Have i skunked my beer?

Psymon · 08-14-2009, 07:27 AM

I made my first batch of beer 10 days ago. It was a Coopers Pale Ale, made as per the instructions.

All went well except i did a n00b mistake of bottling the beer and leaving it near a window... it doesnt get direct sunlight though the window for 95% of the day but in the late afternoon (while im usually at work) they were subjected to direct sunlight for about 20mins a day for about a week.

I covered them all with a black jacket after a week so no more damage gets done.

Anyway, I tried the beer today and i felt it had a bit of a funny smell. Kind of like a red wine smell with a tiny bit of smelly foot thrown in! When i drank the beer I could not taste anything funny but I could definatly smell it.

I am hoping this is just because it is still a bit green and not from the sun.

What does skunked beer taste like anyway, would I know if it was skunked???

dzlater · 08-14-2009, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psymon

I made my first batch of beer 10 days ago. It was a Coopers Pale Ale, made as per the instructions.

What does skunked beer taste like anyway, would I know if it was skunked???

Smells like
skunk

**marubozo** · 08-14-2009, 11:35 AM

Do you know what a skunk smells like? That's exactly what skunked beer smells and tastes like. But unless you're beer is about 5-6 weeks old from brew day, it's still green. While I'm not sure about the smelly foot odor, chances are most of what you're experiencing are just a byproduct of the beer not being ready yet.

While leaving the beer near a window that gets a little sun isn't the ideal spot, if they were in brown bottles and you took care of the situation relatively quickly, I'd bet the damage from the light is minimal if there's any at all.

EDIT: I just realized you're down under and I'm not sure if they have skunks down there. If not, then you may not have ever smelled a skunk before. Either way, it's extremely unpleasant. Hard to describe, but it's a combination of a musky burnt rubber burning the hair off your nose repulsive smell.

Hound_Dog · 08-14-2009, 12:40 PM

go sniff a heineken

**JohnnyO** · 08-14-2009, 01:36 PM

If you've ever smelled musk cologne, picture that, but only if it was stored and sprayed out of a kanagaroo's butt.

carnevoodoo · 08-14-2009, 01:38 PM

Leave a Corona bottle in the sun for 20 minutes. Then open it. It will be obvious.