Why does beer have a sell by date?

Is there actually something in it that rots? or does it just decarbonate?

beer has one hell of a shelf life. Not like wine, but can sit for a while if you store in in a dark, cool place. It will lose a little bit of its original flavor over time. They probably don’t want someone drinking a bad Bud that has been collecting dust. Losing a lifetime customer is more expensive than restocking.

My uncle Joe drank a bottle of Guinness that had been lying in a stone floored cupboard since my dad’s 21st at my dad’s 50th and it was fine according to him.

Edited to correct barnd it wasn’t Guinness it was Newcastle Brown ale.

Light hitting beer causes it to produce a sulfurous compound, which causes the nasty smell of skunking.

Anybody who’s drinking Budweiser isn’t the kind of person who will stop drinking a beer because it tastes shitty.

Beer will oxidise over time, giving it a bit of a cardboardy taste. In the EU alcoholic drinks don’t have to have a sell by date over a certain percentage (8%?) but it’s above the strength of most beers.

LOL

My uncle has beers in his bar that are old and dusty. I would have to be really desperate to drink one of those stale old fuckers.

Do they really have a sell by date? I thought it was a born on date, used for marketing fresh beer.

Most food related crap is required to by the FDA.

I’ll explain quite simply: The “Born on” date assures white-trash that he’s getting only the freshest pig swill.

Are you saying theres no such thing as good beer?

I give this thread another 5 posts before Garbanzo bean shows up.

That’s the best answer. It’s what they call a “value added” service in my company- i.e., the bigger the bullshit sales pitch, somehow, the more right you have to charge for the same shit as the other guy. Plus, it may be a way to get some alcoholics to throw away there beer and buy some fresh stuff. HA! fat chance.

Whats the worst old beer could do to you apart from taste crappy?

not true at all, at all. beer is at its best the minute it comes out of the vat & degrades quite appreciably over time. it doesn’t get poisonous, but there’s a vast difference in quality between week-old beer & six-month old beer of the same brand; one month is usually about the cutoff point. sling all the shit at Bud you want (it’s a decent B to B+ beer IMO), but Anheuser Busch deserves a good deal of credit for starting the “born on” marketing campaign & making it an issue in the industry.

You scare me.

The same way that wine turns to vinegar, beer will become unpalatable.

I thought it was a bottled date initially, but it was hanging out in the fridge since before then.

So this thread’s subtitle should be; “I found a really old beer in the back of the fridge, should I drink it?”

coronas get that disgusting skunky taste quite often. It has somethin to do with the clear bottle that lets sunlight get in?

Beers from the carribean like Cristal or Presidente are always super fresh! they can’t spit the beers out fast enough to keep the tourists happy…its awesome, can’t wait to travel there again