Question about light

[Teufelhunde]

Everything you always read/hear about brewing beer/meadmaking is to keep it in the dark. Does that apply all the way through the process? Primarily during fermentation and not so important during clearing?

THX

Lon

 

[Beerstein]

Everything you always read/hear about brewing beer/meadmaking is to keep it in the dark. Does that apply all the way through the process? Primarily during fermentation and not so important during clearing?

THX

Lon

my fermenters are in the garage, and my bay door has windows. My fermenters are always exposed to light. In my opinion, its UV that causes big problems, including staling.

 

[Teufelhunde]

my fermenters are in the garage, and my bay door has windows. My fermenters are always exposed to light. In my opinion, its UV that causes big problems, including staling.

So basically keep it out of DIRECT sunlight? My beer room gets the afternoon sun. I ferment my meads in a closet and beer in a mini fridge, but only so much closet space and only one mini-fridge, so a lot of stuff goes out in the room for clearing. I try to keep the blinds closed, but some light sneaks in.....

 

[Dan O]

Everything you always read/hear about brewing beer/meadmaking is to keep it in the dark. Does that apply all the way through the process? Primarily during fermentation and not so important during clearing?

THX

Lon

If you're worried about it, wrap a towel or a blanket around the carboy, then the light won't hit it & you don't have to go dark in the house & stub your toes. But, mine are not covered @ all. There is also no windows in my office/ mead room, so, I have no concerns about UV light hitting any of them.
I hope this helps you.
Happy meading

 

[D.B.Moody]

So basically keep it out of DIRECT sunlight?...

If I can get sunburn while shaded from direct sunlight, I assume beer can get skunked that way too. A paper grocery bag with a small hole cut in the bottom slips right over a glass carboy.

 

[Dan O]

If I can get sunburn while shaded from direct sunlight, I assume beer can get skunked that way too. A paper grocery bag with a small hole cut in the bottom slips right over a glass carboy.

Never thought of the paper bag. Cheap & effective. Nice!

 

[JimRausch]

An old T-shirt works well too.

 

[bracconiere]

one of these maybe?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/353736000952?hash=item525c4f05b8:g:FXEAAOSwQQhgzUjj

 

[davidabcd]

I'm more terrified of light than a vampire.
I've got plastic fermenters and my shelfs have blankets draped over them while the beer is bottle conditioning.
I don't know how much light it takes to skunk a beer but Heineken has sure figured out how to skunk all of theirs.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Never thought of the paper bag. Cheap & effective. Nice!

and if you brew particularly hoppy styles, those might be two baggers.

 

[Jayjay1976]

one of these maybe?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/353736000952?hash=item525c4f05b8:g:FXEAAOSwQQhgzUjj

Man, do you full on work for them now? You got me hankerin' for a milk pail..

Edit: HOLY CARP! a 25L (7.4G) stainless fermenter for $58 shipped????
I spend ~$50 on a 7G Fermonster + Brew Hauler every time I need to expand my fermentation capacity
THIS IS A CRAZY GOOD PRICE FOR STAINLESS.

 

[bracconiere]

Man, do you full on work for them now? You got me hankerin' for a milk pail..

no but i just saw a 50L one for $85, half the price i paid for my 60L...and it's still over 13 gallons, so it would have been good enough for a 10 gallon batch.....


and for some reason everytime i walk into the kitchen now and see it in there....i'm thinking about the pull-ups comercials from my childhood...thinking, with a proud smile..."oh yeah, I'm a big boy now!"

 

[Dan O]

one of these maybe?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/353736000952?hash=item525c4f05b8:g:FXEAAOSwQQhgzUjj

Only problem I see with these is no place for an airlock

 

[Jayjay1976]

Only problem I see with these is no place for an airlock

I built my entire system, I have the drill bits.
Step bits are the best for stainless because even with thin walled vessels you do not run the risk of tear out like you would with a twist drill.
Its been awhile but IIRC, use low speed, high pressure and lots of cutting fluid.

Edit: off topic but I hold patents for drill bits. #humblebrag

 

[bracconiere]

Only problem I see with these is no place for an airlock

always got to drill a hole...had to do it in my old semi disposable HDPE buckets too....drilling through 1mm thick SS is i bit tougher then plastic though.....

edit: yeah @Jayjay1976 drilling my 60L....tried some small bits, increaing size, sorta worked, but a step bit came in for the win...wish i had the thought to toss some veg oil on it while drilling though!

i don't know when i'll be able to afford the ball lock bulk heads, and floating dip tube, but i will report on how much, well at least if it'll hold 30-40 psi, it's as thick as a corny, but the lid does seal from the top?

and on the selling them thing, which i'm totally not doing, it has a little bracket thingy on the inside top rim for hanging a hop bag or something in it! lol

 

[jseyfert3]

Everything you always read/hear about brewing beer/meadmaking is to keep it in the dark. Does that apply all the way through the process? Primarily during fermentation and not so important during clearing?

THX

Lon

My understanding is the issue is UV light reacting with hops will skunk beer, so this needs to be kept out of any light containing UV. But for mead/cider with no hops, there's no issue with light that I'm aware of. Probably not good to store it in clear containers in full sunlight, but otherwise it's probably fine.

 

[bracconiere]

My understanding is the issue is UV light reacting with hops will skunk beer, so this needs to be kept out of any light containing UV. But for mead/cider with no hops, there's no issue with light that I'm aware of. Probably not good to store it in clear containers in full sunlight, but otherwise it's probably fine.

with cider, my biggest thing is oxidation.....not that i mind a bit of brown apple sweetness...but still.

 

[bwible]

Never thought of the paper bag. Cheap & effective. Nice!

I use the dark plastic trash bags. Lawn & leaf bags or whatever.

 

[bwible]

My understanding is the issue is UV light reacting with hops will skunk beer, so this needs to be kept out of any light containing UV. But for mead/cider with no hops, there's no issue with light that I'm aware of. Probably not good to store it in clear containers in full sunlight, but otherwise it's probably fine.

Trivia - Miller owns several patents on hops that cannot be skunked. They’ve had them for many years. High Life uses galena hops. It comes in a clear bottle. I’ve never had a skunky High Life.

 

[Dan O]

I use the dark plastic trash bags. Lawn & leaf bags or whatever.

Yep, whatever works. I think I always grabbed for the towel because it was more of a blanket in the cooler months & dual purpose if we had a spill, clean up was made just a little quicker.

 

[Beermeister32]

I’ve noticed those hand holes on the sides of the box are also offenders. I recently had a box of Moosehead where the end bottles by the holes were light skunked. The rest of the bottles were OK. I wish this green bottle thing would go away, but some brands are in too deep on their marketing to do so. Maybe use some of Miller’s hop technology…

 

[D.B.Moody]

Maybe use some of Miller’s hop technology…

or just package them in old t shirts, plastic trash bags, or used grocery bags.

 

[bwible]

I think most of the breweries do a good job. I buy Landshark (AB) in the summer for something lighter. That comes in a clear bottle and I haven’t had a skunky one of those this year. Probably depends on distance, storage, etc. Certain brands are notorious - Heineken and Corona mainly. Both being shipped pretty far. I also wonder if its not just sunlight but also heat. Let’s say cases of beer were in a shipping container travelling from overseas and waiting a month or two to unload. Maybe it got to 100 degrees in the container. Would that not also affect the beer?

 

[JAReeves]

An old T-shirt works well too.

This is my method, as we always seem to have t-shirts that can no longer be worn around other humans.

 

[D.B.Moody]

Like this?

 

[JAReeves]

Like this?
View attachment 747799

One of my favorite songs from my childhood!

Dr. Demento Lives!

 

[Fleischmeister]

I use aluminum foil. It completely blocks the light but also allows the heat to dissipate. Blankets and towels hold the heat in.

 

[MaxStout]

Black plastic garbage bag with a hole punched in the end to allow the airlock to poke through.

 

[Teufelhunde]

I use aluminum foil. It completely blocks the light but also allows the heat to dissipate. Blankets and towels hold the heat in.

THAT is a great idea.....

 

[Maylar]

Out of direct sunlight...

And covered.

 

[T Murph]

I always protect my brews from any sun light. I do everything pertaining to brewing in stainless steel, fermenting, layering, aging and cold crashing, etc.. Haven't had a problem since I converted to stainless. Brewing is a lot of work and I don't leave anything up to chance.