner rather than later, so first-in, first-out is a good rule of thumb if you plan to store multiple kegs. Make sure to keep kegs in a cool, dry space and away from other foods. It’s essential to avoid freezing the kegs, since freezing the beer will likely alter its taste. Avoid moving them around too much, because that can increase the amount of foam that will spurt out when you tap the keg. Bottles and cans: Store packaged beer in a cool, dry place that isn’t freezing. For optimal shelf life of bottled beer, store beer at a temperature between 45 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit and, if it’s a bottle, make sure it’s upright. You can prolong the shelf life of beer in cans and bottles if you keep them just above room temperature and just below freezing, but if there’s no way to establish that, storing unopened cans and bottles in the fridge or at room temperature is acceptable. Growlers: Keeping growlers upright and in cool, dark spaces is, once again, the best way to go. The airtight lid will ensure the beer remains fresh for several days, and can remain fresh even longer if the bar that filled the growler did so with carbon dioxide. Once opened, the beer will stay fresh for up to 36 hours,

These guidelines are more appropriate for draft and packaged beers. Homebrews and microbrews will likely have a shorter lifespan, even with adequate storage. The lifespan of open beer, regardless of its container, will be notably shorter thanks to the external factors it will come into contact with, like air, light and potentially bacteria as well.

Leaving unopened beer at room temperature will ensure it’s at its best for four to six months on average.
After that, the quality will begin to degrade.
For refrigerated beers, stored unopened, you have six to eight months of peak taste to take advantage of before the quality begins to slowly decrease.

It’s also crucial to maintain the temperature at which you bought the beer. For example, if you bought a six-pack straight out of a refrigerated case, you should put it in your refrigerator when you get home. The flavor of beer can change based on the glass in which you drink it.

Does alcohol ever go bad?

While unopened alcohol has an almost-indefinite shelf life, opened liquor does, in fact, expire. They won’t spoil in the same way that milk does, but liquors lose their flavor, coloring, and potency over time, leading to undesirable drinks for your customers.

The lifespan of your alcohol bottles is going to depend on the type of liquor, its storage temperature, and light exposure. Most bottles are best if used within 6 months to 2 years after opening. As part of running a successful bar, it’s important to keep track of when liquor bottles are open so you are serving the highest quality drinks on your menu.

Click below to learn more about the shelf life of a specific type of alcohol:

How long does beer last in plastic bottles?

Beer Bottles

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The history of why wine and beer bottles are mainly brown or green is through trial and error.
The actual hue of the bottle in which our favourite tipple is stored is likely something we rarely, if ever, think about.
The sight of tall, green bottles of wine and smaller, wider brown bottles for beers and ales is something we are used to.

1. Why are beer bottles brown? 2. Why is the glass of a beer bottles this colour? Beer was first bottled and sold commercially during the 1800s, and glass was the chosen receptacle to keep the beer or wine fresh and to preserve them between bottling and consumption.

The industry experts decided on clear glass – perhaps to show off the product inside, or maybe they didn’t think the bottle’s colour would affect the liquid? The transparent beer bottles were practical throughout the winter but come summer, the sun’s UV rays penetrated the transparent glass and made the beer slightly sour both in smell and taste.

Beer experts noted that the beer started to smell “skunky”, which was far from appetising.3. What was the answer? The resulting answer was to make the bottles darker and block the UV rays. This way, the drinks would be better preserved. Post World War II, there was a shortage of green glass, so beer adopted the brown bottles we know today.

Wine later housed itself in green glass.4. How Does Sunlight Effect Beer? A chemical reaction occurs between the sun’s UV rays and the essential oils of the hops, making beer taste terrible. A skunk-like smell is produced from the chemical compounds created by this process. Beer’s taste can be affected by oxygen, but this usually takes time to happen.5.

Why is beer better in an amber glass bottle? An amber glass beer bottle provides 99.9% protection from UV rays which preserves the beer’s superior taste and aroma. Glass containers and their closures are practical barriers to oxidation, ensuring freshness.

Through the latter part of the 1900s, most British brewers used a standard design of beer bottles, known as the London Brewers’ Standard.6.
Beer Bottle Closures A bottle closure is a device that seals the contents inside a bottle, protecting them from dust, spilling, evaporation, and the atmosphere itself.

The finish and closure are interrelated entities of any bottle. The closure must conform to the finish to function, and vice versa. The invention of some closures corresponds to specific finishes, and a closure may be adapted to old finishes, or both the finish and closure are invented together (Berge 1980).

A bottled beer uses several bottle caps but most often uses crown caps, also known as crown seals.
By contrast, come beers (for example, Grolsch) use “beugel” style bottles, known as “flip-top” or “swing-top”.

7. Beer Bottle Fermentation Homebrew beers can undergo fermentation in the bottle, giving natural carbonation. This method is usually referred to as bottle-conditioned. The beer is bottled with a viable yeast population in suspension and to start what may be a second or third fermentation.

If no residual fermentable sugar is left, you may add sugar and wort in a process known as priming. The resulting fermentation generates CO2 trapped in the bottle, which remains in the solution. The CO2 provides natural carbonation.8. Homebrew Beer in Glass or Plastic Bottles? A Complete Comparison Many homebrewers have probably wondered whether they should be using glass or plastic bottles for their beer at some point.

While the glass bottle was, is, and will likely forever be the traditional choice, there are some reasons why some people might wish to use plastic when bottling their beer. Using plastic bottles for homebrew beer has many positives for brewers as they are inexpensive, lighter, and not as likely to break if over-carbonated.

The main concern is long-term storage using this kind of beer bottles as this can cause issues with under carbonation, oxidation, and potential off-flavours in a beer.
There are different factors to consider when deciding whether to use plastic or glass beer bottles.
There are things to be said for using both containers to bottle your beer! Here are the pros and cons of plastic v.

glass.9. Homebrewing plastic vs glass beer bottles The inescapable whoosh of gas escapes as you release the cap from a cold beer.That special clink of the glass.The experience of the glass in your hand as you drink your beer.

Drinking beer from a bottle feels right for many people.
Of course, it does!

Beer seems to have always been stored in a glass bottle and poured into glasses to be drunk for most of beer’s modern history. Brewers have been pouring beer into glass containers in England since the late 16th century. During that time, corks were used instead of metal caps, and the bottles tended to break reasonably often due to secondary fermentation.

However, they worked pretty well! If we move forward to today, technology has changed, and it is now possible to put beer in glass bottles, plastic bottles, aluminium cans, and other containers. Commercial brewers often prefer cans. However, homebrewers often reuse old glass beer bottles. They clean the bottles and fill them, and recap them.

However, to some, plastic bottles are a viable option for homebrewing when it comes to bottling beer. For a novice brewer, there is probably a case to be made for using plastic in some situations. It probably makes absolute sense for some brewers only to use plastic bottles.

Bottling beer in plastic is borderline blasphemy for some brewers.
At first glance, plastic bottles look like a cheap substitute for a glass bottle (and it is).
There is reason to suspect that plastic could cause issues with your beer (it could).
Why would you then even want to bother? Well, plastic is super convenient for various reasons but let’s address a couple of the biggest questions you probably worry about when using plastic homebrew bottles.10.

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How long can you keep beer in plastic bottles? Many homebrewers don’t believe that beer can last as long or longer inside a plastic bottle as it could inside a glass one. They would be right! That’s because standard clear PET plastic bottles (like the ones you would find in the soda section) do a fantastic job of keeping CO2 inside the plastic bottle but a relatively poor job of keeping oxygen from entering the bottle.

As we all know, oxygen causes oxidation, killing a beer quickly by making it taste stale or creating off-flavours. Typically, beer will only stay fresh inside a standard clear PET plastic bottle for about two months. After two months, there will likely be enough oxidation to be able to taste a difference.

It is now possible to buy special plastic bottles made of PET that are amber in colour. These bottles do advertise storage capabilities on a par with glass bottles. If these bottles can genuinely remove this potential plastic issue, there is a much stronger case for using them! 11.

Suppose you are only storing your beer in plastic bottles for a short time
An example is for a few weeks of bottle conditioning.
Another is filling up a bottle from your keg to take somewhere.
In either case, there shouldn’t be any difference between a glass and a plastic bottle.
The longer you store the beer in the plastic bottle, the more likely hood there will be off-flavours stemming from oxidation if you use standard PET bottles.
You might not have any issues using the more specialised amber PET bottles.
Usually, however, as long as the bottles are kept at room temperature or lower, there is minimal risk.

12. Glass bottles for home brew So why do you want to use glass beer bottles for your homebrew? Many people think this is more of a question of why you wouldn’t want to use them. There is such a positive bias attached to glass beer bottles. In most cases, glass bottles will probably give you a better homebrewing experience.

This better experience is because the beer will be able to condition in the bottles for longer.
Any worries about the beer going bad before you manage to drink it are unfounded.
For brewers just starting on this exciting hobby, there are also way more resources to guide you in using glass bottles, such as when you are learning the technique of filling them.13.

The pros and cons when using glass V plastic bottles for your homebrew beer: PROS

They are readily available through empty commercial beers or homebrew supply storesThe dark colour reduces light penetrating your beerThe glass will not allow any oxygen to spoil your beer – the cap is still the weakest linkNo off-flavours spoiling the beer.Glass is easier to clean (you may scrub glass without much fear of actually scratching it)Glass is traditional
That lovely hard-to-describe experience of drinking a beer from a glass bottle
CONS
Glass bottles are heavy when fullGlass bottles are relatively easy to break during transporting or if accidentally droppedGlass is more likely to explode if the beer is over-carbonatedAmber glass makes it hard to check clarity and carbonation levels.
Plastic bottles for homebrew
There is a solid case to be made for using plastic bottles if you physically find it challenging to move the heavier glass bottles.

Suppose you tend to bottle lighter beers that don’t require as much bottle conditioning. You tend not to keep your beer too long before it is drunk. There are also other interesting Reasons. Some homebrewers have stated that they would never use plastic bottles for their whole batch.

It could make sense to fill a couple of plastic bottles enabling you to watch the bottle conditioning process if the bottles are clear.
The clear bottles will let you check the clarity and colour of your beer as it conditions.
Also, because plastic is bendable, you can check to see how your carbonation is coming along.14.

The pros and cons when using plastic bottles for your homebrew beer: PROS Plastic is lighterPlastic bottles are almost impossible to break during transportation or if droppedPlastic is less likely to have issues with over-carbonating. The cap will usually go before the bottle.Easy to find generic PET bottlesThe capping process is straightforwardYou can check the clarity and carbonation levels of conditioning beer

Plastic can be easily used to transport kegged beer (with a Carbonator Cap)
CONS
Less classy/traditionalGeneric bottles are prone to quicker oxidationPossible off-flavours from plastic leachingPlastic is usually transparent, which allows more light into the beer
At the end of the day, which type you decide to use is a subjective question you will have to answer.

Cheers!

What is the shelf life of beer by style?

Beer is best fresh. There is little debate about this in the craft brewing community. However, some beers can be saved for a longer period of time, and others, such as bottle-conditioned beers, are actually designed to evolve in nuance and flavor over time.

The question of “how long does beer last?” is a common refrain for the average beer drinker. With the proliferation of full-flavored beers in a kaleidoscope of styles, it is more important than ever for consumers to be aware of how old a beer is, as well as how long that particular beer can be enjoyed for best flavor.

Let’s take a look at some general practices that can help you make good decisions when considering your next beer purchase. When I buy a new beer, I do my best to check to see how old it is; if it’s older than two months, I rarely pull the trigger on a purchase.

IPAs are best consumed fresh, ideally within a month of packaging, and preferably no older than three months. This is because the degradation of hops occurs rapidly. With the amount of IPAs available on the market, this is an almost impossible achievement on a regular basis. I often find IPAs on store shelves that are a year or more old – a tragedy of the highest degree.

Even so, a fresh-from-the-brewery-tap IPA is a vastly different experience than a month-old can of the same beer, so always try to experience that for a comparison. Many breweries do print a “packaged on” or “born on” date on their beers. While a nice idea, this information is only helpful to the beer drinkers that know two things: How to look for that information and what that date means for the beer itself,

More often than not, the dates are hidden underneath the can or printed in a miniscule font on dark bottle sides. Even if a consumer finds that information, they may not know what to do with that obscured series of numbers. Putting a “best by” date also shouldn’t be seen as an expiration date, as beer doesn’t technically spoil, it just becomes less tasty over time.

A beer past its ideal state can taste bad and turn off consumers from trying different beers from an otherwise great brewery – all because the beer was too old. Sünner Kolsch from Sünner Brauerei showcases its “best before” date via cut-outs on the back label. This example is best enjoyed before August of 2018. San Diego-based Stone Brewing Co, has found a unique solution to “best by” date concerns by releasing the “Enjoy By” series.

With its “enjoy by” date printed front and center as the name and focal point of each version’s label, a consumer knows exactly when this beer should be imbibed for best flavor.
On the flip side, Stone also has an “Enjoy After” series of Brettanomyces-infused IPAs, which lets fans know that this wild IPA will continue to develop after purchase and also states when it would be best to open.

Other examples of breweries that offer “best by” or “best before” dates on their bottles include New Belgium Brewing Co. and Odell Brewing Co. With age often comes a variety of unflattering characteristics – much more than just flavor degradation. It can oxidize, creating a wet cardboard-like flavor.

Beers can also become ” skunked ” if left in the presence of direct light.
Styles such as pale ales, light lagers, wheat beers and brown ales are best within 120 days of packaging, whereas darker, heavier beers, like stouts and porters, are good for up to 180 days.
Styles such as barrel-aged beers, sour ales and imperial beers are much more robust and last longer on shelves.

Time helps mellow out big, boozy beers and can also help sour beers evolve, as the leftover souring elements can continue to evolve in a beer for years – creating fascinating new flavors. Blonde de l’Enfer, a Belgian Golden Strong Ale from Unibroue, has a printed “best before” date of 9-11-2022 on the side of the bottle. Belgian Golden Strong Ales are highly cellarable, hence the much longer lifespan of this brew. Barrel-aged beers are pulled from the barrels ready to drink, but one may age them for considerable periods of time for additional complexity.

Belgium’s Cantillon, one of the world’s most renowned breweries, and several other Lambic producers will put “best by” dates on beers many years into the future, as they have sugars and yeast that continue fermentation with a full maturity after three years. Still, these statements vary in size and placement on the bottle, and they aren’t overly apparent to everyday drinkers.

For sour and multiple French- and Belgian-style beers, a brewery is likely to put a statement of how long a beer might continue to evolve. Goose Island Beer Co. prints “develops in the bottle for over five years” on bottles of some of its beers, such as Matilda and Lolita.

One way around this clustered world of various “best by” and “packaged on” dates in beer is to create a standardized method of beer dating. Perhaps craft beer’s governing body, the Brewers Association, could take on this important task, as making a consistent process for breweries to label their beer would benefit the breweries themselves, as well as consumers at large.

Beers also need to have a uniform place where “best by” dates can be found, so that befuddled consumers don’t have to inspect every inch of a can’s surface or squint at the fine print on a bottle’s label. Until some sort of reform takes place on how to easily tell when a beer is best consumed, follow this simple rule of thumb: After you purchase a beer, drink it relatively quickly in order to get the most enjoyment out of its freshness.

Does beer improve with age?

Which Beers Improve Most With Age? – As a general rule, darker beers age better than light beers. Beer with a high alcohol content tends to respond to aging better than other beers. The exception to this second rule is high alcohol content beers which feature hoppy, fruity, or other subtle flavor notes.

The compounds responsible for these flavors tend to break down with time, meaning these beers are better off enjoyed fresh. Aging beer can have a number of benefits if done properly and with the correct type of beer. It can bring out different flavors in the beer, such as bready flavors, earthy notes, and woody or metallic aftertastes.

It also tends to reduce the bitterness of the beer as the hops lose some of their potency over time.

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Will old beer get you drunk?

Your parents are downsizing. You’ve offered to help, but begin questioning your decision-making skills the moment you’re assigned attic duty. As you shuffle boxes of dusty decorations, trunks of old clothes, college mementos and (for reasons you can’t quite fathom) a complete set of dining room chairs, something catches your eye.

Atop a horizontal wall stud sits a forgotten bottle, and not an empty one at that.
It’s beer, a brand you don’t even recognize, still capped.
Feeling adventurous — and also a bit desperate — you wonder what it would be like to chug attic-tempered beer that’s been aged a solid decade or more.
Has it matured like wine? Or, has it become flat and lost its alcohol content altogether? Beer, like wine, does continue to age after it is packaged.

Unlike wine, this isn’t really a good thing. As beer sits, it will continue to ferment. But don’t be fooled into thinking your beer will become better with age. Beer doesn’t become unsafe to drink as it matures, but it will begin to taste flat — either because it loses flavor or develops an off-putting flavor profile.

The flavor will be best during the first few months after it is bottled. Once the flavor peaks, the proteins that give beer its distinct taste will start to break down, and the beer will become a one-note wonder (or disappointment, as the case may be). The exception to the “drink it quick” rule is for beer that has a greater amount of hops and a higher alcohol content (usually 9 percent or more) that has been brewed specifically for aging.

Its proteins will still break down, just as with any other beer, but it will have been engineered to withstand the process in the first place. Most are “living beers” that still contain yeast from the brewing process and that will develop fuller, richer flavors over time,

But what about alcohol content? As a beer ages, will its potency wane too? In a word, no. The alcohol content of beer (and wine, for that matter) is determined during the fermentation process and will not change over time. During fermentation, yeast converts sugar (or any carbohydrate source) into carbon dioxide and ethanol alcohol.

As the yeast converts sugar into alcohol, the alcohol eventually overwhelms the yeast and kills it. When the yeast dies, it cannot produce more alcohol, So why does one type of beer have a greater alcohol content than another? The concentration of alcohol is the result of the type of yeast strain used during the fermentation process.

How long does beer last in plastic bottles?

Beer Bottles

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
The history of why wine and beer bottles are mainly brown or green is through trial and error.
The actual hue of the bottle in which our favourite tipple is stored is likely something we rarely, if ever, think about.
The sight of tall, green bottles of wine and smaller, wider brown bottles for beers and ales is something we are used to.

Wine later housed itself in green glass.4. How Does Sunlight Effect Beer? A chemical reaction occurs between the sun’s UV rays and the essential oils of the hops, making beer taste terrible. A skunk-like smell is produced from the chemical compounds created by this process. Beer’s taste can be affected by oxygen, but this usually takes time to happen.5.

Through the latter part of the 1900s, most British brewers used a standard design of beer bottles, known as the London Brewers’ Standard.6.
Beer Bottle Closures A bottle closure is a device that seals the contents inside a bottle, protecting them from dust, spilling, evaporation, and the atmosphere itself.

A bottled beer uses several bottle caps but most often uses crown caps, also known as crown seals.
By contrast, come beers (for example, Grolsch) use “beugel” style bottles, known as “flip-top” or “swing-top”.

If no residual fermentable sugar is left, you may add sugar and wort in a process known as priming.
The resulting fermentation generates CO2 trapped in the bottle, which remains in the solution.
The CO2 provides natural carbonation.8.
Homebrew Beer in Glass or Plastic Bottles? A Complete Comparison Many homebrewers have probably wondered whether they should be using glass or plastic bottles for their beer at some point.

The main concern is long-term storage using this kind of beer bottles as this can cause issues with under carbonation, oxidation, and potential off-flavours in a beer.
There are different factors to consider when deciding whether to use plastic or glass beer bottles.
There are things to be said for using both containers to bottle your beer! Here are the pros and cons of plastic v.

Drinking beer from a bottle feels right for many people.
Of course, it does!

However, they worked pretty well! If we move forward to today, technology has changed, and it is now possible to put beer in glass bottles, plastic bottles, aluminium cans, and other containers.
Commercial brewers often prefer cans.
However, homebrewers often reuse old glass beer bottles.
They clean the bottles and fill them, and recap them.

Bottling beer in plastic is borderline blasphemy for some brewers.
At first glance, plastic bottles look like a cheap substitute for a glass bottle (and it is).
There is reason to suspect that plastic could cause issues with your beer (it could).
Why would you then even want to bother? Well, plastic is super convenient for various reasons but let’s address a couple of the biggest questions you probably worry about when using plastic homebrew bottles.10.

As we all know, oxygen causes oxidation, killing a beer quickly by making it taste stale or creating off-flavours. Typically, beer will only stay fresh inside a standard clear PET plastic bottle for about two months. After two months, there will likely be enough oxidation to be able to taste a difference.

Suppose you are only storing your beer in plastic bottles for a short time
An example is for a few weeks of bottle conditioning.
Another is filling up a bottle from your keg to take somewhere.
In either case, there shouldn’t be any difference between a glass and a plastic bottle.
The longer you store the beer in the plastic bottle, the more likely hood there will be off-flavours stemming from oxidation if you use standard PET bottles.
You might not have any issues using the more specialised amber PET bottles.
Usually, however, as long as the bottles are kept at room temperature or lower, there is minimal risk.

You might be interested: How Money For A Case Moonshine?

This better experience is because the beer will be able to condition in the bottles for longer. Any worries about the beer going bad before you manage to drink it are unfounded. For brewers just starting on this exciting hobby, there are also way more resources to guide you in using glass bottles, such as when you are learning the technique of filling them.13.

The pros and cons when using glass V plastic bottles for your homebrew beer: PROS

They are readily available through empty commercial beers or homebrew supply storesThe dark colour reduces light penetrating your beerThe glass will not allow any oxygen to spoil your beer – the cap is still the weakest linkNo off-flavours spoiling the beer.Glass is easier to clean (you may scrub glass without much fear of actually scratching it)Glass is traditional
That lovely hard-to-describe experience of drinking a beer from a glass bottle
CONS
Glass bottles are heavy when fullGlass bottles are relatively easy to break during transporting or if accidentally droppedGlass is more likely to explode if the beer is over-carbonatedAmber glass makes it hard to check clarity and carbonation levels.
Plastic bottles for homebrew
There is a solid case to be made for using plastic bottles if you physically find it challenging to move the heavier glass bottles.

It could make sense to fill a couple of plastic bottles enabling you to watch the bottle conditioning process if the bottles are clear.
The clear bottles will let you check the clarity and colour of your beer as it conditions.
Also, because plastic is bendable, you can check to see how your carbonation is coming along.14.

Plastic can be easily used to transport kegged beer (with a Carbonator Cap)
CONS
Less classy/traditionalGeneric bottles are prone to quicker oxidationPossible off-flavours from plastic leachingPlastic is usually transparent, which allows more light into the beer
At the end of the day, which type you decide to use is a subjective question you will have to answer.

Cheers!

Does expired beer still get you drunk?

Atop a horizontal wall stud sits a forgotten bottle, and not an empty one at that.
It’s beer, a brand you don’t even recognize, still capped.
Feeling adventurous — and also a bit desperate — you wonder what it would be like to chug attic-tempered beer that’s been aged a solid decade or more.
Has it matured like wine? Or, has it become flat and lost its alcohol content altogether? Beer, like wine, does continue to age after it is packaged.

The flavor will be best during the first few months after it is bottled. Once the flavor peaks, the proteins that give beer its distinct taste will start to break down, and the beer will become a one-note wonder (or disappointment, as the case may be). The exception to the “drink it quick” rule is for beer that has a greater amount of hops and a higher alcohol content (usually 9 percent or more) that has been brewed specifically for aging.

But what about alcohol content? As a beer ages, will its potency wane too? In a word, no. The alcohol content of beer (and wine, for that matter) is determined during the fermentation process and will not change over time. During fermentation, yeast converts sugar (or any carbohydrate source) into carbon dioxide and ethanol alcohol.

What is the shelf life of beer by style?

The question of “how long does beer last?” is a common refrain for the average beer drinker. With the proliferation of full-flavored beers in a kaleidoscope of styles, it is more important than ever for consumers to be aware of how old a beer is, as well as how long that particular beer can be enjoyed for best flavor.

IPAs are best consumed fresh, ideally within a month of packaging, and preferably no older than three months. This is because the degradation of hops occurs rapidly. With the amount of IPAs available on the market, this is an almost impossible achievement on a regular basis. I often find IPAs on store shelves that are a year or more old – a tragedy of the highest degree.

More often than not, the dates are hidden underneath the can or printed in a miniscule font on dark bottle sides.
Even if a consumer finds that information, they may not know what to do with that obscured series of numbers.
Putting a “best by” date also shouldn’t be seen as an expiration date, as beer doesn’t technically spoil, it just becomes less tasty over time.

With its “enjoy by” date printed front and center as the name and focal point of each version’s label, a consumer knows exactly when this beer should be imbibed for best flavor. On the flip side, Stone also has an “Enjoy After” series of Brettanomyces-infused IPAs, which lets fans know that this wild IPA will continue to develop after purchase and also states when it would be best to open.

Beers can also become ” skunked ” if left in the presence of direct light.
Styles such as pale ales, light lagers, wheat beers and brown ales are best within 120 days of packaging, whereas darker, heavier beers, like stouts and porters, are good for up to 180 days.
Styles such as barrel-aged beers, sour ales and imperial beers are much more robust and last longer on shelves.

Belgium’s Cantillon, one of the world’s most renowned breweries, and several other Lambic producers will put “best by” dates on beers many years into the future, as they have sugars and yeast that continue fermentation with a full maturity after three years. Still, these statements vary in size and placement on the bottle, and they aren’t overly apparent to everyday drinkers.

One way around this clustered world of various “best by” and “packaged on” dates in beer is to create a standardized method of beer dating.
Perhaps craft beer’s governing body, the Brewers Association, could take on this important task, as making a consistent process for breweries to label their beer would benefit the breweries themselves, as well as consumers at large.