If you ask true beer lovers there’s nothing as bad as a flat or a warm beer, so if you left a beer opened for some time it may not be an exciting experience that awaits you.
In this article, I’ll take care of some usual questions people have regarding a flat or beers that have been left opened for quite some time.
I think it would make sense to give some explanation what happens to the beer when it’s left opened and how you can still enjoy the most out of it if it happens.
What happens when you drink flat beer?
When you drink a flat beer you won’t experience the best of it because majority of characteristic aromas and flavors will start to disappear. When the beer goes flat it means that there’s either minimal amount of Co2 left in it or it has completely disappeared.
Flat beer shouldn’t be consumed if you actually care about the taste but can still be a good way to get you drunk if that’s the last option you have. If you homebrewed a flat beer it’s important to understand what led to it, so you can fix it next time.
So in short, for the sake of God brewers, throw it in the trash and open a new bottle. However, if you still want to save it I’ll share a few tips on how to get the best out a flat beer but understand that there’s no real way to make flat warm beer like a fresh one ever again.
Can you rechill the warm beer?
We all know that hot beer isn’t something you’ll want to remember, but what if you put it in a fridge and chill it once again before consuming it? Well, the unopened beer that’s been warm for short time like a couple of hours to a day at mediumly high temperatures, and then rechilled won’t lose any quality. So, yes the warm beer can be rechilled and it will be just as good as a new one in most cases.
However, if you keep the beer warm for weeks or for hours at temperatures over 86°F (30°C) or something similar, it will be ruined and rechilling won’t save it.
Hoppy beers will be first affected by the heat because hops are extremely sensitive to any heat or light exposure.
5 ways to use (save) flat beer
Once the beer loses Co2 and gets warm there’s no way to bring it back to its original shape, but hopefully, there are still a few ways you can use it instead of throwing it out of the window.
1. Make food with it
Beer tiramisu, beer pie, or lamb slowly cooked in beer are some of the ways to use your flat beer. When you add beer to the food it will become flat or warm anyways, so you’ll at least extract its flavors and make the dish manly.
Here are some beer food recipes I found so check them out. Personally, I have tried beer with onion rings, ribs, and chicken, and I have a big wish to try out the stout chocolate pudding. I think I am going to leave one beer unopened overnight by mistake soon.
2. Make a cocktail
When the beer goes flat the only way to resurrect it so to add Co2 to it. If it’s been outside for some time It might have already lost some flavors, but Co2 in combination with cold will mask some imperfections and make it drinkable.
Put your beer in the fridge and cool it, then add some of the following:
- Lots of Sparky soda like Sprite (Co2)
- Orange or apple juice
- Ice cubes
- Vodka (kinda optional)
Mix it all together and you’ll have a decent drink. If you add vodka (maybe gin too) it will certainly make you forget about the flatness.
3. Clean with it
Carpet, microwave, furniture stains and other nasty dirt easily goes off with some beer assistance. Try it out, it really works! Why is beer good for cleaning? I have no idea and I have never cleaned with it, but I have heard some friends mentioning it. After all, this blog is about making and drinking beer, not cleaning the mess after a party.
4. Make your hair shiny and strong
Another thing I have never tried on myself, but my mother used beer to strengthen her hair roots and to make her hair shinier and healthier. This makes sense because there are many beneficial nutrients in a beer that feed the hair follicles and make the hair healthier.
5. Make a beer bath
This is by far the most exciting idea I have. When was the last time you had your beer bath? Did you know that there are places in Prague with beer spa centers? You lie down in a beer pool while you are chugging the finest Czech beer, a truly marvelous experience.
The only problem is that you’ll need like 10 gallons of flat beer to make any kind of a bath. This is perhaps another good idea for reusing bad beer batches.
What exactly happens when you left a beer open?
When a beer is left open, the oxygen enters, and once it does there’s no way to save the beer from degrading. The beer will still be consumable within 48 hours if kept in the fridge and covered with some lid, but it will already after a couple of hours lose some of its characteristics.
Oxygen is dangerous for beer whether the beer is exposed to oxygen during fermentation, in the middle of the bottling process, or after.
Second thing is that the moment you open a beer, some Co2 will immediately escape the beer, and the longer it’s open the sooner it will get flat.
Does the open beer lose alcohol?
The open beer will lose alcohol when left open for more than a few days at temperatures higher than 15C.
For whole alcohol to disappear from the beer it will take at least a couple of weeks at higher temperatures, so you don’t have to worry that your beer from the night earlier will be any weaker.
So, can flat beer still get you drunk?
Oh yes, flat beer can still get you drunk if that’s what you are aiming for. I remember the days when I was a teenager and was desperate to get drunk with friends in the evening. Truth to be told, 2 beers would rock me pretty bad back in the day and I remember drinking flat beer for the sake of getting drunk enough, so the party didn’t feel awful.
Those summer nights were hot, so the beer would naturally get flat sooner than in colder seasons, and the fact we’d bought the beer in those big gallon bottles certainly meant that if you open it and don’t finish it within an hour, it goes terribly flat and warm.
Can you get sick from flat beer?
You can’t get sick from drinking a flat beer, but I’ll get sick from the thought if you tell me you actually did drink it.
There are no harmful pathogens that can be found in a flat beer that’s been open for a few days unless you intentionally store it in the dirtiest place like in a toilet.
The flat beer simply can’t physically hurt you but may cause a gag reflex just as is the case with drinking warm beers.