Why is it...(clear bottle/skunky beer question)

I've read on here that clear bottles + light can lead to a quickly skunked homebrew. Makes sense to me.

What I am wondering is, take a 40oz at a party store. It's in a glass bottle, it's lit at 7-11 24 hours a day, 7 days a week....why don't those go skunky? Is it because they are pasturized?

A. How could you tell?
B. Why would you care?
C. Skunk is caused by the UV conversion of iso-alpha acids. The more hops the more skunk. Certain methods of extracting hop oils result in forms of the acids that are not subject to skunking. These are cheap & don't taste all that great, but used in very low concentrations, who cares?

When budgeting for homebrew equipment, buy the malt first!

david_42 said:

A. How could you tell?
B. Why would you care?
C. Skunk is caused by the UV conversion of iso-alpha acids. The more hops the more skunk. Certain methods of extracting hop oils result in forms of the acids that are not subject to skunking. These are cheap & don't taste all that great, but used in very low concentrations, who cares?

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A) How could I tell if they are skunky or not? I went to college, I've had a 40oz or two in my day

B) I don't really care - just curious as to why this is. Seems to me if homebrew goes bad quickly in a clear bottle in light, a clear bottle at a party store with flourescent lighting would go quickly too. I was curious as to what the difference is that prevents this.

C) Makes sense then, thanks for the explanation Now I can sound edumacated.


I like good beer as much as the next guy, but I'm 25 years old and on a limited budget at times. There are the appropriate times for a good brew for me, and there are the "get forschnicity" times when I (and friends) just buy some 12's of Highlife longnecks for $6 and drink myself silly. I'm an equal opportunity drinker, depending on the drinking occasion/goal - both swill and soon-to-be good homebrew (I hope it's good!)

Hey, when I was in college it was Bud 6-paks for 99 cents. I don't think the 40 oz. malts were even on the market then.

i'd go as far as to say that those 40's ARE skunked. you're just used to the way they taste. plus, since they have very little hoppiness to them, the skunkiness is low.

There are also additives that are used by the BMC companies to significantly inhibit the production of those skunk flavors.


Let us also consider this: often times palces that carry those 40 oz'ers sell through them fast. Skunk isn't instant.

Hey, when I was in college it was Bud 6-paks for 99 cents. I don't think the 40 oz. malts were even on the market then.

i use green and clear bottles as well as the dark ones... just keep them in the dark and you will not skunk them up...

There are the appropriate times for a good brew for me, and there are the "get forschnicity" times when I (and friends) just buy some 12's of Highlife longnecks for $6 and drink myself silly. I'm an equal opportunity drinker, depending on the drinking occasion/goal - both swill and soon-to-be good homebrew (I hope it's good!)

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huzzah! many underestimate the highlife baby... tis my stock swill of chioce...

kornkob said:

Let us also consider this: often times palces that carry those 40 oz'ers sell through them fast. Skunk isn't instant.

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it's not instant, but it only takes an hour or two of direct UV bombardment.

I doubt they are selling those 40's THAT fast.

-walker

kornkob said:

There are also additives that are used by the BMC companies to significantly inhibit the production of those skunk flavors.

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Better living through chemistry! if only I could have additives too! Just like the big guys!

kornkob said:

There are also additives that are used by the BMC companies to significantly inhibit the production of those skunk flavors.


Let us also consider this: often times palces that carry those 40 oz'ers sell through them fast. Skunk isn't instant.

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Only Miller uses hop oil extract to prevent skunking. Bud and Coors still used good old fashioned hops.

A beer can become lightstruck in a matter of minutes under direct sunlight, hours in diffused sunlight and days under flourescent light...