Fed up with buying skunked beer?

It seems lately when I get beer, that I have a 50/50 chance of it being skunked. My wife got me a European sampler of lagers for christmas, every bottle in the box was skunked. I purchased a 6pk of Sierra Nevada Pale (my fav) the other day and it wasnt in the normal cardboard holder, but had a plastic pack holding it together. The manager assured me it was ok. I got it home and it was fouled too.

Can this be attributed to the temperature changes in the stores, and exposure to light? Or can it be from the shipping procedures?

Skunkiness comes from UV rays, not heat. "Cooked" beer will also taste bad, but it won't skunk it. Where do you live? Outside of the usual suspects (Heiny, Urquell, Rolling Skunk), I hardly ever get a skunked commercial bottle, especially when it comes to craft brew.

Try buying somewhere else...

I am looking forward to the day when more craft brewers follow 21st Amendment's lead and start canning. Zero chance of skunking.

david_42 said:

I am looking forward to the day when more craft brewers follow 21st Amendment's lead and start canning. Zero chance of skunking.

Click to expand...

I agree with you, but recently on beeradvocate.com Garrett Oliver (Brooklyn Brewery) said that cans are more conducive to oxidation. What is your opinion on that? Is lined aluminum that permeable?

Soulive said:

I agree with you, but recently on beeradvocate.com Garrett Oliver (Brooklyn Brewery) said that cans are more conducive to oxidation. What is your opinion on that? Is lined aluminum that permeable?

Click to expand...

I don't recall if he ever followed up on that when questioned further (and IIRC other brewers that can were questioning the that statement)....did he?

Soulive said:

Try buying somewhere else...

Click to expand...

+1 it may not want to be what you want to hear. but, it'll probably solve your problem.

brewt00l said:

I don't recall if he ever followed up on that when questioned further (and IIRC other brewers that can were questioning the that statement)....did he?

Click to expand...

Not yet and I'd be surprised if he doesn't. I talked to him at the brewery recently and he said he's always open to communication on BA. Maybe he forgot about the thread but I doubt it...

Soulive said:

Not yet and I'd be surprised if he doesn't. I talked to him at the brewery recently and he said he's always open to communication on BA. Maybe he forgot about the thread but I doubt it...

Click to expand...

I always look forward to an Oliver reply to a thread on BA...generally an education itself.

brewt00l said:

I always look forward to an Oliver reply to a thread on BA...generally an education itself.

Click to expand...

Yeah he's informative. Sometimes he needs to drop the words nobody has ever heard though...

Soulive said:

I agree with you, but recently on beeradvocate.com Garrett Oliver (Brooklyn Brewery) said that cans are more conducive to oxidation. What is your opinion on that? Is lined aluminum that permeable?

Click to expand...

I went back and checked out that thread...I don't think that you can really cite his statement to much effect here since it was kinda just thrown out there with no explanation and on a forum that you have to be a member to read the replies.

Rob Creighton's post seems to offer plenty of info to the contrary.

http://beeradvocate.com/forum/read/1204619

(course you have be a member to make it worth clicking)

I can only wonder where the O2 is supposed to be coming from? Aluminum is frequently used as an oxygen barrier for other metals. It grabs oxygen and hangs on like a [fill in your favorite political cheap shot]. Certainly the science of filling a can with beer is as solid as filling a bottle. Add the plastic liner and I see no way the beer can be damaged.

I've had 21A IPA out of a can. If that hop load can't chew through ...

david_42 said:

I can only wonder where the O2 is supposed to be coming from? Aluminum is frequently used as an oxygen barrier for other metals. It grabs oxygen and hangs on like a [fill in your favorite political cheap shot]. Certainly the science of filling a can with beer is as solid as filling a bottle. Add the plastic liner and I see no way the beer can be damaged.

I've had 21A IPA out of a can. If that hop load can't chew through ...

Click to expand...

Part of this other discussion centered around the amount of oxygen introduced by the canning or bottling apparatus. Rob Creighton of Grand River Brewing posted that his lab samples are coming back with no readable level on the cans, which is lower than most high speed fillers. He also mentioned that punctures in the polymer liner of the can will be noticeable in the brewery because the beer will eat through the can in a matter of hours, causing a leaking case before it ever gets out the door... Pretty neat.

Oskar Blues cans, and has received phenomenal acclaim. They are of the idea that canning, if craft breweries would embrace it, could unlock unlimited potential in the craft brew industry. Better consistency for end product, inexpensive transport and packaging, etc.

chriso said:

Oskar Blues cans, and has received phenomenal acclaim. They are of the idea that canning, if craft breweries would embrace it, could unlock unlimited potential in the craft brew industry. Better consistency for end product, inexpensive transport and packaging, etc.

Click to expand...

OB kicks ass and their success can been in the fact that they grew so much last year, they're opening another brewing location

http://www.portfolio.com/views/columns/first-draft/2008/01/18/Canning-Craft-Beer

^The article that started the BA thread

http://www.cask.com/main/index.php

I like BitBurger in cans You get 24 0.5 l cans for less than the price of 24 10 oz bottles. And, never skunked.

Soulive said:

Yeah he's informative. Sometimes he needs to drop the words nobody has ever heard though...

Click to expand...

The Oxford English Dictionary has several hundred thousand entries....and they're available to anyone. OTOH, I doubt the words in question would go beyond any online dictionary, or a New Collegiate.

As far as bad beer, until recently I've never bought a skunked beer, and we buy a wide variety of craft brews......usually from a grocery mega-mart that has a pretty high turnover.