Light skunking beer

[AlaskaBushBrewer]

Is this another brewing myth if i leave my beer in a green or lighter bottle will the extra light possibly skunk my beer? If so how long would this take or how much light? I keep mine with the rest of my homebrewing equipment on shelves in the garage, theres some partial light coming through the window at the back but no direct light fore the most part

 

[Zen_Brew]

No myth. Skunking is quite real. I, like many others spent my late teen years thinking that skunky taste was part of the flavor profile of Heineken. Clear glass is the worst, but green glass lets plenty of light pass as well. Try to stick to brown bottles which block much more of the damaging light. There have been experiments done where a highly hopped beer put in the summer sun in a clear glass is noticeably skunky in 15-20 minutes. Protect your beer.

 

[Calichusetts]

They skunk...there is plenty of chemistry and research behind this...the question is how long until they skunk. Which I have yet to find a good answer too besides "very quickly" which I have not found when I drink in daylight. I use all types of bottles just keep them out of the light...all light for that matter.

 

[badbrew]

My latest lager smelled skunky in the carboy. Didn't taste it yet though. It was usually kept dark with the bathroom door shut but I guess I left the door open at least once and the hallway daylight got in. Couldn't have been much at all and it had to be light coming through the closed blinds and reflecting off the walls. Oh well I'm hoping it added some character.

 

[ColumbusAmongus]

I have always wondered if you could do a controlled skunk to a pale ale or an IPA to give it a weed flavor. Of course that flavor is unwanted in a lager but could it add extra dimension to a danky / piney APA / IPA. Who knows if that would be good though.

Does anyone have access to solid data on skunking rates?

 

[BrewKnurd]

Does anyone have access to solid data on skunking rates?

it's going to be dependent on hopping levels and beer color, so I imagine the only way to get solid data for a specific beer is to do some testing.

 

[Calichusetts]

There are some great articles on which bottles skunk (Revy posted this once)...but as for rates, I've never really found much other than "fast." Just put it in google and you will get plenty...i believe the technical term is light-struck beer. Its also about our ability to detect the skunking molecule, which can vary widely in individuals. I'd love to find out as well

 

[Revvy]

The basic brewing guys proved it didn't take long at all.

VIDEO
http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=september-14-2007---skunking-beer

They also did a good podcast on the science of it.

April 10, 2008 - The Science of Skunking
Chemistry professor Brad Sturgeon of Monmouth College explains the science behind beer skunking and what kind of glass is best to protect against it.

Click to listen MP-3

Brad's paper in PDF form.

 

[Calichusetts]

The basic brewing guys proved it didn't take long at all.

VIDEO
http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=september-14-2007---skunking-beer

They also did a good podcast on the science of it.

That article is fantastic (wish it addressed the timeframe) but the "experiment" those guys run really irks me for many reasons:

1. They leave the beer out for 45 minutes before they taste it...I don't need an experiment to tell me that a beer out in the direct sun is going to skunk by then...and who takes 45 minutes to drink a beer, MAYBE if I'm really relaxed and enjoying a BBQ, but my beer would warm by then and I would probably grab another.

2. They cover the beer in a plastic wrap. They create a greenhouse for their beer. Not only are they trapping heat, they are trapping the "skunk" molecule, creating a "dutch oven" effect of the molecule...I mean, who every wraps their beer in plastic for any amount of time?

3. They defeat the whole purpose of an experiment by creating conditions that none of us regularly drink in...45 minutes + wrap. AND they are specifically looking for the skunk smell. Its like the freudian trick when you ask someone not to think of a white horse, subconciously its already happening. I have a saying "Atheists don't see Jesus on a piece of toast...religious people do....because they are looking for it.

If I am looking for a taste/smell, I'll find it, whereas if I am just drinking I might be oblivious to it until its overpowering. There is a great book on the placebo effect and how sometimes even double-blind experiments are faulty.



If you really wanted to run this experiment right, you would need to get a buddy to regularly come over over the course of a few days or weeks (hopefully that is 30 minutes+ away) and 5 minutes before he arrives, crack a beer and put it out. When he gets there, don't even ask him how it tastes, just let him drink it...if its skunked, they will tell you and you can apologize for torturing him in such a way. If not, do it again and put it out 10 minutes before they arrive...so on and so on. You should try to keep the beer at serving temp too.

This would get a better result, same beer each time as well. What I don't get is how almost everyone complains that Euro-lagers are skunky when they have the least amount of hops...aka hop oil, which creates the skunking. In otherwords, super hopped beers should skunk quicker than light lagers because there is more hops in contact with more oil.

Who knows? The science is there but I refuse to believe we have only minutes to drink our beers on a summer day. I would like to find out when exactly this happens though.

 

[BrewKnurd]

What I don't get is how almost everyone complains that Euro-lagers are skunky when they have the least amount of hops...aka hop oil, which creates the skunking. In otherwords, super hopped beers should skunk quicker than light lagers because there is more hops in contact with more oil.

If super hopped beers came in green bottles, they would be skunky as well.

 

[cfonnes]

Last weekend I left a pint of APA on my deck table while I did something in the yard. No more than 15 minutes later I took a sip only to discover that a skunk had sprayed it. It was still drinkable, reminded me of Moosehead in green bottles.

There is a big difference between direct light and light coming through a door that does not hit the beer directly.

 

[Calichusetts]

If super hopped beers came in green bottles, they would be skunky as well.

My point was most of the science behind it states that beer skunks in minutes...so my question is if you had a Eurolager in a brown bottle (maybe a Moretti) and a super hopped IPA and poured them in a glass, would the IPA skunk first?

I guess it should, and much faster but I have no info on this.

There are great articles out there that show it skunks, Revy's article is a nice one...my question is how long and what plays a role in the delay or speeding up of this.

EDIT-- I really wonder what the difference is between direct and indirect...UV is UV, the intensity might speed it up...but any UV should skunk beer, including lights

 

[BrewKnurd]

My point was most of the science behind it states that beer skunks in minutes...so my question is if you had a Eurolager in a brown bottle (maybe a Moretti) and a super hopped IPA and poured them in a glass, would the IPA skunk first?

If they are the same color, yes. If one is darker, that will play into the whole thing, because less light will not make it in to the molecules in the middle of the beer. But, the threshhold for noticing the skunkiness might be higher since the flavor profile in general is a lot stronger.

There are great articles out there that show it skunks, Revy's article is a nice one...my question is how long and what plays a role in the delay or speeding up of this.

How long is a question that can't be answered without knowing the specifics of the beer and your threshhold for when you call it skunked. as for the factors, presence of the appropriate molecules from hops and amount of light that gets to those molecules. More hops = faster formation of skunky mercaptans. Lighter beer = more light makes it further into the beer, so faster skunking.