298639 Wed Sep 29 12:01:17 -0700 2004 21 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1652002 I put beer and soft drinks in the fridge for company but have quite a bit left over. My hubbie and I are wine drinkers so it would take forever to finish off what's left. Can I "unrefrigerate" the beer and soda and then re-refrigerate them at some other time? Wed Sep 29 12:01:17 -0700 2004 0 sj 1 1652005 beer, no. the yeast will turn on you and ruin th etaste, if not pose health risks. Soda. Well, it's got born on dating as well now. Especially for DIET soda. the regular stuff can handle about three months out, before consumption. Wed Sep 29 12:06:27 -0700 2004 1652002 0 Frank 2 1652007 "beer, no. the yeast will turn on you and ruin th etaste, if not pose health risks." Not true. Wed Sep 29 12:13:56 -0700 2004 1652005 0 Jim Dorsch 1 1652008 The beer will definately get "skunky" if you do that. We had the same issues until recently, when we got a small fridge for the den that is devoted to cold drinks for the guests, and cold water bottles for us to grab before a trip. It wasn't as expensive as we thought it would be, of course it costs electricty too but we haven't noticed a bigger bill. Before getting the mini fridge, beer and pop would sit in our fridge taking up space for long periods, with my GERD I don't often drink beer like I used to, and my wife would complain mightly about it, so it worked for us. Wed Sep 29 12:15:10 -0700 2004 1652002 0 PenskeFan 2 1652182 What is "GERD?" Thu Sep 30 14:20:23 -0700 2004 1652008 0 dj 3 1652323 "gastroesophageal reflux" Fri Oct 01 12:00:01 -0700 2004 1652182 0 Tom Hall 1 1652012 The beer will definitely be safe to drink but you certainly want to avoid frequent changes in temperature. As another poster says, it tends to give the beer an off taste (i.e. skunky). It does take awhile to develop however so taking the beer out of the fridge for a week or so and then re-chilling it should have no effect. Wed Sep 29 12:22:01 -0700 2004 1652002 0 Bob Martinez 1 1652014 the beer thing isn't a safety issue, but if you go cold, warm, cold with beer it WILL taste like sh**. skunked beer is an all so true animal. trust me on this one. Wed Sep 29 12:33:59 -0700 2004 1652002 0 rap 1 1652015 I pretty much agree with Frank. Soda has a shelf life, cola for example will turn clear or the color settles to the bottom, and there is a flat taste. Most if not all of the soda I purchase has an expiration date. I have a six pack of cola in bottles, I saved because of the bottles and caps and another few because they were football specials. They are turning clear. Beer should be kept cool or cold for its entire life. Allowing beer to warm then cool can negatively affect its taste. And, as Frank wrote, some beers will become cloudy, I have had that experience with two different brands. Beer also has a shelf life, once you have had a stale beer, you will try to avoid it. My parents and most of my aunts have tried to store beer and soda for company. I now check before drinking soda at relatives. I pour the soda into a glass, at first, one of my aunts thought "they" changed cola to clear. Wed Sep 29 12:35:04 -0700 2004 1652002 0 Alan408 1 1652016 Sure, if you like Skunky beer. Wed Sep 29 12:35:23 -0700 2004 1652002 0 MidtownCoog 1 1652022 Let me put it up front, I'm a beer snob. I brewed it for years as well, so I'm pretty familiar with the product. Beer turns "skunky" not so much from warmth, but from a chemical process involving light and hop oils. That's why green and clear bottle imports have that horrendous taste if not protected. Beer should be kept cool, but cellar temperature is fine and all beer in England USED TO BE served this way. Unfortunately there has been a trend over there away from real ales and towards crap beer. In some rare cases the yeast can turn on you in the bottle. In this case it means that yeast that haven't totally gone dormant seek additional sugars for reproduction and respiration. In absence, they consume their own. This Autolysis doesn't cause a skunky flavor, but instead a rubbery taste. Quite nasty. Most beer however, will last some time. THe higher alcohol/more complex, the longer it will last. I've had no ill effects taking these beers out of a fridge and sticking them in a closet away from heat. If for some reason, I wanted a beer in a green bottle - Pilsner Urquell for example, I'd get a 12 pack that was enclosed in cardboard. open six packs and any bottle other than brown are bad news for beer. Once a beer is skunked, it can't be saved. Experiment: Take a fresh micro brew beer and put a little in a glass in the sun. Guaranteed that within a few minutes it will take that flavor on. It doesn't take long and I'd suspect that most skunky beers get that way soon after they are placed on the shelves. It's my theory for why limes are offered with Corona. In Mexico, we never saw the need to mask the taste of Sol, which was bottled in the town we were staying. Chris in Vienna (VA, not Austria). Wed Sep 29 12:56:49 -0700 2004 1652002 0 Chris in Vienna 2 1652027 thank you for providing some much needed info. I get SO sick of people saying that beer goes bad on its own, and this new nonsense they have about labeling bottling dates. It's made all the worse by these "Trust me, I know" people.... arg. Wed Sep 29 13:36:48 -0700 2004 1652022 0 bigskulls 3 1652131 I don't think it's such a bad idea to put dates on the package. Beer can hold up nicely for several months, but fresher certainly is better, at least for conventional strength beers, particularly if filtered. It's entirely possible for a year-old six-pack to languish on a retailer's shelf, although that would probably be a somewhat obscure brand. Anheuser-Busch is promoting their bottling date lately to differentiate themselves from their main competitors. I think A-B beer is on average 12 days fresher, or something like that. Thu Sep 30 06:56:34 -0700 2004 1652027 0 Jim Dorsch 2 1652075 Have you been to Czech Republic for the unfiltered, unpasteurized beer tapped right in front of you from the old barrel at the Pilsner Urquell brewery? Worth the trip! Wed Sep 29 17:10:35 -0700 2004 1652022 0 julesrules 1 1652023 The easier solution would be give the soda to a youth shelter, and send the beer to me. ;-) Wed Sep 29 13:12:48 -0700 2004 1652002 0 Bobfrmia 1 1652024 Chris is absolutely right on all points. The only problem I can imagine with taking the beer out of the fridge and letting it get warm up is that it may screw with the seal in capped or swing-top bottle, leaving the beer flat. Unlikely situation, probably. Wed Sep 29 13:15:13 -0700 2004 1652002 0 mod'ern 2 1652036 Funny you should mention the seal thing on caps. I've had this problem with Sierra Nevada and others that use those screw caps. Not all the time, mind you, but enough to make me committ to the beer staying in the fridge if it goes in once. My corked beers never see the inside of a fridge, so I can't comment on those. The bottom line is that good beer that is handcrafted or live, meaning unfiltered and full of yeasties, needs proper handling. I would dare say that cellaring certain beers can take on the same level of care as say wine cellaring. I buy all my beer from a place called "Norm's beer and wine" in VA. I rarely buy supermarket offerings. Norm and his staff know how to handle and store both wine and beer, and that is a big plus for me. I enjoy both good beer and good wine, and when they ensure that they did their job storing it, I can rest assured that I'll be getting something close to what the brewer/vintner intended. Wed Sep 29 13:51:12 -0700 2004 1652024 0 Chris in Vienna 3 1652148 Chris, Where is Norm's? I live in Arlington, and would love to find a beer store that rivals the wine shop I frequent. I have been aging some Thomas Hardy from the mid to late 90's. Hopefully they will be ready to drink soon. Thu Sep 30 10:33:50 -0700 2004 1652036 0 Sthitch 4 1652160 Norm's is off maple avenue in the Danor shopping plaza in Vienna. It's the shopping center right next to the Giant/CVS/Michael's shopping center on Maple. If you were coming from Tysons, you'd stay on Chain Bridge until it turned into maple. Norm's is actually at 136 Branch Rd. SE, Vienna, VA 22180. It's in a dive of a strip mall with a BBQ joint, a Duron paint store, a blockbuster, and a fabric store among other strange offerings. It's right next to Le Canard nestled in the corner of the shopping center. The guys working the front counter are usually stoner like guys, but Norm is in often as is one of his friends who know beer and wine. Whole foods down the street has a large selection as well - especially of singles. Norm had a bunch of TH as well as Samiclaus sitting around a few weeks ago. Right now he's hawking the various O'fests and is starting to get the larger holiday offerings in. Thu Sep 30 11:41:49 -0700 2004 1652148 0 Chris in Vienna 5 1652167 Thanks, I am going to head out that way this weekend anyway, so it will be one of my stops. I know the shopping center (I have had to suffer through both the BBQ joint and Le Canard). Thu Sep 30 12:28:18 -0700 2004 1652160 0 Sthitch 6 1652171 BBQ joint: What's the deal with this place. I wanted to try it only because every weekend morning the smell of wood being fired up intrigues me. Maybe the wood was the best thing on the menu? Le Canard: Not good, huh? I can't judge restaurants based on being in a strip mall, because, well, they all are in strip malls it seems. I've been out here for 4 months (prior to that it was 8 years in DC) so I'm trying to get acclimated. Thu Sep 30 12:46:58 -0700 2004 1652167 0 Chris in Vienna 7 1652179 I won't say that Le Canard is awful, the room is tired, the food is the same, nothing has ever stood out. I am not against it because it is in a strip mall, there are some very good restaurants tucked into non-descript strip malls. I have not been to the BBQ place (i believe it is called BBQ Country Jamboree) in several years, and maybe I was a bit tough on them. I found the meat to inconsistant, sometimes good and moise, other times dry. It was usually flavorful, but was so dry it screamed for sauce. I did really like the beans, which had the pork in it. There are plenty of other places that are worse. Just think, you are not far from 7 Corners and the Eden Center. Thu Sep 30 13:43:49 -0700 2004 1652171 0 Sthitch