old beer

Well, that's a complicated question- depending on the type of beer, handling, container, etc. BUT in your case, it's simple- the style of beers that are canned (almost exclusively) have a very definite shelf life, altho' it's it differs from brewery to brewery and drinker to drinker. 3-6 months is usually considered the threshold for "fresh" beer.

or if it can > become toxic.

Nope, doesn't ever become toxic, it's just becomes old, stale beer. Usually get cloudy and starts to break down, leaving a sediment, as you've noted below. (In a bottle that's usually easy to see, the can hides it.)

It's only recently that some breweries have been dating their beers so that the consumer can see and understand it. Because the ones doing it the loudest (well, they have the money to) are Coors and Anheuser-Busch, there's been a sort of backlash among less knowledgable beer drinkers that it's all just another marketing gimmick.

There ARE beers that can be "cellared" by the consumer and improve with aging but that does not change the fact that the vaste majority of beer sold is best consumed as fresh as possible.

I'm sure I'll be corrected by someone on this list if I'm wrong, but I once heard a homebrewer who worked for a poison-control center allege that there are no pathogens that can survive in a canned batch of beer, and not likely to be any in any commercially-bottled batches either. Not to say someone couldn't directly contaminate a home-brew bottle, but..........

I think he recounted this statement after the poison-control center he worked with got a call from some woman whose husband found a six-pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon that was, at the minimum, seventeen years old, and he claimed he was going to sit down and drink it all that night. I think his answer was an elaboration of the above, and I remember his specific last words precisely:

"If the cans aren't bulging, leaking, rusty, covered with fertilizer, or whatever, then it'd be perfectly safe to drink. However, I'm going to save him the trouble right now: it's gonna taste like seventeen-year-old Pabst Blue Ribbon!"

On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 09:05:56 -0500, snipped-for-privacy@bcpl.net spoke thusly:

Your friend is correct -- properly sealed beer, in can or in bottle, cannot become toxic. Most beers will taste pretty nasty, though.

On the other hand, I've got some cellered barleywines I'm trying to age a little. I've found most barleywines taste best about two years after bottling.

Thank you all for your useful information. I guess in future I shall not stock up on so much beer again but I will still drink the existing stock until it doesn't taste good when I am thirsty. :-))))) Frank in Aussieland ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, "James Brokaw" wrote in message news:MPG.1a313ce6ce8898d9989692@news... : On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 09:05:56 -0500, snipped-for-privacy@bcpl.net spoke : thusly: : : > I'm sure I'll be corrected by someone on this list if I'm wrong, but I once : > heard a homebrewer who worked for a poison-control center allege that there : > are no pathogens that can survive in a canned batch of beer, and not likely : > to be any in any commercially-bottled batches either. Not to say someone : > couldn't directly contaminate a home-brew bottle, but.......... : : Your friend is correct -- properly sealed beer, in can or in bottle, : cannot become toxic. Most beers will taste pretty nasty, though. : : On the other hand, I've got some cellered barleywines I'm trying to age : a little. I've found most barleywines taste best about two years after : bottling. : : -- : \\\\\ ----> snipped-for-privacy@hedgie.com

I didn't think the Aussie culture allowed beer to stay around longer than a few hours anyway.