What causes "skunked" beer ?

**GotBeer** · January 10th, 2007, 08:37 PM

I drank Heinekin for quite a few years.
More than once, I would forget and leave a few bottles in the cooler and they would get warm.
Once they were warm they were done. Even iced down again, they tasted and smelled like skunkpiss.
And I'm not talking about forgetting about them for weeks or even days at a time, it was as soon as they reached room temp again.

The thing that always got Me is that they are shipped from the brewery warm and are OK, but as soon as they were iced down one time that was it.

Yeungling is the same way, just not as bad.

Now on the other hand, bud or coors light could sit in the sun for weeks and tastes just about the same after being rechilled. $:\$

**F1_SS** · January 10th, 2007, 08:41 PM

Fermintation, moving from hot to cold alot i believe.

I had a skunked Stella Artious (sp) and it tastes just how it sounds,

**Mad Martigan** · January 10th, 2007, 08:47 PM

Gremlins

**GotBeer** · January 10th, 2007, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad Martigan

Gremlins

Well, if that's the case, not even gremlins want bud/coors "type" beer

**F1_SS** · January 10th, 2007, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GotBeer

Well, if that's the case, not even gremlins want bud/coors "type" beer

They go after the good stuff to skunk.

**Jackal** · January 10th, 2007, 10:09 PM

UV Light.

Anything in a lighter bottle (Green or clear) isn't protected from the effects UV light on the beer, or more specifically the hops. Brown bottles help filter out those harmful rays and keep the beer fresh.

**Trendkiller Z28** · January 10th, 2007, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phirehawk265

UV Light.

Anything in a lighter bottle (Green or clear) isn't protected from the effects UV light on the beer, or more specifically the hops. Brown bottles help filter out those harmful rays and keep the beer fresh.

**ill deuce** · January 11th, 2007, 12:01 AM

s***,heineken tastes like that even when they're still cool

**Trendkiller Z28** · January 11th, 2007, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ill deuce

s***,heineken tastes like that even when they're still cool

Because of the green bottles

**Mad Martigan** · January 11th, 2007, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ill deuce

s***,heineken tastes like that even when they're still cool

**ill deuce** · January 12th, 2007, 03:12 AM

heinekens have to be COLD

**GotBeer** · January 12th, 2007, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phirehawk265

UV Light.

Anything in a lighter bottle (Green or clear) isn't protected from the effects UV light on the beer, or more specifically the hops. Brown bottles help filter out those harmful rays and keep the beer fresh.

Nope, they will still skunk just being in the cooler and getting warm. No UV rays inside a dark cooler

.

Maybe the cole stops the fermentation process then rewarming starts it up again

.

**Victory** · January 12th, 2007, 02:36 PM

I think its all in your head.

**Jackal** · January 12th, 2007, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GotBeer

Nope, they will still skunk just being in the cooler and getting warm. No UV rays inside a dark cooler

.

Maybe the cole stops the fermentation process then rewarming starts it up again

.

That doesn't change the fact that the beer has come in contact with light in the past, or even in short intervals between opening/closing the cooler.

Beer stored in green/clear bottles simply doesn't last as long and typically gets "skunked' much quicker than beer in brown/dark bottles.

**Trendkiller Z28** · January 12th, 2007, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GotBeer

Nope, they will still skunk just being in the cooler and getting warm. No UV rays inside a dark cooler

.

Maybe the cole stops the fermentation process then rewarming starts it up again

.

Oh, you didn't tell us that you brew Heinekin at your house in the dark and then store it in the dark

**GotBeer** · January 14th, 2007, 01:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trendkiller Z28

Oh, you didn't tell us that you brew Heinekin at your house in the dark and then store it in the dark

Obviously the beer comes in contact with light well before it ever see's a cooler and is probably exposed to it more during that time than being exposed everytime the cooler is opened. $:\$ Plus the fact that as long as it is kept cool it is fine.
I've taken them from a cooler and put them in the fridge and they are fine. It is the "I'll get them Tommorrow" beers that end up sitting for a few days or even until the next weekend that are affected.

What I am saying is that the s*** becomes vile once it is chilled for the first time, then allowed to come back up to room temp.

lol, I just thought that Somebody might know exactly what happens. The UV theory is a good one but I just don't think it applies here.

**XLR8TOR** · January 19th, 2007, 04:37 PM

Skunking="lightstruck"

**Blazedtech** · January 20th, 2007, 06:49 PM

Never really liked Heiny, the light is ok though.

**Booger** · January 20th, 2007, 09:44 PM

green bottle beers, especially lagers are on my do not drink list.

hell i have grolsch and grolsch light in the fridge. need to find some poor sole to drink those for me.

**ill deuce** · January 24th, 2007, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XLR8TOR

Skunking="lightstruck"

so they brew,ship,and store it in the dark?

**Jackal** · January 24th, 2007, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ill deuce

so they brew,ship,and store it in the dark?

They try to limit the amount of light that the beer is exposed to as much as possible.

Again, this is the reason most beers come in dark, brown bottles. They filter out the most amount of light, reducing the effect light has on beer.

I don't see why this is so difficult to understand.

**Bad LS1** · January 24th, 2007, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ill deuce

so they brew,ship,and store it in the dark?

actually to a certain degree yes. If you have ever been to a brewery, very little light comes in contact with a large volume of beer at a time. The whole process up to bottling is a relatively sealed process. Corona is notorious for their skunky smell because of the clear bottle. That is one of the main reasons they add a lime wedge to the bottle. To mask the skunk flavor.

cycling from hot to cold will dull the flavor but it won't give it that skunk taste.

**GotBeer** · January 25th, 2007, 07:14 PM

Time for a drunken Bill Nuy the Science Guy experiment

I am definately going to score a case of Heinekin (since heinekin suffers the worst from this more than any other beer I have drank) and donate a few for an experiment once the weather breaks.

I'll use 2 or 3 beers for each break it down like this:

Unchilled from distributer- beers in sunlight and beers in a dark cooler then will ice them down and see what happens.

Beers thrown on ice- will let beers warm up in sunlight and will let beers warm up in cooler and once again ice them down.

I'll drag this thread up and post up the results.

Seems like light/UV rays is the choice cause, We'll see

**Booger** · January 25th, 2007, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GotBeer

Time for a drunken Bill Nuy the Science Guy experiment

I am definately going to score a case of Heinekin (since heinekin suffers the worst from this more than any other beer I have drank) and donate a few for an experiment once the weather breaks.

I'll use 2 or 3 beers for each break it down like this:

Unchilled from distributer- beers in sunlight and beers in a dark cooler then will ice them down and see what happens.

Beers thrown on ice- will let beers warm up in sunlight and will let beers warm up in cooler and once again ice them down.

I'll drag this thread up and post up the results.

Seems like light/UV rays is the choice cause, We'll see

the extreme heat/cold switch will get a beer quite often too.

**BeerDrinker** · January 7th, 2009, 06:23 AM

Lightstruck beer is beer that has been exposed to ultraviolet and visible light. The light causes riboflavin to react with and breakdown isohumulones, a molecule that contributes to the bitterness of the beer and is derived from the hops. The resulting molecule, 3-methylbut-2-ene-1-thiol, is very similar to a skunk's natural defenses.

**Trendkiller Z28** · January 12th, 2009, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeerDrinker

Lightstruck beer is beer that has been exposed to ultraviolet and visible light. The light causes riboflavin to react with and breakdown isohumulones, a molecule that contributes to the bitterness of the beer and is derived from the hops. The resulting molecule, 3-methylbut-2-ene-1-thiol, is very similar to a skunk's natural defenses.

Nice first post!

**Jin** · January 13th, 2009, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trendkiller Z28

Nice first post!

I agree.

Nice having him on the boards.

**michelob** · January 16th, 2009, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeerDrinker

Lightstruck beer is beer that has been exposed to ultraviolet and visible light. The light causes riboflavin to react with and breakdown isohumulones, a molecule that contributes to the bitterness of the beer and is derived from the hops. The resulting molecule, 3-methylbut-2-ene-1-thiol, is very similar to a skunk's natural defenses.