Many people think that beer is a nonperishable beverage that can be stored anywhere for long periods. However, what most people don't realize is that there are many things that may ruin the flavor, color, and even the consistency of your brew. Whether you're brewing your own beer or simply looking to store your beer from any of the Seattle area breweries, this article will tell you everything you need to know about storing it so you don't get a skunked beer.
Why Storing Beer Correctly Is So Essential
Modern brewing companies do as much as possible to ensure their beers taste fresh, even after months of being transported around the world, and if you want to keep this freshness then you also need to continue to store it properly. If you don't, then your beer may become cloudy, solids may begin to separate, and the overall flavor profile of your drink will change drastically.
This happens mostly due to exposure to UV light, as these harmful rays will react with the hops in your beer, causing permanent damage to it. However, time, warm temperatures, and exposure to oxygen (including the air already in your beer) will all also cause deterioration of your beer. This is what professionals call a skunked beer.
What Is Skunked Beer?
In short, a skunked beer is a beer that has been damaged by any of the above processes, resulting in a musty, "skunky" odor that will certainly make you think twice about drinking it. Most beer lovers, at some point in their lives, will come into contact with a beer that's been skunked. Once you've smelled this (or, heaven forbid, even tasted it accidentally), you'll never forget it.
The ingredient in the beer that makes this process happen is the hops, so beers with a higher hop content (such as IPAs) are much more prone to skunking than others. On the other hand, beer with a higher alcohol content will last much longer before going bad than weaker ones. This is also true of high alcohol beer (over 8%), smoked brews, and sour beer.
Can I Drink Skunked Beer?
Despite the off-putting odor, skunked beer can actually be consumed without making you ill; however, most beer enthusiasts will simply throw it out, as the flavors will be compromised and the drink will taste truly awful.
How to Store Beer Properly
Back in the 1930s, brewers made a life-changing discovery. This discovery was that beer stored in brown bottles kept its flavor for much longer than beer stored in clear bottles. The reasons behind this weren't obvious at first, but over time people began to realize that this was due to the brown bottle filtering out most of the sunlight.
This was the dawn of modern beer knowledge as we know it - now many other factors are also known to affect the quality of your beer - and the entire industry has evolved. Here's how to protect your beer:
Keep Your Beer Cool and Out of Sunlight
This is a standard for pretty much all alcoholic beverages if you want to keep the flavors from deteriorating. However, due to its low alcohol content, it's even more important for beer. As with other perishables, heat will also cause serious damage to your beer. According to professionals from Seattle area breweries, if you have a beer that lasts one year in the fridge, it will only last three days in the trunk of your hot car.
Even if you aren't going to enjoy that premium beer you just bought for another few weeks, it is highly recommended that you put it in the fridge as soon as you get home to lock in that flavor. If this isn't impossible, keep it in the coolest, darkest place in your house, such as a pantry or a cupboard.
Check the Storage Container
Although humanity realized a long time ago that brown bottles reduce the UV light that gets through to the beer, many mass-produced beers are still sold in green or clear bottles. This is mainly due to marketing reasons - making each brand of beer more recognizable on the shelf - but does have an adverse effect on the shelf life of your beer.
As skunking primarily occurs due to exposure to UV rays, beer stored in kegs or barrels won't skunk for a long time, and can even be stored for years if kept in the right conditions.
Check Whether Your Beer Is Pasteurized
Most mass-produced beers will undergo pasteurization at the end of the brewing process to ensure bacteria and harmful yeast can't build up while it's stored, however, many craft beers from Seattle area breweries do not undergo this process. Therefore, we highly recommend drinking all craft beers within three months of the brewing date.
Keep Your Beer Upright
This is a little-known fact, but actually, the angle you store your beer at has a massive effect on its shelf life. If you store your beer on its side, there is a much larger surface area of liquid that comes into contact with the air inside the bottle. Air will eventually cause your beer to oxidize (a process called oxidization; the process that also causes rust), so if you want to keep your beer safe, it is highly recommended to store your drink upright.
Does Beer Get Stronger When Left at Room Temperature?
There is a common misconception that beer - or any other alcoholic beverage for that matter - will keep on fermenting when left at room temperature, and so will become stronger over time. However, this is definitely just an urban myth, as in modern industrial brewing houses, the yeast is killed at the end of the fermentation process when the brew is pasteurized, so it will never get stronger, no matter how it's kept.
This isn't true if you are brewing your own beer, however, as the yeast is left active once you finish your fermentation process, it will actually keep fermenting. Leaving your home-brewed beer in the fridge is a great way to slow the fermentation down, but it will never stop. For this reason, it's best to treat home-brewed beer as a perishable product and consume it within 2 weeks.
Things to Take Away
Despite what people may assume, beer is not a nonperishable product and must be stored correctly to ensure the quality does not degrade. This can be achieved by storing your beer upright in a cool, dark place. If you are brewing your own beer, using a barrel instead of glasses will ensure your beer doesn't skunk.
Now you know why storing beer correctly is so important, and some of the things you can do to ensure your beer remains tasting as good as it was intended. If you're brewing your own beer, these methods of storing it are even more important. With this knowledge, now you just need some beer that you can test it on, so drop by and visit us at LowerCase Brewing to check out our excellent selection of craft beers and ales.
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