I don't know about bacteria but I can tell you from years of owning a bar and grill that beer will go bad. We used to call it "skunky". Be sure to taste it before you use it!

Annie

A couple of years?! Ew, no, don't use it. It's not the same as scotch, vodka, etc.

Beth

Even if it isn't bad or skunky, it would definitely taste like the can.

Tami

Thanks, guys.

It actually tastes ok (now that I've poisoned myself!) -- Actually, I'm not sure if it tastes ok since I don't really like beer (hence, the expired beer) -- but, I didn't feel the need to want to spit it out. (It's been refrigerated and it is really only a little over a year expired)

But, I'll just use it on my hair instead... just in case! Any other good uses for expired beer?

Send any/all expired beer to me please! I'll be sure to dispose of it properly :-)

There is no safety issue with old beer. It never produces anything toxic. Beer can get infected with a bacteria, which will cause gushers when it's opened. But the bacteria is not harmful and this is more apt to happen with home brew than with commercial beer.

Aging does not improve beer as it does some wines. Beer tastes best when fresh. I would use outdated beer in cooking but several years is probably too old even for that.

Jim

I was going to say to toss it till I read this:

It's been refrigerated and it is really only a little over a year expired

If it tastes ok, I'd use it. But you know, that's just me!

Draft beer is what gets "skunky"....and also draft pop can get skunky too.
2 year old canned or bottled beer would be just fine for cooking.
Back in the day when we were and our friends were having keggers, I would beg the dregs out of the bottom of a keg for bread....flat warm slightly soured beer....!

Beer in both, cans and bottles, can and does get 'skunky' at times.
I have no idea what causes it, I just know it does happen.
And there would be no doubt in your mind, whether you like beer or not, if yours had turned.
I'd say it would be fine to use in cooking.

Rusty

"It's been refrigerated and it is really only a little over a year expired."

I missed that. I only saw:

"I think they are expired by a few years."

The beer is fine. Use it.

Jim

If you decide to not use your slightly aged beer in cooking, you can use it to capture slugs (as if anyone really wanted to capture slugs) in the garden. Put a pie plate of beer out and the slugs will die happy. Also, beer of any age is great on the compost pile. I practically force my husband to brew beer (yeah, right) so I can use the dregs on the compost.
Or, you could fine a couple of good ol' boys and put the expired beer in the back of their pick-up. They wouldn't know the difference.

LOL, marlingardener, the "good ol' boys" would probably appreciate it a lot, even more than the slugs!

I agree, Rusty, canned beer and and does get "skunky". Just like catsup sitting on a counter unrefrigerated will get fermented. I've had both happen when I was still running the business.

I think it was cheap beer, though, maybe Old Milwaukee, and so I thought "boy, that's REALLY bad beer". I don't like beer either, but when a beer drinker tasted it and spit it out, I figured I was right. It was worse than usual. (grin)

Annie

I used to make my own beer. I'd age it for a few weeks and sample it over several successive weeks, and keep a log of my tastings. The quality definitely had a peak, depending on the beer style, and after that peak the quality definitely did suffer. Certain styles (heavily hopped stouts, for example, or barleywines) were made to be aged for a long time, and India Pale Ale was heavily hopped to survive the long brutal voyage from England to India... But given enough time, any beer can deteriorate.

Skunkiness is usually caused by light reacting with hop compounds; that's why good beers are bottled in dark bottles. Miller used to bottle their product in clear bottles so they could advertise it as 'The Champagne of Bottled Beer', but they cheated by using some modified hop compounds that didn't get as skunky as other beers.

In the story at the link, it remarks that Corona keeps their clear bottles boxed and encourages the drinkers to put a piece of lime in the neck, to improve the odor. But I know of no serious beer connoisseur who would consider Corona to be good beer!

Here is a link that might be useful: beer skunkiness

In my experience, beer gets skunky from repeated chilling, then letting it get warm, then trying to re-chill it and drink it. That is a guarantee it will taste like armadillo pi$$. That said, I would use the year plus expired beer on my hair or as slug bait and I would not cook with it. Unless you are completely destitute and cannot afford to buy another 6 pack, I would not risk ruining the recipe with old beer. But thats just me.

Alexa

Alexa, you don't even need to buy a six pack, here you go to the local convenience store and buy one single bottle or can, and you're good to go.

I agree, chilling/warming/chilling repeatedly is a sure way to compromise the flavor of beer. That's one reason why the beer trucks are refrigerated, or so the beer distributors told me.

Annie

Alexa nailed it. When beer is refrigerated, then allowed to warm and then refrigerated....sometimes repeatedly...is when beer gets 'skunky'. As a young person it was pretty common to get beer like that at a store. Seems like now it doesn't happen so frequently. Maybe the processing is better or the storing is more controlled. I don't know....but skunky beer it nasty. That being said we still drank it.

Duane

Just finished cleaning out the deceased parent's home and garage, found several boxes of beer Step Dad brewed in, oh, I think 1995. Think it's still good? ;-)

And there are certain beers which the maker won't allow to be shipped but in refrigerated trucks, and the retailer must agree to keep it under refrigeration too.
If the beer has been kept cold...it should be fine...

Coleen, I doubt if that stuff would be drinkable. Probably stale. Most beers aren't made to age that long. A few very strong styles (barley wines, Imperial stouts) can age for 3 to 5 years, but I know of no beer formulated to age for a decade and a half.

On the other hand, it's probably not toxic so if you were to taste it, I doubt that it would hurt you.