direct sunlight

Does leaving your carboy in direct sunlight (afternoon - into evening) effect the taste of your beer?
I have made 5 batches that I have left in the same spot in the house everytime in the sunlight. Taste fine too me ... but maybe it tastes better out of the sun?

From what I have heard, leaving fermenting beer in the sunlight can cause skunking, yet you haven't had any issues.

If you are the least bit concerned you could cover it with a T-shirt, towel, sheet, etc....

Yeah, I always ferment in the dark to avoid light shock and any skunking type of off flavors. I have an entire room of my house dedicated to brewing complete w/ lager box-3'x3'x3' and a closet- totally dark. room holds at 62-69 degrees! Ultimalely, do what works for you, however, most folks on this forum would probably agree that it's good to ferment in the dark and out of direct light af any kind. Have fun!!!!

I wouldn't be worried about light from fixtures, but I definetly wouldn't be leaving my beer in direct sunlight for a couple hours a day. Unless, of course if you like the taste of Corona or Heineken.

Most of us cover our carboys in T-shirts to protect them.

I don't even like to drink in the sun in an opaque glass.

Light and beer do not play well together.

Never expose your beer to the sun, or any bright light source if at all possible.

Well I guess I should start covering my carboys!!
Funny thing is ... my beer seems to be tasting just fine ... never skunky ...
what do you consider off flavours?

just to offset some of your statements,

What type o commercial beer do/did you drink before you started homebrewing ?

the skunky off taste/flavor is noy unlike Heineken from a green bottle,

or even a Grolsch that was mishandled

You didn't post a location, so I cannot find a local example of skunked beer,
the two I posted are commonly found to be skunked in my area!

I hope this helps

-Jason

Sunlight can harm beer but it takes a while - this is why beer comes in brown and green bottles now. Many macro brews can sit in the the front windows of stores and turn skunky. Not that macro beer drinkers can really tell though.

Grinder12000 said:

Sunlight can harm beer but it takes a while - this is why beer comes in brown and green bottles now. Many macro brews can sit in the the front windows of stores and turn skunky. Not that macro beer drinkers can really tell though.

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You would be surprised how fast even cloudy sunlight can skunk a beer, especially if it is light colored.

I set a BB of light lager out on the patio table on a cloudy day. I let it sit for 30-45 minutes to settle before racking to keg. It turned out pretty skunky. I keep the fermenters covered with towels while they fermenting, so it had to be the little bit of cloudy sunlight that did it.

Cheeto said:

the skunky off taste/flavor is noy unlike Heineken from a green bottle,
[

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Heineken that wasn't properly stored, you mean? I would assume properly stored/packaged Heineken doesn't present any more off flavors than any other beer. The problem is in the bad handling mixed with the clear bottles, right?

Grinder12000 said:

Sunlight can harm beer but it takes a while - this is why beer comes in brown and green bottles now. Many macro brews can sit in the the front windows of stores and turn skunky. Not that macro beer drinkers can really tell though.

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From experience, I can detect a flavor degradation and skunkiness in a 20 oz clear glass of beer in direct sunlight by the time it's gone.

YMMV.

bdaddy said:

Heineken that wasn't properly stored, you mean? I would assume properly stored/packaged Heineken doesn't present any more off flavors than any other beer. The problem is in the bad handling mixed with the clear bottles, right?

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UV light is your enemy. Care to guess what make those flourescent lights in the store flouresce? Almost all of the UV is absorbed in the process, but they do emit a small amount. Some research indicates 8 hours under flourescent lights equals about one minute of direct sunlight. While that doesn't sound like much, it adds up. About every 3 weeks of exposure = 1 hour out in the sun. So, I'd suggest that even stored in conditions that most people would consider "proper," there is a limited shelf-life for Heineken, and any green bottle or clear bottles beers for that matter. I have never encoutered a Heineken here that didn't have a skunky aroma or taste to it - an observation I made well before I became a beer snob. When I was in Europe I was tempted to try some and see if there was a difference, but there were so many better choices all over the Belgian countryside to enjoy.