Why's it ...."skunky?"

[Phrasty]

My first batch went reasonably well apart from slightly high ferm temps. I brewed a Alpine Amber Ale... and up to 3 weeks in the bottle it was tasting great... but just recently (4-5 weeks) its starting to get "skunky" (thats the only way i can explain it...i dunno) What are the reasons the beer can get off flavours after tasting fine in the bottle a few weeks prior? any help would be great for future brews. Thanks!

Cheers

 

[dibby33]

light?????

 

[pfranco81]

Were the skunky beers in the fridge the whole time, or were they at room temp? Were there any crazy temp changes?

 

[Phrasty]

pfranco....they were conditioned @ 70 for 2.5/3 weeks.. then by the bar at 80/85... then in the fridge a couple days b4 drinking.... so yeah id say there was temp swings... i dunnno if you call that crazy swings.... could that be it??

 

[Phrasty]

Light wasn't an issue btw.. they weren't exposed to any extent.

 

[Muss]

Flourescent lights are just as bad as sunlight. Do you have those in the room?

 

[Phrasty]

no flourescents.... And it's not even like they're ALL skunky.... its inconsistent..

 

[the_bird]

Clear bottles, or brown/amber? It doesn't take long for light to skunk a beer. That's still what I would consider the prime suspect. I'm also wondering about the high temps by the bar; if you can, ideal would be to "cellar" them as cool as possible (whereever you were bottle conditioning them at 70° would be great).

 

[Phrasty]

All brown bottles Bird.... and in crates. The only thing I can see doing this is the temps if the temp swings can do that... dammit man... they were tasting so good! *sigh*

 

[snoochhandytardman]

if your fermentation temp was fairly high you may have some amount of hydrogen disulfide from the action of the yeast. This aroma is stinky but more like rotten eggs. Off flavors and aromas can be more noticible after the beer mellows some with time. I have just read this though, so it's just an idea.

good luck