I was out and about this afternoon and had a clear plastic Go Cup of Hiddens Springs ZFG (Zero F’s Given), a local APA, for a little stroll on the Tampa River Walk. Normally I try to hide my hoppy beers from sunlight or don’t even order them when outside, but this beer, after 15 minutes in direct sunlight still smelled hoppy. No skunk. It made me think about the process a little bit. The reason for the name of the beer is that all of the hops are added post boil, which, according to calculators, shouldn’t provide bitterness. So here I was drinking a hoppy beer, bitter to my taste, that didn’t get light struck.
I guess there is something to this isomerization thing, eh? Late hop additions, to me, still add bitterness, but that bitterness, without isomerization, may not be susceptible to degradation from light.
Or is this just a fluke?