A mate of neighbour Derek recently found a crate of Lion Brown in his farm shed he reckoned had sat there for nearly 20 years.
"Yep, it still tastes OK," Perky said.
I doubted that!
So we prised a bottle off him.
The "best before" on Perky's bottle was indistinct, but it seemed to be in the '90s, and that style of label was discontinued in the late 1990s.
The beer was oxidised and a few particles floated in it but it produced a head and had kept its bubbles.
It was in quite remarkable condition.
"It's a beer," Derek declared.
"Nothing wrong with it."
So, how long does a bottle of beer last?
Unlike wine, beer is never better than the day it is made.
But it will show no sign of deterioration for up to four months - by which time most is sold - and will be good for at least nine months.
All bottles and cans of beer have a "best before" date - usually nine months after it comes off the production line.
Beer being sold for considerably less than its normal retail price will sometimes be near the end of its best-before date - check a bottle, if you can.
Another neighbour, David, recently bought a "manager's special" and found the beer well past its "best before" date and of poor quality.
The store did not want to replace it, because it was a special.
Regardless, it has to be drinkable!("Best before" food can be sold, and be safely consumed, after the due date, but food with a "best by" cannot be sold after that date.)
The big killers of beer quality are bacteria, light and air.
Filtration and sterilisation help reduce or kill bacteria.
Ultraviolet light reacts with hop particles to produce a musty smell, although dark glass reduces that impact.
Refrigeration slows oxidation.
So keep your beer cool and away from light.
Wheat beer and lagers are more refreshing when young.
Rich, malty beers like stouts and porters will last longer; high-alcohol Belgian beers and German bocks even longer.
Bottle-conditioned beers (fermented in the bottle like Champagne) such as South Australian Cooper's will last longer because the yeast sediment left in the bottle continues to add complexity and also delays oxidation.
Dunedin brewer Emerson's, for example, does not put a "best before" date but rather the year of vintage on its higher-strength rich beers (like Old 95 and Taieri George) because the bottle-conditioning and high alcohol preserves them and they will develop complexity for at least five years.
People often say a beer tastes better in its home country than the same brand tastes here.
The import will be older, for a start.
And, has it been shipped in temperature-controlled containers and then held in cool warehouses before eventual distribution?
Regardless, it has probably had a rough ride on its way to you.
I always drink locally-produced beer in the Pacific Islands because shipping tends to be infrequent and the imported beer is usually held for some considerable time in non-air-conditioned storage.