Does Beer Go Bad? 6 Things to Know Before You Buy Your Next 6-Pack (Especially at the Grocery Store)

How to tell when beer has gone bad, according to a certified expert.

Published May 16, 2024

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Does beer go bad? We chatted with Zach Mack, a Certified Cicerone and the owner of Alphabet City Beer Co. in New York City, about everything you need to know to make sure your next haul stays fresh. Take notes.

1. Yes, beer can go bad

“Definitely,” Mack says when asked if beer can spoil. “You have to look at it as the freshness of this as something like bread or like a food product because that’s what it is.”

What does skunked beer taste like? You’ve probably encountered it before. Mack describes it as a “skunky smell like fresh-cut grass or weed or skunk spray.” Basically, rotten beer.

2. Cans store better than bottles

The three enemies of fresh beer: “Heat, air and light,” Mack says.

Now that cans are the preferred vessel for many beers, light exposure isn’t as much of an issue as it used to be. But it can still spoil beer in bottles.

buy better beer gear patrol lead full — Bottles let in more light than beer, so be extra judicious about storage if you’re saving a stout for a rainy day.

“Hops are photosensitive and they’re also sensitive to air, just like everything that breaks down in beer,” Mack says. “Even when beer is sealed in a can, and cans are better vessels than bottles, it still has some exposure to air that’s going to break down the compounds.”

3. Look for an expiration date

When buying beer, knowing how to spot beer that’s expired is crucial. “Nine times out of ten, turn the can over and look at the bottom,” Mack says. “Usually they print right on it the date that it was canned unless stated otherwise. If it just gives you a date and it’s recent, you can assume that’s the canned-on date.”

For bottles, especially those from larger breweries, Mack says to check the neck to see if there’s a bottled-on date or best-by date. Occasionally it’s on the bottom of the label, tucked away in the corner near the barcode or the address and information.

4. Be extra careful at the grocery store

We’ve all seen those giant stacks of beer cases in supermarkets and grocery stores. That’s a good sign there’s going to be some too-old beer there.

“The big tell is those huge stacks. You’re inevitably going to be left with a bunch of beer that’s old.”

“The big tell is those huge stacks. You’re inevitably going to be left with a bunch of beer that’s old,” Mack says. “If you’re ever in a place where there’s big stacks of beer, double-check the codes on those because that’s a huge tell that there’s going to be a good amount of expired beer.”

5. Style matters

Generally speaking, fresher beer is better beer, but some beers lend themselves to aging and some don’t at all. Mack says beer styles that rely on hop flavor are the most susceptible to going bad quickly.

“IPAs are very much the most sensitive style to aging because hops die off exponentially quickly,” he says.

“IPAs are very much the most sensitive style to aging because hops die off exponentially quickly.”

That’s because IPAs depend on hops for their flavor, and hops are photosensitive. Because of this, IPAs should typically be drunk within three or four weeks after canning or bottling, maximum. Not only will it taste different as time goes on, but it will also produce some pretty rank off-flavors.

“The oxidized taste that people talk about is if you’ve ever grabbed an IPA that’s been in your fridge too long and opened it without realizing, it tastes a lot like paper or cardboard. That oxidized flavor comes right through and it’s pretty nasty,” Mack says.

Beers like bourbon barrel-aged stouts, pilsners, sours — all styles not reliant on hops for flavor — age gracefully and should stay good long enough to drink.

6. Ask what’s new

Mack has a golden rule when buying beer: just talk to the person working. A good thing to ask, he says, “Do you guys have anything you just got in this week that you really like?”

“Most times the staff love that because they can say, ‘Oh yeah. This is brand new and we really like it.'” he says. “It’s a quick way to find out what really came through.”