Skunk Test

[masskrug]

So my SWMBO has been drinking a lot of carbonated water from Trader Joe's. I decided to try the 1 liter (clear) bottles out for beer. I collected a few and bottled a third of my Sierra Nevada Celebration clone in 22 oz glass bombers, a third in 740 ml PET brown bottles and a third in the Trader Joe's water bottles. They were all bottle conditioned in a cardboard box, in a dark closet for 3 weeks at 75' F. Then they were chilled in the fridge for 3 days. I could not taste a difference. The carbonation was about the same.

For those of you on a budget wishing to use soda bottles for beer, go for it. Just keep 'em dark during conditioning.

 

[rorypayne]

I posted in another thread about a test I did where I split batches and let some sit in just light bulb lit rooms, closets, and in a window with extreme sunlight. The only one that skunked was the sunlight. I do not know n e of the chem behind this but it must have something to do with the uv from the suns rays. So clear bottles are fine as long as they get so sunlight.

 

[Cyclman]

Keep clear bottles in the dark, period. Now that we can only buy fluorescent bulbs, they will skunk beer in clear glass. I've had beer skunk in a glass sitting outside.

 

[masskrug]

Is there any data on the time it takes to skunk? I bottle in fluorescent conditions and drink my beer (in a clear glass) under fluorescent lights.

 

[fartinmartin]

Those water bottles look a lot more satisfying with beer in.

 

[RM-MN]

Is there any data on the time it takes to skunk? I bottle in fluorescent conditions and drink my beer (in a clear glass) under fluorescent lights.

That will depend on the intensity of the UV light. It will take a lot more time to skunk from flourescent lights than from sunlight but the exact amount is hard to predice. Distance from the lights makes a difference. The liquor store here has flourescent lights only a few inches from some of the beers. That would be far different than the few feet that my house has.

 

[pelipen]

Is there any data on the time it takes to skunk? I bottle in fluorescent conditions and drink my beer (in a clear glass) under fluorescent lights.

I was reading in a back issue of America's Test Kitchen that they did a test and noticed changes within 15 minutes or something like that. I believe it was in a sunny window.

 

[IslandLizard]

That will depend on the intensity of the UV light. It will take a lot more time to skunk from flourescent lights than from sunlight but the exact amount is hard to predice. Distance from the lights makes a difference. The liquor store here has flourescent lights only a few inches from some of the beers. That would be far different than the few feet that my house has.

[in red]
That has always puzzled me. Even brown glass will let some shorter (UV range) wavelengths through. Combine that with exposure times of several weeks to months. Still I've noticed very little skunking of those bottles, with some exceptions noted.

 

[MaxStout]

There's a specialized craft beer store here (Four Firkins) that only uses LED lamps in the store, and they cover the windows to minimize sunlight coming in. By contrast, so many liquor stores have bright fluorescents lighting up their coolers, and overhead lights blasting down on the aisles. I guess if they rotate stock quickly, it wouldn't be so bad and I have rarely had problems with domestic micros being skunked. Usually just the imports that have traveled a long distance (Pilsner Urquell, I'm looking at you!).