Would you drink old, opened booze?

[FixedGear]

So I have this problem where i buy tons of booze, even though I rarely drink it. This means I have a giant collection of opened bottles that are basically full. I have been keeping them in my fridge. However, I got to thinking tonight and am wondering if they're OK to consume.

The scientist in me tells me it should be OK because the alcohol content would prevent any life from existing in there (i.e., bacteria). However, the nerd in me got me doing a bit of gooling, and it seems that opened booze only lasts for some months after opening - presumably as a result of oxidation etc. resulting from contact with oxygen? I can see this *possibly* degrading the flavor, but I can't see it making it unsafe.

What do you think - would you drink old, opened booze? How old of stuff would you drink?

[spikerS]

spirits, yes, I don't care how old it is.

beer, over a year old, no.

[Maxx Mazda]

I've drank scotch that was in a crystal bottle for about 15 years (no it wasn't mine, I'm not baller) and it was amazing. You'll be fine.

[syscal]

With those prices?!?!

drink it

[bourge73]

Bring it over I ll test it for you first
You know to make sure it's ok....

[CompletelyNumb]

Sealed, in a fridge? I wouldn't worry one bit.

[carson blocks]

Hard liquor is fine. I've got opened bottles well over 10 years old and they're as good as the day they were opened. I don't keep them in the fridge either, just in a cabinet at room temp. I'm pretty particular about food safety and don't worry about this a bit.

[theken]

Alcohol is not a very welcoming environment for bacteria that will harm you.

[Black Gts]

Originally posted by spikerS
spirits, yes, I don't care how old it is.

beer, over a year old, no.
An open beer anywhere near a year? Lol I'm sceptical in the morning (my choice depends on how many are in the fridge)

[NoPulp]

Hard liquor is fine for a very long time.
Things like beer should be consumed fairly quickly (even unopened), leaving it opened in the fridge is a sin...

[Graham_A_M]

I'll take one for the team and give you the thumbs up or thumbs down on each and every bottle :D

But seriously, beer, the next day is the max... even then it's nasty and flat. but anything hard, Jeez that shit would outlast a holocaust. If it did have an expiry, it would likely read best before Jan 1st 2200. :rofl:

[spikerS]

Originally posted by Black Gts

An open beer anywhere near a year? Lol I'm sceptical in the morning (my choice depends on how many are in the fridge)

LOL, no, if a beer sat open for more than an hour I would just dump it out. I am talking about an unopened can in the fridge.

[FixedGear]

I don't ever drink day-old beer

but if I ever wake up and find an opened (but still full) La Fin Du Monde, or even an AGD, I usually use it to make beer brats the next day. I can't stand to waste stuff haaha

[firebane]

Beer is meant to be cold and same hour if opened.

Hard liquor just gets better with age.

[adamc]

I found a bottle of crown royal at my cottage in Ontario, from 1964..
My grandparents weren't big drinkers, so it was about 90% full.

Of course I had to pour myself four fingers. Didn't quite taste the exact same as a brand new bottle, but it was definitely drinkable!

[ercchry]

Originally posted by firebane


Hard liquor just gets better with age.

it really shouldnt do anything once its been bottled...

[spikerS]

Originally posted by ercchry


it really shouldnt do anything once its been bottled...

I don't know too much about it, but I know I made some wine that was not so good when I bottled it, but 10 months after I bottled it, it was awesome.

[ercchry]

Originally posted by spikerS


I don't know too much about it, but I know I made some wine that was not so good when I bottled it, but 10 months after I bottled it, it was awesome.

yeah thats going to depend on your process i think, but a 1960s bottle of xxxxx bottled in 1964 is not equal to a 1960s bottle bottled in 2015... its the barrel thats developing the flavor profile, once its i glass it has nothing more to absorb

as for your wine, im not too up on the whole home brew process, but i'd guess you had some sort of mix and you fermented it in a glass vat? so once you bottled you still had all the same pieces of the puzzle, so it probably mellowed and the flavor pack or whatever was fully extracted into the mixture... that sort of thing does take time. where as with a spirit its pretty tasteless till its aged, and for that aging to actually produce a change it needs something to draw flavor from (ie. the barrel)

[RX_EVOLV]

Even an open bottle of Baileys that's > 5 yrs old?

[ercchry]

Originally posted by RX_EVOLV
Even an open bottle of Baileys that's > 5 yrs old?

thats not a spirit, its a liqueur... so different, but yeah that whole cream thing... i dunno... but i have drank some pretty old baileys and im not dead :rofl:

[dirtsniffer]

Wine definitely has the ability to change and age in a glass bottle.

[FixedGear]

Originally posted by adamc
I found a bottle of crown royal at my cottage in Ontario, from 1964..
My grandparents weren't big drinkers, so it was about 90% full.

Of course I had to pour myself four fingers. Didn't quite taste the exact same as a brand new bottle, but it was definitely drinkable!

Damn, that's pretty sweet! :bigpimp:

[legendboy]

As stated liquor your good. Most beer has an expire date
Drinking old beer can actually be really bad for your health

[carson blocks]

Wine changes and ages because it's just fermented, not distilled, and still has enzymes etc. that can 'work' in the bottle. Most of that is removed by the distillation process that hard liquors go through, so they're much more stable than wines. The hard liquor has a much higher alcohol concentration as well, to hold off any biological processes from starting.

On a related note, a friend gave me a bag of craft beers to try 1.5 years ago, have been stored in the dark at room temperature, unopened of course. Chill and drink, or toss?

[Black Gts]

Open and smell? Then taste lol

[ercchry]

Got some fancy Belgium beer once... it had an expiry date on it... 2 years. It was over $10/bottle at the liquor store so i savored it slowly over that 2 year window and it was just as good the last time i had it as it was the first... shit, i think i might even still have a bottle :rofl:

[ZenOps]

Got a one year old case of La Fin Du Monde 9% beer that I'm going to crack open soon.

I've heard that tripels can be stored up to two years, and the flavour changes ever so slightly (for the better) Beers below 6% probably should not be stored for that long.

[Graham_A_M]

Originally posted by carson blocks


On a related note, a friend gave me a bag of craft beers to try 1.5 years ago, have been stored in the dark at room temperature, unopened of course. Chill and drink, or toss?
chill and drink. Should still be good.