Are my clear bottles skunking my beer?

[RobWalker]

Ive recently lost a few bottles of beer, mostly down to laziness, because the clear plastic I use doesn't protect the brew from skunking. Let's just say I know what skunked beer tastes like now!

Anyway, I've become concious of light exposure lately, and I feel that it might be wrecking my beer. My FV sits in the spare room with ambient light exposure, including when dry hopping. After bottling a week later, the bottles sit in the warm for a week in clear plastic, unprotected again, before being moved to the fridge where it's in complete darkness until pouring.

Will this two week period **** my beer up? I've been a little more careful on this latest brew so I'm hoping it tastes better.

 

[LeithR]

Sorry to hear Rob,

I wouldn't have thought a couple of weeks in ambient light would have been long enough to skunk your beer. My beer sits in a shed with ambient light most of the time and some of it is a year old, hope I'm not storing up problems for myself.

 

[ian808]

I use clear bottles and after bottling I now cover up and then move to garage where I have a curtain to keep them covered up and out of light. Never used to do this and don't think I ever had a problem

 

[oz11]

From CAMRA's Beer Magazine Autumn 2012, an article by James McCrorie, a founder of the CBA (Craft Brewing Association):

"
For more than 100 years, brewers
have known that exposing beer to light,
particularly in the range of 350-500
nanometres, approaching (and in) the
ultraviolet spectrum of light, affects certain
hop components in the fi nished beer. In
most places this is known as the light-struck
effect. However, because the new chemical
that is formed, mercaptan thiol (or MBT), is
the basis of the defensive odour given off by
skunks, American brewers and beer drinkers
call affected beer ‘skunked’. To make matters
worse, MBT has an extremely low taste
threshold, which means the smallest amount
in beer is noticeable.
This photodegradation is minimised by
the use of dark brown glass bottles, which
fi lter out this dangerous light. Green or clear
bottles give little or no protection"

"Obviously, the strength of the light affects
the process, but even here MBT takes no
prisoners. Direct sunlight will cause the
reaction in just fi ve minutes, fl uorescent
light a few hours and normal, incandescent
lighting a little longer."

 

[RobWalker]

wow, that is quick. definitely going to be putting my beer under wraps then! there's a reason breweries are indoors and cellars are out of light :lol:

of course, I should really get brown bottles and stop using pop bottles... :/

 

[dx4100]

Just go and get some brown bottles! Go on, treat yourself :P

Wrap your FV in a towel!

 

[Markdon]

Think i will plasticoat my fermenters black as they sit on the kitchen bench!

 

[RobWalker]

it's the bottling time I can't be arsed with dx4100. this house is also a nightmare for space so I'm going to struggle to store empty bottles!

 

[chrig]

Pop bottles + spray paint? :lol:

I did I little experiment leaving one clear bottle out In the light with some brown glass.... Then i had to move all my beer out of the room and mixed them up... I'll either have an unplesant surprise now or i won't be able to taste it, i hear some can't detect the taste / smell