Jeffray Wazoo wrote:
> What's the maximum lifespan of canned beer? I got a couple of cases of Miller Lite tall-boys
> (canned) that are from > 1997.

Most breweries used to give their beers 3-6 months on the shelf -tho'
most distributors and retailers ignored that rule and, nowadays, with
bottle conditioned beers and beers that DO benefit from some aging in
the bottle, they like to confuse the issue (I've had retailers tell me
that sediment in a filtered, pastuerized mainstream beer is "yeast"
<g>). Hint- Miller Lite does NOT benefit from aging, and starting
downhill the day it was canned. (Some will say it started way at the
bottom of the hill to begin with...).


> I don't know if they were stored in a cool dark place and avoided
> sunlight (hope so, though) or not.

<g> Uh, I don't think one has to worry about sunlight with canned beer.

>I opened one and it tased kind of
> strong (skunk?).

No, "skunk" is lightstruck- you're beer isn't "skunked" (which is more
an aroma, than a taste).

What I really want to know is if these are "safe" to
> drink (I realze they won't taste like recenly brewed beer).

It's "safe"- in that it won't kill you. Why would you want to drink
beer that is 7 or 8 *years* PAST the date that Miller would pull it off
the shelf?

> Somebody
> help me out here.

Gotta compost pile? They say its good for killing slugs the garden
(pour it into saucers, the slugs crawl in and drown). The aluminum cans
are recyclable and sold, or returned in a Mandatory Deposit Law state.