Craft beer bottles on a bar counter.
Food - Drink
Why You Should Pay Attention To The Expiration Date On Beer
By NIKITA EPHANOV
With craft breweries to the left and extensive beer grocery selections to the right, one might say that we’re in a golden era of grabbing a cold one. While drinking at a restaurant or brewery is always great, you have a bit more responsibility at home, and paying attention to the expiration of your beer is the way to guarantee a good sip.
Drinking expired beer isn’t necessarily harmful, but the drink loses its nuances and aroma over time. The best way to find out if beer is past its prime is to check its “packed on” or “bottled on” date; any beer less than three months past this date will be close to its original flavor, and beers from larger breweries may last even longer.
If your six-pack doesn’t have a “bottled on” date, but rather a “best by” date, it's harder to determine whether the flavor and aroma have deteriorated; still, if it’s past the best-by date, it’s better to pass on drinking. Knowing the age of beer is particularly important for hoppy beers, which degrade quicker than other varieties.