Fluorescent light exposure during fermentation

[luizffgarcia]

Guys, i need some advice please.

I finished a 1 gallon batch yesterday, put it inside my closet for fermentation at 18.5c and forgot the closet lights on! It is a fluorescent light.

So before i spent more hops in the dry hop i thought i should ask, is 8 hours exposure to the fluorescent light enough to skunk my beer?

Also, in the same closet i have other 2 batches, one i just dry hopped yesterday, and the other is 1 week into the fermentation.

Would you guys just go ahead as planned? Or don't bother wasting time and hops because the beer is all ruined?

Thanks

 

[william_shakes_beer]

What is your fermenting vessel?

 

[luizffgarcia]

What is your fermenting vessel?

Transparent glass

 

[IslandLizard]

Smell it, if it's skunked you will know right away.

 

[luizffgarcia]

Smell it, if it's skunked you will know right away.

Ok, i never had this problem before so i didn't know if it is 100% noticeable inside the carboy, since the fermentation carboy usually smells funky anyways because of all the krausen.

i am going to open the 3 batches tonight and give it a smell.

When it gets skunked, is it noticeable in the very first day into the fermentation?

 

[flars]

You may need to wait until the fermentation is complete to do the sniff test. Like you said, some yeasts during active fermentation do not have the best aroma. After three to five days the airlock should start smelling like real beer.

 

[jamina1]

I honestly wouldn't worry - correct me if I'm wrong but the skunkiness from light exposure is more due to UV (sunlight) than something that would be generated by fluorescent bulbs, right?

 

[mongoose33]

It can't cost you that much to put in the hops and see what develops. You have an exbeeriment of sorts going here, so in the interests of the brewing community you need to see this through! And then report back.

 

[IslandLizard]

Both incandescent and fluorescent bulbs give off UV radiation, although in much smaller amounts and with different spectra (not so energetic wavelengths) than the sun does. That's why many museums use special bulbs and filters for some of their exhibits.

I think you will be OK. Our noses are quite sensitive to the skunk smell, chances are you will pick it up among other fermentation scents right now, if it were the case.

Even with brown bottles, the fluorescent lights in the coolers at a beer supplier always have me worried, given the long exposure time and close approximation.

 

[luizffgarcia]

Ok so i sniffed all 3 batches yesterday, no signs of strange smells so far. I just hope it stays like this

 

[dwhite60]

I've bought a LOT of beer out of beer displays with fluorescent lighting. Maybe I'm not sensitive to it but I've never noticed any skunkiness in anything I've bought.

RDWHAHB.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[jschein]

I've bought a LOT of beer out of beer displays with fluorescent lighting. Maybe I'm not sensitive to it but I've never noticed any skunkiness in anything I've bought.

RDWHAHB.

All the Best,
D. White

Corona and Heineken I can always tell. I see the cases in the big front windows and think that is why those beers really suck in bottles. On tap not so bad

 

[jamina1]

Corona and Heineken I can always tell. I see the cases in the big front windows and think that is why those beers really suck in bottles. On tap not so bad

Considering those are one of only a few beers I know of that don't use brown bottles, it's no wonder the light affects them more adversely.

 

[Jim311]

Another beer I think is consistently skunky is Newcastle. Once again, a clear bottle.

 

[edb]

I'm certain that most every beer you've purchased (including micros) have been exposed to more than 8 hours of florescent lighting.

 

[luizffgarcia]

Just reporting back, this was not enough to damage the beer

 

[mongoose33]

Just reporting back, this was not enough to damage the beer

Thanks for the followup; now, how does it taste????

I have fluorescent lighting in my basement where I sit my fermentors; it's pretty cool down there (64 ambient when not actively fermenting) but I'm always worried about the lighting. I have a large cardboard box I put over the fermentor and airlock to keep light out, but it's a bit of a conundrum. I want to ferment cool, and the fermentation activity drives the temp up to 68 or 69. If I put the cardboard box over it, I'm afraid I'm insulating the fermentor and will boost temps.

My way around it is to just let it sit in the dark while actively fermenting. If I want to work down there, I cover the fermentor with the box for as long as I'm down there.

I've never had skunky beer yet (knock on wood), hopefully this helps.

************************

I was at a relative's cabin in northern Wisconsin over the 4th of July weekend. I brought my homebrew, of course, and my cousin-in-law, great guy, brought Corona. Not a bad lager, IMO, but in this case, man, it was skunky. I read recently that some breweries expect that aroma as part of what they're producing, and bottle in clear bottles on purpose. It's a feature, not a bug!

Blasphemy, if you ask me.

 

[moels]

I cut a hole in the bottom of a paper grocery bag. It makes a great carboy cover.View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1468025588.921602.jpg

 

[Tx6686]

I cut a hole in the bottom of a paper grocery bag. It makes a great carboy cover.View attachment 361364

nice! I'm not hot south texas, so I always have a black towel around my carboy with fan blowing on it doing the whole swamp thing.