Basic Brewing Video - Skunking Beers - September 14, 2007

In this favorite from the archives, James and Steve turn beers skunky in the sun to test if brown glass really does protect beer from harmful light.

• Category

  Howto & Style

[surrealitytl]

Technically, you would need a double blind control, where you wouldn't know which of the beers you drank. The expectation of skunk beer changes the way it tastes. However, I can attest to the drastic difference between normal and skunk beer.

[basicbrewing]

I agree - if we were to do a more scientifically valid test, a blind triangle test between the skunked beer and a control would be better. However, the differences were not subtle at all. Just look at Steve's face. :-) - James

[mlaudio72]

You guys rock! So much fun to watch...

[basicbrewing]

Cheers! - James

[mjurney]

Not just the sun light, also extreme heat spoils the beer. I remember when I left a 6-pack of Sierra Nevada PA in the trunk of my car all day in the heat. The beer tasted very rubbery, but it's nasty as hell.

[basicbrewing]

You're right - heat is also very unkind to good beer. Like me, it likes to be chilled. :-) - James

[asnpride]

Steve's face was classic.  I laughed so hard.

[dreemsofdark]

check out SPF 2000 it's a coating they put on glass bottles that blocks UV rays and beer inside clear bottles won't skunk!

[basicbrewing]

In my experience, the more hops in the beer, the more quickly it gets skunked. I was drinking an Avery Maharaja that even got skunked on a cloudy day! - James

[Skuuuunk]

7:37 ~ so which beer(s) ends up the most skunky? I'd really like to know since beer is much cheaper than bottled skunk extract/essence.

Thanks for the vid, James and Steve!