Past Due Beer?

[kimberlydawn37]

This site appears to cater more to home brewers, but I was hoping to get some advice about some beer I recently purchased.

I bought roughly $100 worth of Evil Twin beer on my birthday last week. I noticed after getting it home that some of the cans had expiration dates long past due. What really concerned me, however, were the bottles. There could have been dates on the bottom, but I could not make out the exact numbers. Some of the beer, Joey Pepper to be exact, had a yellow cream floating at the bottom. This could be normal for this specific beer, but I'm not certain.

When calling the grocer to voice my concerns, I was met with resistance. I got the impression the manager knew that he was selling a lot of past due beer and wasn't the least bit interested in refunding my money. I'm disappointed because I tried Evil Twin Brewing at the International Brew Fest and loved it. However, as a health care professional, I have reservations about drinking beer that could possibly make me sick.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[Klickitat Jim]

The stuff at the bottom is most likely yeast. At worst you may not get as much hop character as when it was fresh.

[Ozwald]

Welcome to the forum. Maybe if you stick around for a bit we'll get you brewing as well It's a great hobby.

Don't worry about getting sick. If you can swallow it, there's nothing harmful in there. That was why beer came to be hundreds & hundreds of years ago. It was safe to drink even when the water wasn't.

Expiration dates on beer are just a product of bureaucracy. Beer can last for a very, very long time as long as it's not abused (exposed to heat, sunlight, etc.) For my birthday last month, I pulled some 5 & 6 year old bottles out of the cellar. They were absolutely fantastic.

The sediment you saw was precipitated yeast & proteins. Most beer, unless sterile filtered, is going to have yeast & proteins suspended in them. Perfectly safe & normal. If it's been sitting around for a while, those can fall out of solution to the bottom of the bottle. Some beers have a small dose of yeast added to them at bottling time. The beer goes in the bottle flat & that little bit of yeast is what creates the carbonation. If you have a bottle of beer with that sediment, carefully pour the beer into a glass & leave as much of it behind. It's not harmful, but it doesn't taste all that great, plus yeast is a natural laxative.

I can't say the grocer was doing you any favors, but all in all, there's probably nothing wrong with your beer.

Cheers!

[Stinkfist]

You could contact evil twin, first to let them know about this place is constantly selling out of date beer( no brewery wants this too happen) they want you to drink the beer when it is at it's best, so you want it again..

I once bought a 6 pack of mirror pond and it was about 3 months past the date and it definitely tasted like it, luckily I knew what it was supposed to taste like. I contacted deschutes and told them what happened. They were grateful and asked to know what store so they could have the distributer look into it, and they also sent me a check to cover the cost including tax. That goes a long way in my book. Cost them 10 bucks and they got a fan for life

[Klickitat Jim]

You could contact evil twin, first to let them know about this place is constantly selling out of date beer( no brewery wants this too happen) they want you to drink the beer when it is at it's best, so you want it again..

I once bought a 6 pack of mirror pond and it was about 3 months past the date and it definitely tasted like it, luckily I knew what it was supposed to taste like. I contacted deschutes and told them what happened. They were grateful and asked to know what store so they could have the distributer look into it, and they also sent me a check to cover the cost including tax. That goes a long way in my book. Cost them 10 bucks and they got a fan for life

I'd frame the check and tell everyone its from when they bought my recipe LOL