Beer question from a teetotaler

[AllThatJazzZ]

I LOVE fried green tomatoes, but they're always so hard to find. Fortunately, I've found that H-E-B has been carrying them for the past couple of months. I love to fry them up in beer batter, and that meant I had to buy beer. Question: Can I store them (individual serving bottles) at room temp in my pantry or do they need to be refrigerated? They have an expiration date on them. Do I really need to pay attention to it? I appreciate any advice y'all can give me. 

[The_Reader_David]

Sealed bottles of beer can be stored at room temperature.  (Our nearby liquor store has a lot of high-end beers that move at lower volume on shelves, with the low- to middle-end beers is a refrigerator so they can be enjoyed immediately when purchased and taken home.)  Especially for use in cooking, you can ignore the expiration date, though you might not want to ignore it by years.

[Bigun]

Sealed bottles of beer can be stored at room temperature.  (Our nearby liquor store has a lot of high-end beers that move at lower volume on shelves, with the low- to middle-end beers is a refrigerator so they can be enjoyed immediately when purchased and taken home.)  Especially for use in cooking, you can ignore the expiration date, though you might not want to ignore it by years.

That is correct except for Coors which is supposed to be kept refrigerated at all times according to them anyway.

[mountaineer]

Agree with David. If you're using it only for cooking, it will be okay if kept at room temperature past the "best by" date on the packaging, but it will get skunky after too long. Beer also can be used in bread and cake recipes, if you need some help getting rid of that six pack. When we owned Anheuser Bush stock, they included recipes in the magazine they sent to us. I can share a few here, if you like.

[roamer_1]

Agree with David. If you're using it only for cooking, it will be okay if kept at room temperature past the "best by" date on the packaging, but it will get skunky after too long. Beer also can be used in bread and cake recipes, if you need some help getting rid of that six pack. When we owned Anheuser Bush stock, they included recipes in the magazine they sent to us. I can share a few here, if you like.

That's right - especially at room, or even root cellar temps. Best bought at your rate of consumption. If you will only be using it for this one dish, I would recommend swinging into a convenience store where you can buy a single can.

Or invite me over, and I can consume whatever overage you may have. 

[roamer_1]

Y'all know I am a pantry freak. I store everything.
AND
Y'all know I have been fond of really crappy beer, all my life.

Where beer is concerned, it don't take much to make me happy.
But there is a reason why there are not several cases or kegs of beer in my pantry.

It does not store. It gets skunky.
I would drink it anyway  - That's how I know, and that's why I never store it. 

[mountaineer]

If you will only be using it for this one dish, I would recommend swinging into a convenience store where you can buy a single can.

Good suggestion. They have single cans even at our local Kroger.

[roamer_1]

Good suggestion. They have single cans even at our local Kroger.

It was the 'invite me over to consume the overage' thing that I hoped would stick.   

[Wingnut]

That is correct except for Coors which is supposed to be kept refrigerated at all times according to them anyway.

It's pasteurized now.  Ruined the flavor in my mind. 
You can store it Room Temp.... just like Joe Biden.

[Smokin Joe]

Y'all know I am a pantry freak. I store everything.
AND
Y'all know I have been fond of really crappy beer, all my life.

Where beer is concerned, it don't take much to make me happy.
But there is a reason why there are not several cases or kegs of beer in my pantry.

It does not store. It gets skunky.
I would drink it anyway  - That's how I know, and that's why I never store it. 

Yep. Most beer starts to 'go over' after 45 days or so.

[240B]

Foster's beer/ale only comes in single 25oz cans. Deep rich flavor.
Or, you could always go with Guinness.

Using most American Beer for cooking is like adding water.
Not much flavor added to the dish except in breads, pasta, and pastry.
Adding Light Beer is like nothing.

[AllThatJazzZ]

Well, I got all kinds of answers! I'm no wiser than when I began the thread.

I accidentally bought a 12-pack, so I'll experiment with some in the pantry and some in the fridge. If y'all haven't tried a beer batter on your fried tomatoes, give it a try. Just flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder and beer (to the consistency you like).

[AllThatJazzZ]

Agree with David. If you're using it only for cooking, it will be okay if kept at room temperature past the "best by" date on the packaging, but it will get skunky after too long. Beer also can be used in bread and cake recipes, if you need some help getting rid of that six pack. When we owned Anheuser Bush stock, they included recipes in the magazine they sent to us. I can share a few here, if you like.

@mountaineer

You can post them here in case others are interested, but I don't do any kind of baking. However, I'm game for soups, stews and such with beer as an ingredient.

[Bigun]

Well, I got all kinds of answers! I'm no wiser than when I began the thread.

I accidentally bought a 12-pack, so I'll experiment with some in the pantry and some in the fridge. If y'all haven't tried a beer batter on your fried tomatoes, give it a try. Just flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder and beer (to the consistency you like).

Try them with this! @AllThatJazzZ 

[Wingnut]

Stale beer kills garden slugs.

[roamer_1]

If y'all haven't tried a beer batter on your fried (insert anything here) , give it a try. Just flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder and beer (to the consistency you like).

  fixed 
@AllThatJazzZ
Especially fish. I don't put a batter on trout or kokanee, but pretty much any white meat fish - whitefish, pike, bass... pan fish like perch and bluegill and sunfish... Especially pike. But all of them will go to a beer batter... It's how it's done. 

[libertybele]

 Good beer battered fish was hard to beat.  I used to love Grouper, but I don't eat it anymore because of all the toxins now in the fish that can stay in your system for years.

I refrain from eating fish now period.

[jmyrlefuller]

I LOVE fried green tomatoes, but they're always so hard to find. Fortunately, I've found that H-E-B has been carrying them for the past couple of months. I love to fry them up in beer batter, and that meant I had to buy beer. Question: Can I store them (individual serving bottles) at room temp in my pantry or do they need to be refrigerated? They have an expiration date on them. Do I really need to pay attention to it? I appreciate any advice y'all can give me. 

For cooking, you pretty much have as long as you like. The sell-by date is usually arbitrarily set at 6 months after manufacture.

Also note that a lot of brewers instead rely on a "born-on date," which is the date it is bottled. If your beer has a born-on date, the expiration is generally six months after that (Anheuser-Busch uses 4 months), though for cooking purposes you'll probably have a few more months beyond that.

Most commercial beers are heavily pasteurized and have exceptionally low oxygen meaning they have exceptionally long shelf life. If you're going with a craft beer, IPAs tend to have the shortest shelf life and need to be kept refrigerated for best results.

Also, if you are using a barrel aged craft brew, that's already been aged for months before bottling. That stuff will generally last forever as long as it's sealed. (They also tend to be more expensive.)

[berdie]

@mountaineer

You can post them here in case others are interested, but I don't do any kind of baking. However, I'm game for soups, stews and such with beer as an ingredient.

Beer cheese soup is really good. I haven't made it in a couple of years and can't find my recipe. But winter is on the way and I'm gonna call my friend to get hers. Or go on the all knowing internet and find something similar from my memory bank.

[roamer_1]

Good beer battered fish was hard to beat.  I used to love Grouper, but I don't eat it anymore because of all the toxins now in the fish that can stay in your system for years.

I refrain from eating fish now period.

I don't get much ocean-going fish... Steelhead and salmon from AK/BC... Other than that, exactly none.

Where I found out about beer batter was down south My cousin was fixin up some catfish... Now, I would offend some folks, because catfish is usually awful. Almost gelatinous in texture. Cannot stand it. Except when it is fresh caught. Within hours, it retains the fish texture I would expect. I guess it just don't keep very long...

I said all that to say it is a rare thing for me to be eating catfish, and even more rare for me to be enjoying it...

But my cuz and I had caught up a mess of catfish, So we were having a family fish fry - And we were literally cleaning em, throwing em through the batter, and into a pan.  Served up with fries and hush puppies.

That catfish was SO awesome! Crisp and flaky (which I would have never said about a catfish before that day) -Very nice.

Well, I know that the beer batter was not the cause for that brilliant, delicious fish... But it was part of it. And I have been a fan of beer batter ever since. 

[roamer_1]

I dunno if I said it upthread, but beer batter is exceptional on Northern Pike. I say that particularly, because it is almost necessary -I would say it IS necessary.

[berdie]

I don't get much ocean-going fish... Steelhead and salmon from AK/BC... Other than that, exactly none.

Where I found out about beer batter was down south My cousin was fixin up some catfish... Now, I would offend some folks, because catfish is usually awful. Almost gelatinous in texture. Cannot stand it. Except when it is fresh caught. Within hours, it retains the fish texture I would expect. I guess it just don't keep very long...

I said all that to say it is a rare thing for me to be eating catfish, and even more rare for me to be enjoying it...

But my cuz and I had caught up a mess of catfish, So we were having a family fish fry - And we were literally cleaning em, throwing em through the batter, and into a pan.  Served up with fries and hush puppies.

That catfish was SO awesome! Crisp and flaky (which I would have never said about a catfish before that day) -Very nice.

Well, I know that the beer batter was not the cause for that brilliant, delicious fish... But it was part of it. And I have been a fan of beer batter ever since. 

Hard to beat fresh catfish...or any fresh caught fish. Fried on the bank preferably and  fresh from the oil.  But I have frozen catfish in a plastic bag in water and they have retained their texture and flavor. That being said, I really don't care for mud cats and would throw them back. They taste like their name and have a weird texture.
Any other breed is yummy! And when I was lucky enough to catch a blue cat...oh my...the filet mignon of catfish.

This is making my mouth water...but no fried food for me until after blood work in Nov. Then I'll have some of my freezer stash.

[roamer_1]

Hard to beat fresh catfish...or any fresh caught fish. Fried on the bank preferably and  fresh from the oil.  But I have frozen catfish in a plastic bag in water and they have retained their texture and flavor. That being said, I really don't care for mud cats and would throw them back. They taste like their name and have a weird texture.
Any other breed is yummy! And when I was lucky enough to catch a blue cat...oh my...the filet mignon of catfish.

This is making my mouth water...but no fried food for me until after blood work in Nov. Then I'll have some of my freezer stash.

I have direct knowledge of channel cats, blue cats, and flathead cats -Oddly enough, I live in the Flathead River drainage, which has nothing to do with flathead catfish, or any other kind of catfish for that matter - We ain't got em here...

Other than a colony of yellow bullheads that must have been imported into the old mill pond, and got out into Ashley creek, and there they survive, still all in one place on that creek. Never caught me anywhere else. Weird.

Anyhow, I reckon that's what you are calling a mud cat - That must be some sort of bullhead, I mean. 

But as a rule, any catfish I get up here has been shipped in and the meat is, like I said, soft - almost gelatinous, And just plain awful - But yeah... That down there was divine. 

Still would take a pike or a bass over it though - and nothing beats trout or kokanee.

[berdie]

I have direct knowledge of channel cats, blue cats, and flathead cats -Oddly enough, I live in the Flathead River drainage, which has nothing to do with flathead catfish, or any other kind of catfish for that matter - We ain't got em here...

Other than a colony of yellow bullheads that must have been imported into the old mill pond, and got out into Ashley creek, and there they survive, still all in one place on that creek. Never caught me anywhere else. Weird.

Anyhow, I reckon that's what you are calling a mud cat - That must be some sort of bullhead, I mean. 

But as a rule, any catfish I get up here has been shipped in and the meat is, like I said, soft - almost gelatinous, And just plain awful - But yeah... That down there was divine. 

Still would take a pike or a bass over it though - and nothing beats trout or kokanee.

Never had pike or kokanee so I can't comment. But bass is pretty versatile...fried or baked. We used to go to Colorado and trout fish and bring back a mess. Usually the places we stayed would freeze them for us.  Baked was o.k. but I really liked them grilled.

[roamer_1]

Never had pike or kokanee so I can't comment. But bass is pretty versatile...fried or baked. We used to go to Colorado and trout fish and bring back a mess. Usually the places we stayed would freeze them for us.  Baked was o.k. but I really liked them grilled.

Pike is dang near the same thing as a muskellunge. Dunno if either one is down thereby you. We only have pike. But they are close enough that they naturally can breed.

I am told that pike tastes most like walleye, which I also don't have up in here, but that walleye tastes most like bass. So there ya go, kinda. I would say that pike tastes mostly like what you would call a white bass or a sand bass. Largemouth is a richer taste, and a firmer meat, I'd say.

Kokanee is just a native freshwater salmon we have up in here, with a texture like trout and a mild salmon taste (compared to what you think of as salmon)... kinda half way between salmon and trout.

I don't bake either one, unless it is a monster rainbow or bull trout. Better cut into steaks and pan fried, or grilled, or put in the (cold) smoke.

My favorite meat ever is probably cold smoked kokanee painted with honey or hot mustard and honey... It turns out like a soft jerky and is rocky mountain candy. Ain't no beer batter there. 

[libertybele]

Pike is dang near the same thing as a muskellunge. Dunno if either one is down thereby you. We only have pike. But they are close enough that they naturally can breed.

I am told that pike tastes most like walleye, which I also don't have up in here, but that walleye tastes most like bass. So there ya go, kinda. I would say that pike tastes mostly like what you would call a white bass or a sand bass. Largemouth is a richer taste, and a firmer meat, I'd say.

Kokanee is just a native freshwater salmon we have up in here, with a texture like trout and a mild salmon taste (compared to what you think of as salmon)... kinda half way between salmon and trout.

I don't bake either one, unless it is a monster rainbow or bull trout. Better cut into steaks and pan fried, or grilled, or put in the (cold) smoke.

My favorite meat ever is probably cold smoked kokanee painted with honey or hot mustard and honey... It turns out like a soft jerky and is rocky mountain candy. Ain't no beer batter there. 

Smoked Northern Pike  or Trout is delicious  (my Dad used to fish), but we just don't have that kind of fresh water fish around here. 

[roamer_1]

Smoked Northern Pike  or Trout is delicious  (my Dad used to fish), but we just don't have that kind of fresh water fish around here. 

That's a piece of me that I definitely want back. Even if it is just dock fishing and lake fishing (I am a creeks and rivers kinda guy) and ice fishing.

Before, when my legs worked right, I'd fill a whole freezer every year, just with fish. Just for the economy of that I want back, if not for the peace of mind I get from fishing.

But fish camp is long gone around here. The rivers used to turn black with the salmon spawning... We used to go out snaggin' and catch buckets and buckets of em.

That was fish camp... you just stayed on the river and chased a shoal up the river... catchin' and cleanin' and smokin'... And campin and drinkin beer and swappin lies.

Had to move the camp pretty often because the fish, and the cleanings, brought the griz.

But man what a time! good fun with family and friends. And you'd come home with pounds and pounds of smoked salmon for the freezer. 

That ain't here no more... them dang fish and game people introduced that doggone mycinea shrimp to the flathead basin as a food stock for the fish... But it wound up a competitor at a young stage, and wiped out our salmon runs. The kokanee are still here, but the snagging is illegal now, and the runs ain't enough to speak of. Damn fools.

[berdie]

Smoked Northern Pike  or Trout is delicious  (my Dad used to fish), but we just don't have that kind of fresh water fish around here. 

But you have all that glorious seafood!