Beer Going Flat? Do This Instead Of Pouring It Down The Drain

There are several reasons why beer goes flat — the most common for beer we have at home being simple age and temperature fluctuations. Changing temperatures — especially warmer temperatures — causes a release of the beer's carbon dioxide. With age, that CO2 becomes a lot less active, too — and it doesn't discriminate. Even the best, most popular beers will suddenly become less pleasant to imbibe if their bubbles are gone. But that doesn't necessarily mean all hope is lost. After all, the beer's flavor is still there, so what if there was a trick to repurpose that flavor and enjoy it in a way that doesn't involve drinking disappointingly foam-less beer?

One genius solution is to make beer ice cubes. That's right, just pour that flat beer into your ice tray. You may be wondering if it will actually freeze, considering many of us store things like vodka in the freezer. That's because the higher content of alcohol present, the lower that drink's freezing point. Beer's average ABV range is about 4% to 7% and even boozier beers will freeze unlike a strong spirit, so it's easy to make ice cubes from whatever flat beer you're dealing with. Then, you can use that beer all different fun ways. There are plenty of creative ways to cook with beer, so it's worth saving those cubes for those meals. You can also use beer cubes to cool beer cocktails. You can even chill fresh beer with beer cubes to avoid watering it down, unlike with traditional ice.

When creating these cubes, make sure the beer's only fault is flatness and not an off-flavor like skunkiness. A skunked beer is one that has been exposed to UV rays of light and develops an unmistakable smell. If you freeze skunked beer, you'll only have skunky ice cubes. It's also important to pour beer out into ice trays rather than just freezing it in its cans. As it freezes, the beer expands and could eventually explode. 

If you freeze flat, un-skunked beer, you'll have the beer's tasty flavor to reuse. Pour it into a tray, and then whenever you want to use it, pop out however many cubes you need. This is great if you want to make beer-simmered bratwurst, for example, as you can let your cube slowly melt back into fully flavor-concentrated beer on your stove. You can even roast veggies in beer, mix the brew into mustard, or marinate your steak in it.

Beer ice cubes are a delicious flavor burst for cocktails, too — they'll keep them cool without watering them down. Try them with a hefeweizen "beer-tail," a super-garnished michelada, or make a "beer-mosa." You may have heard Gen Z imbibers are putting ice into their beer to create lighter, cooler brews. If you balked at that but can't argue that it sounds refreshing, pop your beer ice cubes into your next lager. You'll get an extra cold beer with even more flavor.