[coolman26]

Riboflavin is involved in the skunking mechanism. It is a product of fermentation.

Hey, a few years back I bottled in the garage, and some sun was shining in through the window in the pedestrian door. Not a lot of time or sun. The sheets said light struck. The control bottle confirmed it.

THIS^^^^^^^

I'll have to look that up. I know it didn't see light. I figured it was yeast related. How, I'll look that up, thanks. Jeff actually judged it in Indy.



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I remebered getting one there. Sorry it was yours, seemed good othwise from what I recall.

It wasn't terrible, not a big deal. Finished at 37.5,  so not horrendous. If you don't want feedback, don't enter right?  I didn't pick that flavor up, and both of you did. I guess I need to learn more on that end to know what is wrong with my beers. Now to figure how to correct it.


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[Phil_M]

Could something have happening in handling/transit?

[brewinhard]

About 5-6 years ago I got a double IPA through to the final round judging of NHC. Comments came back that it was skunked even though it never saw any light whatsoever. Brewed in a garage, fermented in a fridge, then kegged.
I am guessing that the judges were picking up on some catty aromas from the dank"ish" hops I used.

[hopfenundmalz]

About 5-6 years ago I got a double IPA through to the final round judging of NHC. Comments came back that it was skunked even though it never saw any light whatsoever. Brewed in a garage, fermented in a fridge, then kegged.
I am guessing that the judges were picking up on some catty aromas from the dank"ish" hops I used.

Some will say this for sulfur perception. I like to think I have sulfur compounds categorized, and can tell skunk from cabbage from burnt match from rotten egg, from catty. Some can't.

[santoch]

Much like sulfur, I find minor skunking can dissipate.  I've made a farty beer before (many years ago) where I recall telling my friends "pour it into your glass, then walk away for 5 minutes, then come back and enjoy".  Mercaptan compounds are of course volatile so it makes sense to me that in some cases you could do the same thing to a slightly skunked beer -- pour, walk away, come back and enjoy.  Or, just embrace the skunk.

I'm with Dave.  I've also had many cases where some very light skunkiness up front would dissipate, but it was always faint to begin with.  I find sulphury notes to dissipate quite often, while esters, oxidation, and phenolics tend to intensify over time. 

I always make it a point to revisit aroma after evaluating flavor and before recording overall impression to check out whether the aromas lingered, dissipated, or intensified.  I'll often add a note on what changed (or didn't).

<Hint to prospective BJCP examinees -  GRADERS LOVE TO SEE THIS ON AN EXAM (and on competition score sheets)>

[ynotbrusum]

Much like sulfur, I find minor skunking can dissipate.  I've made a farty beer before (many years ago) where I recall telling my friends "pour it into your glass, then walk away for 5 minutes, then come back and enjoy".  Mercaptan compounds are of course volatile so it makes sense to me that in some cases you could do the same thing to a slightly skunked beer -- pour, walk away, come back and enjoy.  Or, just embrace the skunk.

I'm with Dave.  I've also had many cases where some very light skunkiness up front would dissipate, but it was always faint to begin with.  I find sulphury notes to dissipate quite often, while esters, oxidation, and phenolics tend to intensify over time. 

I always make it a point to revisit aroma after evaluating flavor and before recording overall impression to check out whether the aromas lingered, dissipated, or intensified.  I'll often add a note on what changed (or didn't).

<Hint to prospective BJCP examinees -  GRADERS LOVE TO SEE THIS ON AN EXAM (and on competition score sheets)>

I always revisit during the course of evaluating a beer in judging.  If nothing else, temperature alone can change things (or allow things to be perceived more readily).  My comments typically include "initial notes perceived", "later hints picked up as the sample warms", "final aromas presenting themselves late", etc...to me this is as important as low, medium and high perceptions.  it also tells the brewer that I wasn't giving it a mere "drive by" or "quicky" analysis.  A good judge told me once that competitions won't survive unless you give the brewers something for their money, even if they don't place an entry.  I still write explanatory comments on the NHC "check the box" form, also, for this reason.

[Lazy Ant Brewing]

How much protection does a brown bottle provide?  Could you leave a beer in the sun for hours in a brown bottle without getting the skunked taste?

[denny]

How much protection does a brown bottle provide?  Could you leave a beer in the sun for hours in a brown bottle without getting the skunked taste?

My experience says no, you couldn't.  Brown glass provides some protection, but there's a limit.

[dmtaylor]

Brown glass only protects partially from artificial light indoors.  Against strong sunlight, it doesn't stand a chance for very long.

[Phil_M]

From my personal experience, a 20-minute or so sitting in full sun on the way home in the cab of my pickup resulted in noticeable skunking.

Carrying brown bottles from the shop to the truck/truck to inside in direct sun? No issues.

I think that's kinda the benefit of brown. It'll protect from skunking for the unavoidable parts of transit, but keep it in the shade.

[brewinhard]

This is why whenever I drop off entries for a competition, I ALWAYS put them inside of a sealed box so no light can reach them. Sometimes those entries sit for awhile at those locations before being picked up.

[zwiller]

From my personal experience, a 20-minute or so sitting in full sun on the way home in the cab of my pickup resulted in noticeable skunking.

Carrying brown bottles from the shop to the truck/truck to inside in direct sun? No issues.

I think that's kinda the benefit of brown. It'll protect from skunking for the unavoidable parts of transit, but keep it in the shade.

+1;  Same goes for a poured beer while hanging outside.  I get serious skunkiness by the end of the beer if it is bright outside! 

[ynotbrusum]

From my personal experience, a 20-minute or so sitting in full sun on the way home in the cab of my pickup resulted in noticeable skunking.

Carrying brown bottles from the shop to the truck/truck to inside in direct sun? No issues.

I think that's kinda the benefit of brown. It'll protect from skunking for the unavoidable parts of transit, but keep it in the shade.

+1;  Same goes for a poured beer while hanging outside.  I get serious skunkiness by the end of the beer if it is bright outside! 

Good point.  I use a shield around glasses and pitchers when served outside (a simple Koozie for the glass and a neoprene growler insulator for the pitchers.  Skunk free!

[ethinson]

How much protection does a brown bottle provide?  Could you leave a beer in the sun for hours in a brown bottle without getting the skunked taste?

I believe I read somewhere that the issue is blocking UV so no matter how dark the glass is some will still get through (behaves differently from visible light). 

Don't quote me on actually numbers, but I feel like I read somewhere that clear glass of course blocks 0%, green glass blocks 30ish% (maybe as high as 50?) and brown glass is like 90%.  That sounds like a lot, but as quickly as those oxidation reactions occur that 10% is gonna do some damage given enough exposure time.  So it slows the exposure for certain, but can't block it. 

What does block 100%... an aluminum can. (Yes, very difficult for homebrewers but part of the reason why so many craft brewers are switching to cans.

[Phil_M]

What does block 100%... an aluminum can. (Yes, very difficult for homebrewers but part of the reason why so many craft brewers are switching to cans.

Which is a shame, because most canned craft beer is good and stale pretty fast. Even canned Sierra Nevada beers suffer from staling faster than the bottled versions.

I'm back to buying 100% bottles, only cans I buy are from European breweries.