How long is beer drinkable after it is brewed and canned?

Answer 1

It's hard to put an exact time on how long it is good for. Their are alot of factors. Light, temperature and the strength of the beer all affect how long it will last. If refrigerated, the storage time is substantially improved. Light also affect the shelf life. Normally the darker (greener bottles help as well) the bottle, the less light that will actually penetrate it. Lastly the stronger the beer, generally translates into a longer shelf life. Anyway you cut it, beer does not improve with age once processed. So there is not much advantage in trying to store it.

Answer 2

Since you said canned, I take it you're not talking about homebrewed beer. Canned beer has a longer shelf life than bottled beer, especially beer bottled in green or colorless bottles, which allow more light that can spoil the beer to pass through. (Almost every skunky beer I've ever tasted has come in a green bottle.) Canned beer can last for many months -- even years -- on the shelf with little noticeable deterioration. (Of course, some beer is so bad, it's hard to tell whether it has deteriorated or was meant to taste that way to begin with!) Since there is no live yeast in large-distribution macrobrews, those beers cannot improve with age, unlike live-yeast homebrews. My homebrews have lasted for over six months in the fridge -- and tasted awesome. Perhaps other homebrewers would like to weigh in here and tell us how long their brews last. It also depends on the style. The heavier bottled conditioned beers (with live yeast) such as barley wine belgian trippel and imperial stout often takes 6 months or more just to be ready to drink, and can age nicely over a year or 2

Answer 3

Assuming it is kept cool and dark, canned and bottled beer is good for about four months before it begins to taste "stale" - at six months, it is obvious it is "around the bend".

Answer 4

I don't remember... I'm drunk!