Beer keg found in the Alps after 48 years was still drinkable

A keg of beer lost in the Alps 48 years ago has been found by 42-year-old Daniel Oberlechner. It lay at an altitude of about 3,000 meters, and a taste test showed that the beer had hardly suffered from the passage of time.

Oberlechner is a driver for a local family-run drinks delivery firm. A neighbor told him about the lost keg several years ago, and ever since he had been walking the area twice a week where the metal container once went missing. This summer, after a powerful storm swept over the spot, he spotted it beneath the Schwarzensteinhütte hut on the Italian side of the massif.

Daniel freed the keg and brought it down into the valley using a two-wheeled hand truck. The packaging was dented in one place, but the contents reportedly showed no effects of time. One social media post says the keg weighs 40 kg and bears a stamped date of 1978.

“The beer was flawless. The taste, the amber color and even the carbonation were all fine,” the head of the firm, Lukas Harpf, who also took part in the tasting, confirmed to the news agency ANSA. According to him, Daniel has worked for them as a driver for many years, and his great passion is mountain running.

Harpf believes the contents probably never froze, since otherwise the keg would most likely have burst. “That's why the beer was in such good condition,” he said.

The magazine Focus noted that beer can remain drinkable after its expiration date. Well-sealed beer stored in a cool, dark and dry place is often fine to drink for weeks, months and even years. “The best-before date only guarantees best quality,” Focus wrote.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz