Does liqour go bad?
 

We had Thanksgiving at my house yestrday. I'm not a big drinker but have a pretty well stocked liquor cabinet from prior gatherings.

Amongst all the eating around 2pm, I fixed a drink from a previously opened bottle of Maker's Mark.

At 3 am, I woke to hellaceous heartburn, and made a trip (one of several) to drive the big white bus.

I have spent the day recovering and taking in a bunch of TV trying to figure what I did wrong. I was the only one that had anything from the liquor cabinet, so I'm suspecting that might be the cause. Of course, it could be food poisoning from any of the other foods we had.

I have been sick from drinking and it wasn't like this. So does anyone know if liquor goes bad?

Yes it does go bad, though it will usually not taste good when it does. You will usually get an off taste or an off smell.

It may have caused your problem.

AFJ

Yep.

My bachelor party is a good example. I was doing fine (more or less) until one of my buddies broke out an original 1968 bottle of Old #7. Touching gesture, but it's what finally did me in.

I woke up hours later on someone's couch half-naked with a plastic bucket next to me with a sign on it (spray-painted) reading "Puke here" with an arrow. I'd obviously been using the bucket throughout the night - and most of the morning. And afternoon.

My standing rule since then is I'll only drink Cogniac or wine that's older than me. Nothing else.

Actually wine or cognac is the MOST likely to go bad.

Spirits....ones that are distlled rarely go bad....unless left open or are contaminated via a pinhole leak.

As to getting sick, most likely is a change of metabolism due to age or sickness in the host body, over indulgence or a toxic combination of food and drink that will do ya in.

DEFINITELY YES!

Send all of your contaminated booze to me for proper disposal.

Scott B.
P.O. Box 1234
San Pedro, CA.

But seriously, I wouldn't think any hard stuff would go bad (whiskey, scotch, bourbon, vodka, rum , gin, etc.). Then again that stuff seems to evaporate around my house so it never hangs around very long... must be faulty bottling.

Ah, good times... good times...

I was always told the same thing Mike. That the only thing that would make distilled spirits go bad was age (yours, not the booze), or letting the ice melt.

Of course, that guarantee was not good the next morning if you woke up with something you didn't have a relationship with before starting to drink.

Wish I could keep a bottle of Maker's in the house long enough to go bad.
Cheers.

One of my favorite Onion articles............Just meant in good fun, of course ;)


Man Blames Hangover On Everything But How Much He Drank

May 29, 2002 | Issue 38•20

BETHEL PARK, PA—Speaking slowly and moving stiffly Tuesday, Pittsburgh-area resident Matt Van Duyne attributed his hangover to everything but the excessive amount of alcohol he'd consumed the previous night.

Van Duyne nurses his hangover with water.

"One big problem was the empty stomach," said Van Duyne, holding his head and taking deep breaths. "I really should know by now to make sure to eat a piece of pizza or some french fries or something before doing any drinking. That kind of greasy, high-carb stuff works best, I find, because it really soaks up the alcohol. Another thing I neglected to do was drink a lot of water. That's key. Also, I forgot to take my usual two aspirins before going to bed, which helps a lot."

"There's a real art to not getting a hangover," Van Duyne added.

A web designer for Altered Images, the 28-year-old Van Duyne had spent the evening watching DVDs at the home of friend Kenny Layton. Between 10:30 p.m. and 2 a.m., Van Duyne consumed three-quarters of a jug of Gallo wine he found in Layton's kitchen cabinet. Shortly after 2 a.m., he stumbled seven blocks back to his apartment.

"This happens every time I drink Gallo, especially red," Van Duyne said. "That stuff really gives me a hangover. It probably has something to do with all the sulfites they use."

Though Van Duyne describes himself as a social drinker, coworkers say he frequently arrives at work asking them to "take it easy on [him]" because of a hangover he attributes to everything but excessive drinking.

"My favorite is when he explains that he forgot to follow the 'beer before liquor, never sicker' rule," coworker Thomas Juno said. "Sorry, Matty, but when you're pounding six of each in just over three hours, I don't think it really matters what order you drink them in."

"Last Thursday, we all went out to Pitchers Pub to celebrate landing this huge St. Francis Medical Center account," said Heather Hagerty, 25, a tech writer at Altered Images. "Over the course of the next four hours, Matt drank six Iron Citys, three Cuervo shots, and a Jack and Coke. The next morning at work, he's complaining that he feels woozy because he didn't take his Vitamin B before drinking. I have this alternate theory that he felt woozy because he drank six Iron Citys, three Cuervo shots, and a Jack and Coke."

Even when owning up to drinking excessively, Van Duyne still finds ways to attribute his hungover state to other factors.

"Last year, me and three of my buddies did a whole bottle of mescal on my birthday. We got to the bottom, and I got the worm," Van Duyne said. "That messed me up bad the next day, because the worm absorbs a lot of alcohol. It's almost like a hallucinogen. I ruined my favorite comforter because I puked all over it. Stupid worm."

Longtime friend Pete Sirois, 27, heard a new excuse last Friday night, when he and Van Duyne went drinking at Anchor Inn.

"Matt was doing all these different shots—Stoli, Jack Daniels, Jägermeister—you name it," Sirois said. "He was really wasted. I talked to him the next night, and he was complaining about how he still had a headache, because he 'failed to stay consistent [with his liquors].' I'm like, 'Yeah, if only you'd done vodka shots all night, you would've been fine.'"

"The amazing thing is, he hardly ever uses the same excuse twice," Sirois continued. "One time, it might be 'I stupidly combined champagne with hard lemonade,' and the next, 'I should've known better than to mix liquor with diet soda.' He must devote more time to researching hangovers than he does to his job."

Despite his wicked hangover, Van Duyne plans to spend this evening drinking at a local nightclub.

"I'm still feeling kinda ****ty, but I can't miss 2-for-1 apple-martini night at Insomnia," Van Duyne said. "So long as I take two tablespoons of olive oil beforehand, I should be fine."

I wouldn't know. Letting it go bad from age doesn't seem to be my problem.

[hickup] Yeah, I seem to have the same non-problem. [/hickup]

Time for another...I can still type coherinetly.

*****, nevermind. :)

Spoken like a true Marine! LOL

Letting alcohol go bad? Wouldn't that be construed as "alcohol abuse"?

Randy

:D :D :D

I just finished a bottle of 20 year old Doublewood scotch. Took me 6 years. I feel so ashamed!

IIRC, Cognac is a wine base, so that will definitely go bad. Same thing for Brandy.

Whisky, bourbon at least, does not age once its out of the barrel. I believe Makers Mark is a wheat whisky, not technically a bourbon, but it still should not 'go bad' unless it hasnt been stored properly. As long as the bottle is sealed and its not exposed to sunlight, it wont 'go bad'.

Have had drinks from various bottles that were anywhere from 15 to 25 years old. We found a lot of stuff in my parents house after they passed and none of them were spoiled, but then it was all hard alky, like Scotch and such.

Agree with Randy, and one should always properly dispose of your alky slowly and with a good cigar if possible.

Joe A

Cognac is a distilled wine...so it is a little better but will still go bad like wine and brandies......

Pretty tuff for Hard liquor to go bad, (with out being spilled or regurgitated). Is someone in the kitchen holding a grudge?

Send me all your 75 and 100 year old Cognac and I'll make a report on if it is good or has gone bad....

How can Alcohol go bad...it might evaporate but go bad...he11 it's a preservative...Distilled Sprits are Alcohol and distilled water...

Wine turns into vinger...

Damn, never once did you blame the turkey?

Then again, maybe it's Bush's fault... ;)