Glass Color

OK, I know that Brown is best for preserving a brew. Green and clear suck. However, what about blue? I have a case of the cool 16oz cobalt blue fliptops, and the wife wants to buy another two cases. How do they compare in the color spectrum. My guess would be better than green/clear but less than brown. Any input?

-Todd

I don't know the answer to the question, but I'd go with the blue bottles if you like them. They are pretty cool. I have a mixture of brown/green/clear and while I bottle 90% in brown, I don't worry too much about the other bottles as my beer, once bottled, is either in a dark closet or the fridge until I pour it. I haven't noticed any problems or differences in flavor. I would definitely lean towards the brownies for long-term aging or taking my show on the road, i.e., camping, etc., as I've read they can get skunked by light surprisingly quickly.

Blue is no better or worst than clear or green (per the brewing guys at OSU). Just store them in the dark.

I'll see if I can find the link, but I recently read something that said blue was the absolute worst color for beer. It actually attracts UV light (moreso than the other colors), and is worse than clear or green. Go figure, the coolest color is the worst.

ORRELSE said:

I'll see if I can find the link, but I recently read something that said blue was the absolute worst color for beer. It actually attracts UV light (moreso than the other colors), and is worse than clear or green. Go figure, the coolest color is the worst.

Click to expand...

That's what the owner of our LHBS told us, too. Can't remember exactly why, but it has something to do with the blue part of the spectrum being the most harmful to hops....or something.

Well crap. I think I will get them anyway, because everyone seems to love them. Just have to keep them out of the light as best I can.

-Todd

Boxes with lids are a good thing. As are cabinets in basements. : )

alot of mead makers use blue bottles.

i don't think Mead suffers the same problems that beer does when it is exposed to light. I might be wrong there, but I thought it was a photochemical reaction with the hops and/or grains that makes beer want to live in amber bottles.

-walker

I agree with other people here - whatever you brew (wine, mead, beer) store it in darkness no matter what glass you bottled it in. Exposing it to light will deteriorate it until it's drunk.

What is it that Heinlein wrote?

Always store beer in a dark place

Go for the Blue if you like it. Just drink it in the dark. I bottle in clear bottles. I try to tempt the Beer Gods daily. I store the bottles in milk crates covered with an old blanket to keep the light out. All beer should be stored in the dark, brown glass or not. Blue shouldn't be any different.

"The hop compounds that are responsible for making beer bitter are called isomerized alpha-acids. These chemicals, along with sulfur compounds found in beer, are also culpable in beer skunking. When ultraviolet light hits beer, it provides the energy necessary to drive a reaction that transforms the iso-alpha-acids into 3-methyl-2-butene-1-thiol. The “thiol” part of that somewhat cumbersome name indicates that there is sulfur present. Sulfur compounds often have strong, offensive aromas. Some musteline animals, like skunks, have evolved the ability to produce this chemical, and use it for self-defense.

In a sense, the aroma of light-struck beer doesn’t just resemble skunk spray, it is skunk spray! It’s the same stuff!"

I googled some on light struck beer, and it is theVISIBLE light that causes the reaction to 'eau de skunk'. Particularly, it is blue light that does it. Now, I would think that since the bottle looks blue, it must be reflecting the blue rays away from the beer, else it would seem clear from outside. Anybody care to try googling "light transmission of colored glass"? I woud think that whatever brewery packs beer in blue bottles would understand, but I've also read that many european brewers think that Americans LIKE skunky beer, so use green and clear bottles...blue too?