There is a bunch of alcohol in my garage that is 20-40 years old.... The point is can alcohol go bad?!
It is hard liquor and scotch and things!.!.!. can it possibly go bad and be harmful!?Www@FoodAQ@Com
Answers:
Hard liquor and scotch will not go bad, provided they are in a closed bottle!. Wine and beer will go bad after 20 years!. (Very few wines can age for 20 years and you need to do this properly, not just leave them in a garage; Cabernet Sauvignon is the only varietal that can really stand up to 20 years of aging)!.
But, I want to get rid of all these myths right now!. The scotch is NOT ANY BETTER!. It's also not any worse!. Look, here's what happens when you make scotch: You basically make an unhopped beer, allowing that to ferment!. The yeast creates some alcohol, but not anywhere near as strong as scotch!. You distill this liquid, concentrating the alcoholic content up to around 62%ABV!. From here, you put this liquid into barrels and allow it to age for atleast 7 years!. Some are aged much longer, 15, 25, 30 years!. At this time, the liquid is cask-strength scotch!. It is diluted with pure water down to the final concentration (generall 40 or 43%)!. If it was left in the oak barrels for 7 years, the bottle says 7 year scotch whisky 2008!. If it was left in a barrel for 25 years, it would say 25 year scotch 2008!.
Suppose you pick up a bottle at the liquor store, and hide a 7 year bottle of scotch for 18 years!. When you "find" it again, is it now 25 years old!? Not quite, while you can see that it was originally made 25 years ago, it has only aged 7 years!. The 18 years spent in a glass bottle does not improve the flavor of the scotch AT ALL!. Not even the slightest possible effect, nothing!. Whisky can *ONLY* age in a barrel!. This is why you see the 25 year old scotches costing much more than a bottle of 7 year old scotch from 1990!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
But, I want to get rid of all these myths right now!. The scotch is NOT ANY BETTER!. It's also not any worse!. Look, here's what happens when you make scotch: You basically make an unhopped beer, allowing that to ferment!. The yeast creates some alcohol, but not anywhere near as strong as scotch!. You distill this liquid, concentrating the alcoholic content up to around 62%ABV!. From here, you put this liquid into barrels and allow it to age for atleast 7 years!. Some are aged much longer, 15, 25, 30 years!. At this time, the liquid is cask-strength scotch!. It is diluted with pure water down to the final concentration (generall 40 or 43%)!. If it was left in the oak barrels for 7 years, the bottle says 7 year scotch whisky 2008!. If it was left in a barrel for 25 years, it would say 25 year scotch 2008!.
Suppose you pick up a bottle at the liquor store, and hide a 7 year bottle of scotch for 18 years!. When you "find" it again, is it now 25 years old!? Not quite, while you can see that it was originally made 25 years ago, it has only aged 7 years!. The 18 years spent in a glass bottle does not improve the flavor of the scotch AT ALL!. Not even the slightest possible effect, nothing!. Whisky can *ONLY* age in a barrel!. This is why you see the 25 year old scotches costing much more than a bottle of 7 year old scotch from 1990!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Lots of answerers here clearly do not understand alcohol ageing, only joex444 seems to have got it right!.
Wine ages in the bottle, and if it is the right wine, stored the right way it can improve!. Most wine will get worse as it ages!.
Beer should pretty much all be drunk young, although there are a few beers that can be aged in bottles, mostly strong bitter like Tim Taylor!.
Spirits do not age in bottle, and last more or less forever unchanged even if opened!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Wine ages in the bottle, and if it is the right wine, stored the right way it can improve!. Most wine will get worse as it ages!.
Beer should pretty much all be drunk young, although there are a few beers that can be aged in bottles, mostly strong bitter like Tim Taylor!.
Spirits do not age in bottle, and last more or less forever unchanged even if opened!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
No No!. Enjoy yourself!. On my grandfather's 65th birthday us grand kids went down to his liquor cabinet and got him his bottle of 20 year old, unopened bottle of vodka!. He said it was the best vodka he had ever tasted!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
well, considering alcohol is basically a bacteria (if im mistaken correct me) therefore it would only get stronger with age, such as wine!. I guess you could say "Drinker beware!.!.!."Www@FoodAQ@Com
Actually, liquor gets better when aged (older)!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Alcohol is a preservative!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
No in fact many alcohols get better as they age!. People pay top dollar for a 60 year old bottle of Scotch for example!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
most likely no for the liquor and scotch!. but for beer yes it can get bad!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
It should be better!. The only liquor that does not get better with age (like after 3-5 years) is tequila!. Enjoy!Www@FoodAQ@Com
it cant go bad, it tastes better with ageWww@FoodAQ@Com