All For The Sake of Science (and Beer)

Believe me, I will take no pleasure in the following experiment.

Much is talked about the folly of bottling beer in clear bottles. I have touched on this topic briefly here and here in the past. One hears talk of 'lightstruck' beer and of beer being 'skunked' but to be really honest, I'm not sure what a 'skuked' beer tastes like - I haven't run over any skunks lately round these parts.

When beer is exposed to ultraviolet light (or to a lesser degree, any light), hop derived compounds called isohumulones combine with sulphur containing protiens to produce 3-methyl-2-butene-1-thiol - a chemical almost identical to that which a skunk exudes when threatened or maybe just annoyed. It stinks, or so I'm told.

Brown bottles offer some protection against this process, green very little and clear bottles none. This is why very few quality beers come in clear bottles. Clear bottles are the work of marketing departments rather than brewers.

Now, I have had many bottles of Corona that have tasted what I would describe as musty. While imparting a much lacking flavour, it wasn't pleasant. But was that the taste of lightstruck beer? Or were they just gone stale?

An experiment had to be done. Some weeks ago, I traipsed down to The Abbots Ale House in Cork to purchase beer in clear bottles. Being an emporium of quality world brews, The Abbot's didn't leave me with much choice in clear-bottles beer. It was a strange exercise to be buying beer that I didn't particularly want for the purpose of wilfully destroying half of it. I bought two bottles of Carlton Cold - an Australian lager. Clean, Crisp it says. And Specially Brewed Keeping It Fresher For Longer. Mmmmm we'll see.

I placed one bottle in a dark cupboard ant the other in the window - for a few weeks! Surely, if a beer is going to be skunky, this has to be it.

The Results:

Both beers look the same in the bottle - no colour change.
Here goes.....Window beer first.

Damn!!! It tastes alright to my palate. A rather unremarkable lager with no unpleasant tastes present. I'm thinking that I do detect a slightly whiffey smell on the nose but am not convinced that it's not my imagination.

Now the well kept beer:

Horray, it's not my imagination - this beer doesn't have that smell. It has no smell whatsoever!

Conclusion:

Stupid experiment!
Here I am in the middle of the day with two bottles of lager open in front of me, one of which has a very faint sulphur like smell. And I mean faint. I'm at a bigger loss the explain that strong musty taste I've experienced in Corona and I'm not convinced that I really know what a 'skunked' beer tastes like.

Maybe Carlton's claim of 'Specially Brewed Keeping It Fresher For Longer' has something to do with this? Could they, like Miller, use a chemically modified form of hops' alpha acids which does not produce 3-methyl-2-butene-1-thiol when struck by light but, apparently, can still produce rotten egg odours? That's the explanation I'm going for.

Can I be bothered trying this experiment again with another beer? Who knows?

I never thought that I'd be disappointed to find that my beer tastes alright!

Now, what to do with two half drunk bottles of Carlton Cold?
Slug traps?
Fruit fly traps?
Or drink them?

Only I will know.

My last drink was; Do I really have to say? It's 4.6%abv in a 37.5cl bottle.