How long can you store beer before it goes bad?

A large factor in storing beer, other than temperature is light exposure. Hence they bottle most beer in dark brown bottles. You will notice that beer kept in a controlled environment in dark bottles will last longer than those in clear ones.

Wine is not the only drink that can be aged for maturation. Many beers benefit from extended aging. We're not talking about your average beer with a mere shelf life of 3-6 months, tops -- before quality begins to degrade. We're talking about beers that beg for maturation and strict storage like vintage beers, barleywines, imperial stouts, Belgian strong ales, lambics, old ales and so on. Ideally, any type of beer that can be laid-down for a year or two, or even more, in order to build a slew of complexities and thus further its character in a positive way. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/101/store.php

This isnt a scientific answer ,but I found a six pack of Ancor Steam Beer in the walls of an old house that was torn down. It was at least sixty years old , maybe older. (glass bottles) One of the occupants in the house drank it ( About a $1000 drink) It was just fine... (he stated) hope this helps

Due to the perservative qualities of alcohol and hop oil, no known pathogens (microorganisms which can kill you) can live in beer. So, it's not so much an issue of the beer going bad over time, as it is a matter of when it will taste best. As with some wines (Beaujolais Nouveau and Champaign, for instance), most beer is intended to be drunk young. This is why many beer companies have recently added "freshness dating" to their packaging. You might note, though, that although the date of brewing or bottling might be given, there is no indication of how long after that date the beer will still be good. This is because such "freshness dating" is largely a marketing ploy. Most top-fermented ales are intended to be drunk fresh. In other words, they are ready to be drunk as soon as they are done fermenting. This category includes, for example, pale ales, porters and stouts. Bottom-fermented lagers are put in cool storage (lager is the German verb for store or warehouse) to ferment and clarify for a number of weeks or months, after which they are bottled or kegged and ready for drinking. This category includes, for example, American standard lagers (Budweiser, Miller, Coors, etc.), light lagers, dark lagers, black beers, bocks and doublebocks (doppelbocks). With age, the character of some strong ales will change. This happens due to the fact that higher alcohols, the ones that give strong beers a sharp "alcohol bite," will break down over time into lower alcohols, causing the beer to mellow. Some beers are brewed with this in mind. Russian Imperial Stout was originally brewed in the 1700s in England for the court of the Tsar of Russia in St. Petersburg. In order to survive the trip by ship and still taste good, it was made with a high alcohol content. The same is true of the original Bass Ale, which was intended to be shipped to English troops in India (the origin of India Pale Ale). Note, please, that Bass Ale is no longer brewed with such a high alcohol content, and numbers among the ales which should be drunk young. Some British barleywine and strong ales and strong Belgian ales like dobbels and trippels do well with age. In fact, there it is common practice to print on the labels of Belgian ales how long they should be kept. Some of the best beers from Belgium have labels that say (in Flemmish and French "Met smaakevolutie/Au gout olutif," litterally translating to "with evolving flavor," indicating that their flavor will change over time. The strongest say "De houdbaarheid van dit bier is onbegrensd/La qualité de cette bière se maintenant indefiniment," or "The quality of this beer will last forever." So, the ability of a beer to age depends largely on its alcohol content, and aging is mostly a matter of flavor change, not of spoilage. Actually, the usual way for beer to spoil is for its hop oils to break down into volitile compounds with give the beer off flavors and aromas, most commonly a skunky smell. "Skunked" beer, however, is not the result of time; this breakdown of hop oils is due to exposure to light and heat and can happen in as little time as a few hours. In fact, the process will begin as soon as the beer is exposed to light. To combat this, breweries bottle their beers in dark bottles. Clear bottles are worst, green is bad, brown is good, and some Belgian breweries actually use ceramic coated, completely opaque bottles. Some also use case boxes and six-pack containers which fully enclose the bottles, rather than allowing them to stay open at the top. When buying beer in clear or green bottles, then, reach to the back of the shelf, or if as in many stores, the shelf is open at the back to a lighted walk-in refrigerator, take your beer from the middle. Note that because of the dangers of light exposure, it is a shame that some good beers, such as Samuel Smith's and Newcastle are bottled in clear bottles. It may be good marketing to allow customers to see the actual color of the beer, but it's bad for the beer. It's a real bummer to spend $8 to $12 on a FOUR-pack of Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter, or $3 on a single bottle of Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome Ale, only to get it home and find it is "skunked." And I don't know why Grolsch packages its beer in green bottles, as to my experience, this otherwise fine beer is always "skunked" when purchased in a store.

Some of the beliefs concerning beer going bad have to do with beers that are made with natural fermentation. There are always some sugars that remain unconverted to CO2 during carbonization. As fermentation continues in the storage container, dormant yeast settle to the bottom. Some people consider the appearance of the yeast to be a sign that the beer has gone bad. It's usually quite good, you just have to pour with a steady hand.

When my mom used to buy beer, she always said on the way home that we needed to kill this 12 pack or there would be hell to pay. And if dad was home when we got there, well, that would always mean another trip out for more beer. They both said beer was as good as it would last. So I guess beer goes bad in 1 day/24 hours? I am not sure about the storing bit. I have seen 12 packs last for days before being drunk/consumed. And no one ever complained about the tastiness of the beer, ever. Mostly complaints were about where it was drunk, or how soon someone had to go to work while it was being drunk. Call me crazy, but I don't think beer ever goes bad, that is, based upon my experience with my parents "beer storage strategy". :)

how bout this i had a 24 pack of busch light (classy right?) in the bed of my truck for a week and its been pretty hot here lately so when i opened the back (its a covered top) it was a all humid and smelled of beer probably becasue of empties the beer was pretty warm which i drank anyway because im used to drinkning celler temputure beer. but i had a stomach ache later that night and the next day more than just a hangover and i only drank like 3. is there anyway the beer went bad or am i crazy

I appreciate all these good answers, I surely learned some things about one of my favorite subjects. I would never have known because beer doesn't last very long around my house. I can say that in the past I have experienced beer that was obviously old or had gone bad for some reason, my friends and I called it "skunky". I can also relay that a beer that has been frozen and then thawed does not taste right, something changes.

"If you see a beer, do it a favour, and drink it. Beer was not meant to age." Generally, that is true. The average 'normal' beer has a mere shelf life of 3-6 months tops, before quality begins to degrade. However, some beers that are strong and/or highly hopped must age to reach their full flavor potential. Special beers like vintage beers, barleywines, imperial stouts, Belgian strong ales, lambics, old ales etc need maturation and can be laid-down for a year or two, or even more. In general, beer should be stored in a cool place. In warmer climates this often means refrigeration and you get used to letting your beer warm a little before you drink it. Cooler climates often use cellars to store beer which works quite well. As long as temperatures are kept between 35F(2C) and 60F(15C) you're probably OK. Keep in mind that storing at the warmer end of this scale will increase any aging effects since any yeast remaining in the beer will be more active. This is a Good Thing if you're aging a barleywine but will cause lower gravity beers to go "stale" sooner. In any case, stored beer should never be exposed to heat or strong light.