Does beer have any "real" expire date?

Well i just found 20 bottles of "krombacher weizen" in my cellar but the expire date is 12-12-08 on them, and that was like a year and a half ago.

My question is, are they still drinkable?

Just look at them as expiring on the 8th of December 2012 and all will be well :)

David, the Star of Israel, you do your people proud with your stinginess ;) ;)

My beer is pretty much expired when I p!ss it away.

One thing that will destroy beer is light... hence the dark bottle.

Another is heat.

The only way to find out is to drink some.

David, be careful that you yourself don't have an expiry date after drinking them ;0 ;)

If in doubt, safety first! They are not antiques that can't be found elsewhere. Krombacher is quite easy to come across.

Wrocław is the voice of reason, I'd go with his advice :)

everything expires except honey i guess

It won't make you sick. It might taste a bit nasty. Pour one, and you'll probably be able to make a fairly quick decision on what to do with the remaining 19.

Thank you all for your response!!

16 bottles to go :D

Beers do have an expiry date.

If the beer has been filtered through a diatomaceous earth pre-coat filter to 'polish' it prior to bottled (and most 'factory beers' are polished with pre-coat filters to take out excess yeast particles), any soluble iron (Fe) leached from the filter-aid promotes the formation of tannins inside the packaged product.

If in a bottle, exposure to sunlight acts to catalyse tannin formation in beer - one reason why traditional tasty high yeast content beers have to be put in coloured/dark glass bottles. In contrast the factory lager beers have been polished to such an extent (ie filtered to remove yeasts and other particulates almost to the extent that the beer flavour is removed), that lager beers take longer to expire.

In non-technical terms the beer will taste 'off' if expired due to the ageing of the yeasts and soluble iron-induced oxidation and promotion of tannins. To keep packaged beers fresher for longer - keep them cold and in the dark !

David, beer has expiration date. Although I can understand you feelings about 20 bottles of krombacher. ;) Try one if it tastes sour then throw it away, if it tastes ok then either drink it or if don't want taking a risk use it in cooking or in sauna. :)

I've just drunk some Czech Budweiser which was 14 months old and it tasted fine. There's no such thing as bad beer.......

Its Budvar!

Beer doesnt have an expiry date, it has a best before date.....

There is, but after 20 bottles you don't notice it any more. ;)

I always went by 3 months.after that it's time to get a fresh brew but first I drink up what I had left from the old one which most time there wasn't any.

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Beer is fine upto about 7 months if kept in a cool dry place away from sunlight.

I have a beer in my hand, and the label on the back reads: 18-10-10. I've bought them yesterday, so you can do the math?

definitely not so my advice is that you send it to me for the proper disposal. ;) :D

The beer actually tasted better then before.

But i did find some wierd white stuff in the bottom of 2 bottles that i didn't drink.

that white stuff is the residue from the hops.the fermentation process is still at work.

Its yeast not hop. Good wheat beer allways has it on the bottom, for optimal taste you "wash it out" with the last few drops of beer by turning the bottle in your hands and fill it in a glas.

Those are all the vitamins that make a hefe the glorious creation that it is. Might want to google "how to pour a hefeweizen", I think the paulaner bottles have instructions on proper yeast removal technique.

The question should be who in their right mind keeps beer for this length of time, without it being drunk, those bottles have been shouting let me out let me out! for all those years and you do nothing.

This is a serious kidnapping offence and should not go unreported, crime stoppers should be informed of this.

The hops in the beer end up degrading. Since the style of a Weiss is usually under hopped it will probably taste ok. More hops would have meant more change in flavor. Less hops would mean less change of flavor. However, hops are a preservative, so, who knows!

Yeast or hops???? All I know is, beer is good and refreshing and with a beer fridge in my rec room,I really don't have it to worry about the settling on the bottom of the bottle.

sure what have you got to lose?
go for it and let us know the result after you've drunk the lot

yeast

can't be any different like, when a bottle of wine is opened and sits for a while.Soon there is sediment at the bottom of the bottle.nothing wrong with the wine--run it thru a coffee filter and you have a nice ,clear bottle of wine.I've done it many times and I am still here.

Wheat beer is normally unfiltered. You will only see separation in a filtered lager if it's been sitting around for decades.

Yupp they were all drinkable except the 2 bottles with the wierd stuff in it.

Mysterium solved :)

If i'm not mistaken the "weird stuff" in Polish is called "fusy"