Is it OK to Drink Expired Beer?
Is it safe to drink beer six months past its “drink by” date?
The simple answer is yes, the beer is still good insofar as it is safe to drink. Since most beer is either pasteurized or filtered to eliminate bacteria, it’s extremely resistant to spoiling. How the beer will taste is another matter. For a taste test, we met with Grant Wood, then-senior brewing manager of the Boston Beer Company, to sample fresh lager next to one that had seen its first anniversary. (Typically, the drink-by dates on beers are four to six months out; this is based on how long the brewer thinks the beer can retain fresh flavor.) The difference was dramatic. While the fresh lager presented bright hops flavor and refreshing bitterness, the year-old bottle was distinctly malty, sweet, and, according to most tasters, “flat.” The difference was even more pronounced when we repeated the tasting with a bottle that had been forgotten in a basement since 2004.
According to Wood, the explanation is twofold. First, all beer contains a minute amount of oxygen, and as the aroma and flavor compounds found in hops oxidize over time, those compounds dissipate. (Conversely, certain aromatic compounds increase with prolonged exposure to oxygen, resulting in sweet, sherry-like flavors.) Second, the speed of these reactions depends on the alcohol content of the beer and how it’s stored. Beers with more alcohol by volume have a longer shelf life, as do those that are refrigerated.
The lesson: To enjoy beer at its finest, buy it cold, store it in the fridge, and drink it before the date on the bottle.
Beer-Batter Cheese Bread, by Cook’s Country
RECIPE: BEER-BATTER CHEESE BREAD
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Quick breads, like our Beer-Batter Cheese Bread, can be on the table in less than an hour. The basic recipe is simple enough, yet our first attempts produced loaves that tasted sour, like stale beer, while others had negligible cheese flavor. And some attempts at this recipe were so greasy that we had to pass out extra napkins. We wanted a lighter loaf of cheese bread enhanced with the yeasty flavor of beer and a big hit of cheese — and it had to be quick and easy. Mild, domestic lagers provided a clean, subtle flavor without any sourness at all. Cutting back the butter from a full stick to half a stick made our Beer-Batter Cheese Bread recipe considerably lighter, while still producing a craggy crust.
Makes one 9-inch loaf
Insert the toothpick in a few spots when testing for doneness; it may hit a pocket of cheese, which resembles uncooked batter on the toothpick. Strongly flavored beers make the bread bitter, so mild American lagers like Budweiser work best here.
8 ounces Gruyère cheese, 4 ounces shredded and 4 ounces cut into 1/4-inch cubes
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (12-ounce) light-bodied beer, such as Budweiser
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 9 by 5-inch loaf pan.
Combine shredded and cubed cheese, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and pepper in large bowl. Stir in beer and mix until well combined. Pour into loaf pan, spreading batter to corners. Drizzle melted butter evenly over top of batter.
Bake until deep golden brown and toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool bread in pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto rack. Cool completely and slice as desired. (Although this bread can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, after the second day the bread is best toasted.)
