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?
Skunkiness and Heat Treating
Jan 20, 2004
5 Replies
Baloney. Skunking occurs when the mercaptans in the hops react to certain wavelengths of light to create sulphur compounds.
-------->Denny
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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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
Morning, Bastian!
Yup, that's me by the swimming pool in my backyard. Forgot about those pictures!
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.
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