Best after date and beyond

[Stevejay]

I've never really taken a lot of notice of the "best after date" on the Coopers Pale and Sparkling Ale bottles, as they've always been top quality in my book.

However, a friend bought me a box of the Sparkling Ale and I noticed it was definitely off, so I looked at the best after date and it was 20/01/19. Is there a shelf life after this date? 

14 months on from that date and it's undrinkable. I don't know when it was delivered to the store, but if it was early last year, then surely no store would keep a box of beer unsold for 14 months.

This was not a major store too I might add. 

[Journeyman]

Was the box opened? If so, might have been sunburned - that kills a beer of any type, even in brown bottles. Maybe try a taste / smell from further in the box?

I've had old beer the pub I worked at wanted to get rid of - can't recall how old but more than a year. It was fine but had been in the coolroom all that time.

[Stevejay]

The box was sealed, but as you say, it could be poor storage. I did try another bottle from one of the other six packs and it was the same. 
I read that Coopers holds its beer until around the Best After date, then ships out, but when it hit this particular store is anyone's guess. 

Thanks for the response.

[UncleStavvy]

Story I heard was that Cooper's accountants were kicking up a stink about the massive cost of 6 weeks bottle conditioning in an air conditioned warehouse so they came up with the "best after" dating for their production, ship the stock out to retailers at 2 weeks then let them store them. Puts the onus on retailers and consumers not  to open the product until the best after date. Very clever ploy, which is why the Cooper family are multi-millionaires and we're not.