Why does baileys not go bad

Whether in the fridge or out of it, Baileys is good for up to 30 months. However, as an Irish Cream, Baileys is best served chilled over ice. Remember to use the calculation of 2 years plus six months to figure the longest you can keep a bottle in the fridge.

Unlike vodka or gin, Baileys will not do well in the freezer. The milk parts freeze and make pouring difficult. Like other products made with milk, Baileys can go bad. Whether on the shelf, fridge, or even a root cellar exposure to oxygen is the culprit.

This is another reason the refrigerator is a better alternative to the bar shelf. Diageo uses a Stelvin cap , a screw cap that is more often seen on wine bottles. This cap ensures a tight seal, so be sure you screw the cap on properly after each use. Or, you can use a bottle stopper, like this one , if your cap has been compromised.

See Amazon Listing. Enzymes in human saliva will react badly with the Irish cream liqueur, causing it to curdle. Like other liqueurs, Irish cream degrades in quality over time. As usual, pay attention to the standard signs of spoilage too. These include an off or funny odor and changes in texture.

If the liqueur looks and smells okay, give a small amount a taste. If everything is fine, feel free to continue drinking it. The whiskey serves as a natural preservative. For best results, Baileys does not recommend storing bottles in direct sunlight or heat. Note: XY is two years from the manufacturing date.

Since Baileys Irish Cream is a sweeter liqueur , it may have a shorter shelf life than other alcoholic beverages once opened. Observe the color and texture of the Baileys. If there is a sour smell to it, it may be bad. Pour a small amount into a glass for closer inspection and a sniff test. If it is dark and cloudy and there are curds in the liquid, or if it has a sour smell, it is spoiled. Do not use it. You might compare a glass of Baileys from a freshly opened bottle to a glass from the bottle in question.

If the colors, flavors, and fragrances are very different, the older bottle may not be ok to drink. This may not be the case with an older, opened bottle, so always pour some into a glass, observe and taste test.

Other people are not so lucky or, perhaps, not so careful with their storage, and their Irish Cream is not fit to drink only a few weeks after the bottle is opened. An unopened bottle of Baileys, stored correctly, should last months if not years beyond the best before date. The alcohol is an effective enough preservative to keep the cream fresh in a completely sealed environment. Once opened, many more factors can influence the freshness of your Baileys.

The company still guarantees the product for 2 years , but you do have to be more careful about storage and how you use your liqueur. Once the seal has been broken, the beverage inside will be even more sensitive to temperature fluctuations, so try to keep it cooled at all times.

Never drink straight from the bottle. You also want to be careful about leaving the bottle sitting uncapped or unsealed for any significant period of time. Alcohol does a good job at killing anything that may invade your bottle, but the cream is still a rich and tempting attraction for a variety of pathogens. The longer your bottle is left open to the air the higher risk it will be at for developing mold or otherwise going bad.

Most will suggest that the liqueur will stay fresh for anywhere from 6 months to 2 years if the bottle is unopened and stored appropriately in a cool, dark location.

Once opened, most off-brand Irish Creams recommend storing the bottle in the fridge for no more than 6 months. After this point, the cream may not curdle, but the flavor and consistency may start to degrade more quickly. There are a few recipes available with slight variations on the ingredients used and each will probably offer a specific recommendation on how long the drink can be safely stored.

Most recipes use some combination of heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate syrup or cocoa, vanilla extract, and, of course, Irish Whiskey. Some will also call for a small amount of instant coffee. The higher the alcohol content on the Whiskey, the longer your Irish Cream is likely to last. Nut or soy milks have naturally longer shelf lives than dairy milk.

Depending on your ingredients, you can expect homemade Irish Cream to stay fresh in your fridge, if well covered and sealed, for up to 2 months, maximum.