alt Hacker NewsWhile yeast will consume most of the nutrients, there's still residual sugar in beer. Hops will inhibit microbial and bacterial growth, but they will not stop it completely.
While yeast will consume most of the nutrients, there's still residual sugar in beer. Hops will inhibit microbial and bacterial growth, but they will not stop it completely.
Yes, there is residual sugar, but it's complex sugars that not even yeast that specializes in fermenting sugar can consume. Plus there is alpha acids from hops, as you point out, there is alcohol, pH is low, oxygen is gone, there's a CO2 blanket, etc. So it's a very, very difficult environment for microorganisms. Pretty close to none that cause disease can grow in this environment.
Is it more than 99.99999999999999% safe? No. Is it vastly safer that water? Yes.