why don't we worry about hop skunking in glass carboys?

[twd000]

I understand that the greatest enemies of fresh beer are heat and light, and oxygen. We control temperatures and keep out oxygen during fermentation, but a lot of us use clear glass carboys. Why aren't we concerned about the beer getting prematurely skunked due to light?

 

[bob1852]

Because you cover them with a t-shirt or keep them in a dark place?

 

[twd000]

Because you cover them with a t-shirt or keep them in a dark place?

Starting today!

 

[veritas524]

because you cover them with a t-shirt or keep them in a dark place?

+1

 

[indigi]

I wrap mine in thin blankets or beach towels. I'm paranoid that some light will get through a t-shirt.

 

[bob1852]

I wrap mine in thin blankets or beach towels. I'm paranoid that some light will get through a t-shirt.

Of course - I meant those really expensive SPF80+ t-shirts that you can wear to the beach without getting sunburned

 

[Edcculus]

Oh but we do! Cover it, or keep it in a closet.

 

[ChshreCat]

I haven't heard anyone not worried about hop skunking in glass carboys. Get those suckers in a dark place!

 

[imasickboy]

Yup, I have 3 of 'em sitting in my dining room dressed nicely in my t-shirts, just waiting to be emptied.

 

[pkeeler]

I've always put my carboys in black garbage bags or cover them with something. Then I put them in a dark place. Double insurance.

 

[Ben_Persitz]

Because I keep mine in my temp controlled fridge where it is usually dark

 

[theonetrueruss]

dark towel and dark closet... and sitting in a plastic bin

 

[Revvy]

I think you missed the memo about keeping your carboy out of direct light, or at least covering them with t-shirts.

 

[vortexla]

dark closet works for me

 

[SwampassJ]

In a chest freezer, no one can hear you scream.

 

[kanzimonson]

Before someone jumps to the next conclusion, I wanted to add that you don't have to worry about skunking until you add yeast... so don't worry about the carboy sitting in the sun as you're draining from the boil kettle.

I'm gonna test out this screaming in a chest freezer thing...

 

[MikeRoBrew1]

Starting today!

DOH!! Thumbs up to you for asking

 

[Revvy]

In a chest freezer, no one can hear you scream.

I made this for a thread where a guy found a bunch of wine aging in the basement of an empty house.

 

[jerryalan]

I cover mine up with a cheap comforter. I'm quite paranoid about the light getting to the beer.

 

[mojotele]

Good lord that's a lot of wine! What, did your friend buy a house and that was left? Or was it just an empty house that your friend wandered in to?

And, to keep this thread on topic, you don't have to worry much about skunking in a glass carboy if you have a dark beer. Light can't penetrate a stout as much as it can penetrate a pilsner.

 

[Revvy]

Good lord that's a lot of wine! What, did your friend buy a house and that was left? Or was it just an empty house that your friend wandered in to?

And, to keep this thread on topic, you don't have to worry much about skunking in a glass carboy if you have a dark beer. Light can't penetrate a stout as much as it can penetrate a pilsner.

It's a thread on here from over a year ago, I can't remember the title, or the particulars.

 

[Hermit]

Before someone jumps to the next conclusion, I wanted to add that you don't have to worry about skunking until you add yeast...

Geez, and here I was thinking it was HOPS that skunked. So those hops I left too long in the hop bag after boil in the basement and started smelling like skunk must have been exposed to some wild yeast I guess? No, yeast have nothing to do with this.

 

[JohnnyO]

It's a thread on here from over a year ago, I can't remember the title, or the particulars.

I remember that!! (I don't remember much, or so SWMBO would have you believe).

I think the particulars were that he was some form of contractor going into a job with a new absentee owner and that was in the basement.

 

[Randar]

Anyone able to find a link to that thread. Totally intrigued now but my searches are failing to find it.

 

[Shooter]

I remember that!! (I don't remember much, or so SWMBO would have you believe).

I think the particulars were that he was some form of contractor going into a job with a new absentee owner and that was in the basement.

Something like this, I think the old guy who made the stuff might have still been around, but was a bit infirm, and his relatives might have had the OP doing something in the house. I do remember everyone telling him to try it. If I remember correctly, it had all gone to vinegar. I think it was twenty years old.

 

[ChshreCat]

Anyone able to find a link to that thread. Totally intrigued now but my searches are failing to find it.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/strange-find-135050/

 

[HerotBrewer]

And if you don't want to use a t-shirt, do what I do.
Every time you go to the grocery store (like when I buy spring water for brewing) get a couple of paper bags. Cut a hole in the top for the airlock to stick out of, and slide it over your carboy. Fits perfect, at least on Better Bottles.

 

[PVH]

Geez, and here I was thinking it was HOPS that skunked. So those hops I left too long in the hop bag after boil in the basement and started smelling like skunk must have been exposed to some wild yeast I guess? No, yeast have nothing to do with this.

Uh, the hops just rotted. You'd get equally terrible smells if you boil other vegetable matter and leave it sitting around.

 

[SwampassJ]

Geez, and here I was thinking it was HOPS that skunked. So those hops I left too long in the hop bag after boil in the basement and started smelling like skunk must have been exposed to some wild yeast I guess? No, yeast have nothing to do with this.

I wish I could be as much of a tool as you.

 

[kanzimonson]

Oh I love how wrong you are Hermit.

For a beer to get skunky, it requires all the ingredients in beer. Yes, the actual chemical comes from the hops, but it requires metabolic activity from the yeast's consumption of malt sugars. I don't know the science - just passing on something I heard from the BN.

Saying that skunkiness comes from light-struck hops is like simplying fermentation to "Sugar + Oxygen = Alcohol + CO2" Technically true but an extreme oversimplification. Sounds like Hermit's the kind of guy who needs that, though.