Skunkiness and Heat Treating

I've heard a few times that beer becomes skunky if you chill it, let it warm, chill it again, cycle the temperature. I've also been told that's a load of baloney. What's the story?

Reply to
Gregory L. Hansen
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Baloney. Skunking occurs when the mercaptans in the hops react to certain wavelengths of light to create sulphur compounds.

-------->Denny

Reply to
Denny Conn

Ayup. Cycling the temperature accelerates the aging/staling process and can cause protein to precipitate, but it doesn't skunk the beer. Lotta ignorance out there, and a tiny little bit of smarts. Here's a piece on the topic that I did about five years ago that's still pertinent, and still gets quoted:

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Reply to
Lew Bryson

Hello Lew,

nice research done by you. By chance I found a picture that might show you exposing the beer 8 hours to the sun. That must have been very exertive that way! Here is the link:

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Regards from Germany and Prost,

Bastian

Reply to
Bastian

Morning, Bastian!

Yup, that's me by the swimming pool in my backyard. Forgot about those pictures!

Reply to
Lew Bryson

Wow, it must've taken an immense amount of stamina to hold that bottle up there for 8 hours. Now I know why Lew has such huge biceps.

Reply to
Joel Plutchak

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