I got a couple of cases of Miller Lite tall-boys (canned) that are from
1997. I don't know if they were stored in a cool dark place and avoided
sunlight (hope so, though) or not. I opened one and it tased kind of
strong (skunk?). What I really want to know is if these are "safe" to
drink (I realze they won't taste like recenly brewed beer). Somebody
help me out here. Thanx in advance...

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.

>>>I got a couple of cases of Miller Lite tall-boys (canned) that are from
>>>1997.

Lager beers like Miller Lite--should be good for about 6 weeks. But they
should stay chilled.

Jeffray Wazoo wrote:
> I got a couple of cases of Miller Lite tall-boys (canned) that are from
> 1997. I don't know if they were stored in a cool dark place and avoided
> sunlight (hope so, though) or not. I opened one and it tased kind of
> strong (skunk?). What I really want to know is if these are "safe" to
> drink (I realze they won't taste like recenly brewed beer). Somebody
> help me out here. Thanx in advance...
>
If you were able to drink seven year old ML and have to ask if it's
still good... The only help I can offer is Walter Reid Hospital (the
military one in Washington D.C.) may have transplant surgery for folks
who's taste buds were shot off in the war.

I doubt that slugs in the garden or fraternity pledges would drink
that... Pour it down a storm drain!

--
-bill davidsen )
"The secret to procrastination is to put things off until the
last possible moment - but no longer" -me
http://blogs.tmr.com/beer

>> I got a couple of cases of Miller Lite tall-boys (canned) that are from
>> 1997. I don't know if they were stored in a cool dark place and avoided
>> sunlight (hope so, though) or not. I opened one and it tased kind of
>> strong (skunk?). What I really want to know is if these are "safe" to
>> drink (I realze they won't taste like recenly brewed beer). Somebody
>> help me out here. Thanx in advance...
>>
> If you were able to drink seven year old ML and have to ask if it's still
> good... The only help I can offer is Walter Reid Hospital (the military
> one in Washington D.C.) may have transplant surgery for folks who's taste
> buds were shot off in the war.
>
> I doubt that slugs in the garden or fraternity pledges would drink that...
> Pour it down a storm drain!
>
In a slightly more serious vein, I offer the following:

A beer associate of mine in the medical field once was manning a 3-11 or
4-midnight shift of a poison-control center hotline. On this shift, it
happened a newspaper was doing a "day in the life of" article on a "typical"
shift of the place.

The very last call of the shift was a matronly-sounding woman whose husband
had discovered a six-pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon cans under the stairs. The
guy was apparently determined to sit in his chair that night and drink the
whole thing. "At the very minimum, that thing has to be at least seventeen
years old, maybe closer to twenty-five. I'm trying to talk him out of it;
can you tell me if there's anything in old beer that's going to hurt or kill
him?"

The homebrewer took the call: "Ma'am, the canning process pasteurizes the
beer, and there are no human pathogens that can survive in canned beer. So
as long as the cans aren't leaking, bulging, or covered with green slime or
something, it's perfectly safe for him to drink it. However, I'm going to
save him a lot of trouble: it'll taste exactly like seventeen-year-old
PBR!!"