Bars may open, but will you drink the beer?

[Alidiver]

It's only draught beer that you need to be concerned about. Bottled will last about a year if kept out of sunlight, two years if refrigerated. It's the sunlight that break down the taste from the hops.

[Clarkey611]

20 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

I bet most of the beer the bars had in stock was sold off 'under the counter' so to speak when the nationwide booze ban was in place.

I would suggest that most of the bottles and cans disappeared midway through the ban, never to re-appear

[josephbloggs]

Quote

So how ever many days ago the Bars closed down so the fridges went off, so that nice cold beer sat there, now many days on sitting  in the heat. What do you think will happen, the beer will be thrown away or re chilled and served.

So the question is would you drink it, me its a no.  Even when bars shut of the fridge at night and re start the next day, the beer does taste unsavory.

 

Bottled beer sits in warehouses and on ships and lorries all around the world - it is not continuously refrigerated, nor does it need to be.  It is generally chilled when someone fills a fridge to sell it cold.

Maybe a couple of grotty bars will try to sell draught beer that has been sitting in the pipes or an open keg, but I sincerely doubt it - it would be rank.  Kegs will have been emptied.

 

Quote

We know the the Thais do not throw anything away..

Yeah coz farang bar owners are known for throwing away stock - those silly Thais and their stored beer!!  Much better to throw your bottles away.

What a weird post.

[josephbloggs]

3 hours ago, Proboscis said:

I never drink Thai beer. Too many additives, too variable in strength and low quality.

How do you measure the strength and its varience?  Do you have some special equipment or is it your spidey sense?  Would love to know how the Thai beer that comes out of international standard factories varies in strength - please tell.

Not a fan of most Thai beer myself but this thing about varying strength is just nonsense.

Yes, they have adjusted the strength of some beers over time but so have Carlsberg, Heineken, Stella and pretty much every major beer.
 

[Denim]

In the old days , when I used to sometimes frequent a bar , it was never for the drink. I was only ever really interested in the take away service.

[Max69xl]

Just check the bottle of beer when you buy it. You'll see the expiration date and can easily complain. This is nothing to worry about. 

[Purdey]

22 hours ago, Mark17AA said:

So the question is would you drink it

Fill the glass with ice. 

[izod10]

18 hours ago, daveAustin said:

Thais will turn the fridges off/down from one day to the next in high season; there wouldn't be a publican in the land that'd keep it three months. The old stuff would have been parcelled off so shouldn't be an issue. Thai beer is cack nowadays anyway, even fresh. Stick to Beer Lao.

True,but most bars do not stock it,was on draught a few months ago.  Heineken   00 my favourite

[VBF]

3 hours ago, Jaxxper said:

Not an expert , but I think bottled beer is more impacted by sunlight than temperature. I think it depends how the bar stored it.

And oddly enough, the colour of the glass can make a difference. I worked in Egypt years ago and they had a beer called "Stella" (nothing at all like Artois)

We always tried to get cases of beer in green bottles - there was a distinct difference between it and that sold in brown bottles.

The stuff in brown bottles was disgusting - the stuff in green bottles was just bad....you were usually glad when you'd had enough ????

[DJ54]

On 6/9/2020 at 12:58 AM, blackcab said:

It will sit at ambient temperature until the retailer/bar/pub refrigerates it prior to final consumption.

Fair enough... but if refrigerated cold on /off not the best conditions 

[Onrai]

 

Per google search on beer shelf life. 

 

The Average Shelf Life of Beer

Most beers last beyond the printed expiration date on the package. When stored at room temperature, you can expect beer to last for six to nine months beyond the use-by date. Refrigeration increases this time period to up to two years.

[superal]

On 6/9/2020 at 8:26 AM, mtls2005 said:

 

And, produced here or outside of Thailand? 

 

I just looked at a Heineken purchased yesterday at 7/11; fill date 12 Dec 2019. Tasted OK, just a bit off. Nice (only) thing about local beers is the recent fill date, often within 14 days.

 

I'll probably steer clear of draught for a while.

 

 

We have Thai customers in our restaurant who check the bottled date on Leo and Chang and say they do not drink it if it is over 3 months old . I recall 3 or 4 years ago when I opened a Leo and it was flat . The bottled date showed over 5 months old . I think that if beer is left for that amount of time in the ambient heat of Thailand it may well have an effect on it .

[JensenZ]

On 6/8/2020 at 11:58 PM, blackcab said:

Are you talking about draft beer or bottled/canned beer?

 

Almost no draft beer will remain fresh this long if the barrel has been opened.

 

In terms of bottled/canned beer, it sits in ambient temperatures from the day it is bottled/canned. Beer is not stored or transported in temperature controlled conditions.

 

It will sit at ambient temperature until the retailer/bar/pub refrigerates it prior to final consumption.

Yes, but how long will it stay in good condition when the ambient temperature is 30C or higher, the usual room temperature in Thailand.

 

I read this:

 

https://www.newair.com/blogs/learn/does-beer-go-bad#:~:text=The Average Shelf Life of,to up to two years.

 

The Average Shelf Life of Beer

Most beers last beyond the printed expiration date on the package. When stored at room temperature, you can expect beer to last for six to nine months beyond the use-by date. Refrigeration increases this time period to up to two years.

 

Room temperature in Thailand is very high. Without specifying the room temperature, it's anyone's guess as to how long it could last. 

[Oztruckie]

Walked along a fairly popular Pattaya soi the other day on my way to central,noticed a few bars with heaps of beer in their fridges,fridge turned off,i reckon i'll be giving these bars a wide berth once restrictions are lifted.

[Patanawet]

On 6/9/2020 at 2:57 PM, spidermike007 said:

Not a sensible question. All beer would have been sold off long ago, especially once the prohibitions were put into place. So, let's discuss something relevant, please. 

Not a sensible answer.    The bars were given a few hour notice of closing so how did they, and the wholesalers, 'sell off'  'all beer'?

Let's keep comments sensible and not a waste of space, please.

[Patanawet]

On 6/10/2020 at 11:12 AM, Oztruckie said:

Walked along a fairly popular Pattaya soi the other day on my way to central,noticed a few bars with heaps of beer in their fridges,fridge turned off,i reckon i'll be giving these bars a wide berth once restrictions are lifted.

Again I ask, where do you think the bars and wholesaler store their beer before selling it? The fridges only keep beer for immediate sale.

[Don Mega]

On 6/9/2020 at 5:00 PM, phantomfiddler said:

I would say that by the time the bars do open, any bottles of beer from that era will fetch a good price as antiques ????

Hope so, Ive a few boxes here with a March manufacture date

[Don Mega]

3 minutes ago, Patanawet said:

Not a sensible answer.    The bars were given a few hour notice of closing so how did they, and the wholesalers, 'sell off'  'all beer'?

Let's keep comments sensible and not a waste of space, please.

My wholesaler sold beer during the whole ban period, I suspect so did most others.

[Catkiwi]

17 minutes ago, Patanawet said:

Not a sensible answer.    The bars were given a few hour notice of closing so how did they, and the wholesalers, 'sell off'  'all beer'?

Let's keep comments sensible and not a waste of space, please.

and who elected you to the sensible evaluation committee pray tell? They sly grogged it all during the alcohol sales ban, quite simple and very sensible on their collective efforts. 

[spidermike007]

31 minutes ago, Patanawet said:

Not a sensible answer.    The bars were given a few hour notice of closing so how did they, and the wholesalers, 'sell off'  'all beer'?

Let's keep comments sensible and not a waste of space, please.

Are you kidding me? During a nationwide ban on alcohol sales, they could have sold all their beer for double. Prohibition all over again. Everyone would have been lining up. Not at the bar. Just put the word out. Sensible?

[lust]

1 minute ago, spidermike007 said:

Are you kidding me? During a nationwide ban on alcohol sales, they could have sold all their beer for double. Prohibition all over again. Everyone would have been lining up. Not at the bar. Just put the word out. Sensible?

Nope. Many of my friends purchased beer and wine at nearly half the price from bars.

[Don Mega]

2 minutes ago, lust said:

Nope. Many of my friends purchased beer and wine at nearly half the price from bars.

so the bars still made a decent profit then !!

[baansgr]

It's 2 months for God's sake....bottled beer will last over a year at room temperature

[lust]

2 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

so the bars still made a decent profit then !!

Half price of retail cost. 

[Catkiwi]

12 hours ago, lust said:

Nope. Many of my friends purchased beer and wine at nearly half the price from bars.

Lucky them. Our "supplier" was charging double and as I have said before, that is supply and demand simply explained. Whatever the price, grog was readily available and that contributed to a good stock turnover hence little chance of copping a dodgy brew once legal sales resume.

[Catkiwi]

12 hours ago, baansgr said:

It's 2 months for God's sake....bottled beer will last over a year at room temperature

Interested to know the scientific proof of that statement, is there any?

[Don Mega]

12 hours ago, baansgr said:

It's 2 months for God's sake....bottled beer will last over a year at room temperature

If its been through hot and cold cycling it will last a very short time.

[moontang]

On 6/9/2020 at 3:16 PM, JusticeGB said:

Beer sold in wholesalers is sold in cardboard boxes which are at ambient temperatures they are then bought by bars at ambient temperatures and stacked in the fridges as and when needed.  So your idea of so called stale beer doesn't apply to bottled beer. 

Storing it in direct sunlight or high heat ruins it.  Light causes a photochemical reaction to the hops.  There is a reason they put a fill date on every can and bottle.  Cellar temp maybe fine in London, but doesn't work very well in a place without cellars, that is hot as Hell six months out of the year.

[actonion]

Easy enough, i can only speak for bottled Chang beer , it has a sell by and a production date  on the label in very very small print, i have been served many times "off tasting" bottled beer, that is when i found the sell by on the label

[moontang]

18 minutes ago, actonion said:

Easy enough, i can only speak for bottled Chang beer , it has a sell by and a production date  on the label in very very small print, i have been served many times "off tasting" bottled beer, that is when i found the sell by on the label

But the Resumes they are storing it properly.  I won't buy it, if more than two months old, but made some exceptions recently.  When the Heineken brewery is 50km from BKK, there isn't a good reason to buy the old stuff.  For some reason, I doubt there is a Thai word for meticulous.  Currently staying at a "Swedish managed" hotel, and the cig butts in the ashtray on the deck look like they have become petrified.  The Bangkok Post in the hallway is dated January.