Last night, I bought a 500 ml/16.9 oz bottle of Belhaven Scottish Ale (Export) from the local BevMo. After opening, I noticed a distinct "skunked" smell, and wasn't sure if it was due to being past its sell by date, some type of contamination, exposure to sunlight, etc. The only clue I have is a "B992325" code on the neck of the bottle, and a "B992323" on the front label. I did place it in the refrigerator sideways, due to lack of space, but doubt that's the reason! Have gotten something similar in the past from certain bottles of Newcastle Brown (I've heard they're now produced in Scotland). Any information would be appreciated.
Brown bottle, which makes it much harder to skunk. But if it sat in a store window for a while, it could be. Age won't skunk a beer - has to be UV. Contamination won't either unless the contaminant is skunk.
If you Google Beer Expiration Codes you'll get a number of sites that track the various brewer codes, but I didn't check to see if Belhaven is among them. A Scottish ale isn't prone to skunking, nor is it prone to flavor deterioration from age below 2-3 years, especially if the beer is 8% or higher. Any off flavors that you are experiencing are probably an indication of storage abuse.
If it smells a bit like rotten eggs, it could very well be sulphur you are smelling. Yeast produce sulphur dioxide, which not only flavours the beer but gives it antioxidant properties.
I don't think you have to worry about getting sick at all. Just sounds like the beer was kept poorly and was impacted flavor wise. If it stinks or tastes bad just drain pour it, I would not suffer thru a beer just because, toss and move on to new one, cheers.
