Intentional Skunking?

I am currently fermenting my 2nd batch of beer and this time I decided to go with a Kolsh. I just siphoned 5 gallons of beer into a 6 gallon glass carboy. I also decided to try dry hopping and added 2 oz of Sorachi Ace to give it a citrus taste. Or at least I hope.

Anyways, I have always enjoyed the "skunk" taste you find in a few beers out there. How would I properly go about getting my beer like this? Also would skunking a Kolsh with a citrus dry hop ruin the beer?

Just to verify, you are sure it's the skunking taste that you like and not something produced by a yeast strain or additive?

Well, I like Stella and Heineken. To me there is a skunky aroma and taste to it. I have always just assumed them being bottled in green bottles allowed light to get through and create the aroma and taste that I am talking about. I could be wrong, please educate me if I am.

Nah, I don't think they're skunked (they're almost certainly not supposed to be, anyway). I'd put it down to some combination of a retention of some of the sulfer-y compounds a lot of lager yeasts throw off, as well as possibly some low levels of DMS.

That's a guess, but during the skunking process, compounds with thiol (an organic molecule containing sulfur) are released. Then I can just see the vegetal DMS flavors playing a role, too...

my understanding is that the skunking in those beers is the product of hop oils reacting to UV light. this could be one of those urban legends surrounding heineken, grolsch, etc.

according to myth these beers are intentionally sun struck. exactly how to do this i couldn't be of any help. first thoughts are a carboy outside for a few days temperature permitting. if this information is accurate i would imagine the type/amount of hop/s used would play a role. i would also question when to add the light considering availability of hop oils. would you have to introduce the light after dry hopping or could the effect be produced without any dry hopping?

as far as alternatives for the uv maybe tanning bed bulbs? do "full spectrum" or "accurate color" lights produce UV? if so you could add them to a fermentation chamber and get UV + temp control.

again i could be walking the plank here. not sure if this is what they're doing but i have heard of photo reactivity of hop oils and a resulting skunk being produced elsewhere in brewing literature/propaganda so it stands to reason. i'm not speaking from brewing experience. i don't know if, in fact, this is true nor if this "skunking" is the technique they use. i guess i'm just perpetuating legend lol

I wouls say just use green/clear bottles and let it get some UV, either under CFLs or get some sunlight. I wouldn't do it but whatever carbonates your beer.

I don't think i'eve ever seen or heard stories about Stella/Heineken putting out glass kegs to sit in the sun for a few days : )

Here's the satellite pic of InBev@Leuven which makes about 3/4 million gallons of Stella a day. To skunk that they would have to have a lot of beer sitting out in the sun!
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=50.8...2,-117.287802&sspn=0.163896,0.299034&t=h&z=16

If you want to skunk your beer just pour it into a glass and set it in the sun for 30seconds. Accidentally did this yesterday to my kolsch while grilling up some prawns and it skunked. I was sad. Lol

Green/clear bottles is TE most traditional, however a glass carboy exposed to light should do the same. The problem is that I've never heard how much light and for how long.

Sounds like you need to experiment and report back

I've drank my share of Hinneys in my day, when the get skunked ya throw them away.

I have heard of someone intentionally skunking some sort of Cervesa clone. Bottle it in clear or green bottles and at some point leave them out in the sun for a while. Maybe 15-45 min?

The_Professor said:

I have heard of someone intentionally skunking some sort of Cervesa clone. Bottle it in clear or green bottles and at some point leave them out in the sun for a while. Maybe 15-45 min?

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That's a long time. It only takes a few seconds.

Heineken and other beers with green and glass bottles will skunk in certain lights, due to some hop compounds being affected by the wavelength of the light. It's a well known occurrence.

When the hops are isomerized they form compounds. This is how beer is skunked, but hops on the vine are not. Certain wavelengths of light will cause a photochemical reaction to take place, causing new compounds to be created. The interesting thing about these new compounds is that they are VERY easily detected by the human sense of smell.

It only takes a few moments. For an anecdote I offer the time I checked the final gravity of a lighter beer I brewed. I sat the hydrometer tube full of beer on the counter to degas a bit while I did some other things. It couldn't have been 10 minutes before I came back to check the gravity. Immediately afterward I took a taste sample to discover that the tube of beer had a very definite aroma and taste of skunk. I was surprised it only took that short time to develop a strong skunk, but it was in full afternoon sun.

The green and clear bottles to not filter those wavelengths of light and sunlight and florescent lights can affect those compounds. Miller, in its clear bottle do not suffer this because they use a hop oil that does not contain the compounds required for the process.

To duplicate this process you could leave your secondary in the sun for a few minutes, or simply bottle in a green or clear glass and leave exposed to the environmental light. It doesn't take much.

m3n00b said:

That's a long time. It only takes a few seconds.

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A few seconds? That would mean that every Corona drunk from the bottle on a hot day would be skunked. In fact, it would also mean taking a glass of beer outside on a sunny day would result in skunking. That's not my experience.

McGarnigle said:

A few seconds? That would mean that every Corona drunk from the bottle on a hot day would be skunked. In fact, it would also mean taking a glass of beer outside on a sunny day would result in skunking. That's not my experience.

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Well it happens to me every time. Just a few seconds of my beer glass in the sun results in skunked beer. Maybe I'm super sensitive to it.

McGarnigle said:

A few seconds? That would mean that every Corona drunk from the bottle on a hot day would be skunked. In fact, it would also mean taking a glass of beer outside on a sunny day would result in skunking. That's not my experience.

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Ah, but with Corona, they use the hops oils which don't skunk. Like Miller.

And a glass of beer outside will skunk really quickly. It happens to me, even in the Northwoods where we don't get intense sun.

... and THAT is why I belong to this forum. Always wondered about this. Sounds like the consensus is UV does skunk it, but only with oils from certain hop varieties. (So find out what kind of hops Hieneken uses, and you are on your way....)

But I know what you mean about starting to enjoy the 'skunkiness'. Back before the craft beer / ale revolution, you'd go to social events and often the only non-Miller or Budweiser beers available were Heineken. Thus, I started to associate the skunky taste of Heineken with special events, good times, etc. Having said that, I don't think I'd ever go specifically for that taste now that there are such better beers (read: ales) around. But I certainly get where you're coming from.

drlars said:

... and THAT is why I belong to this forum. Always wondered about this. Sounds like the consensus is UV does skunk it, but only with oils from certain hop varieties. (So find out what kind of hops Hieneken uses, and you are on your way....)

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It's specifically certain hop extracts/oils (tetra-hydro isomerized hop extract) that commercial brewers use that do not contain the molecules responsible for the skunking action.

While it might be true that some hops are more prone to skunking, or throw off more skunky flavors/aromas, all hops will cause beer to skunk when exposed to UV light.

jhall4 said:

It's specifically certain hop extracts/oils (tetra-hydro isomerized hop extract) that commercial brewers use that do not contain the molecules responsible for the skunking action.

While it might be true that some hops are more prone to skunking, or throw off more skunky flavors/aromas, all hops will cause beer to skunk when exposed to UV light.

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Right. It's not the type of hops used, it's the form. Using hops is different then that bottled hops stuff, the extract. Some (a few) breweries don't use hops- they use the "hops oil" stuff.