Heineken skunk explained

[HarveyDarkey]

My note: A rule I've had for years is "I don't drink green beer"

Physics and Green Beer Bottles

By Rhett Allain
03.05.13



I have a new beer rule. Avoid beer in green bottles. Just to be clear, this is a rule for myself. You can drink green bottled beer. In fact, you should always try to drink the beer that you like. For me, I will avoid the green bottles. Why? If you drink beer, you may know why. The the beer in these green bottles seem to have this extra taste that maybe is not so great.

Someone (it was probably my biochemist beer brewing brother) told me that the green bottles don’t block ultraviolet light. It is a reaction with the ultraviolet light that causes this taste that I don’t like. Well, maybe I don’t always trust my brother (even though when it comes to beer, I should). You know what happens next, right? Experiment time.
A Simple Beer-Bottle Experiment

Let’s start with something that just about anyone could do. Here are my materials. (I actually hate when a lab report lists materials – so I don’t know why I am doing it.)

Beer bottles of different colors. Preferably at least one of green, brown and clear. Oh, you will have to remove the beer from the bottles. Maybe you could figure out a way to accomplish this task.
Ultraviolet light. If you don’t have one, you could use the Sun. I used one of these UV LED lights.
Ultraviolet sensitive beads. These are little plastic beads that change color when exposed to UV light.
Paper. A flat surface. A notebook. A pencil. A stopwatch. A computer with internet access. A camera.

OK, the experiment is pretty simple. Put some beads in each bottle and let the light shine through. If the beads change color, the UV light passes through the bottle. Simple, right?

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/03/physics-and-green-beer-bottles/

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. My hatred of green bottled beer (skunk piss) goes back to rolling rock in my grad school days..

never could get why people raved about Moulson, Moosehead, Heineken, etc - all in green glass. Open the bottle and it smelled like someone ran over a skunk. I figured maybe I was just genetically more sensitive to that smell.....so no green bottled beer for me, going back 35 years!

[valerief]

2. I'm not a beer drinker, but when I used to occasionally drink beer,

I noticed some beer tasted "piney". Blech. I wonder if that was green glass beer.

[pinboy3niner]

3. No, that wasn't from green glass...

You grabbed the Pine-Sol bottle.

[valerief]

7. I gotta learn how to read!!!!

[NRaleighLiberal]

4. the pine is from a very hoppy beer - Anchor Liberty is amazingly piney.

it is a love or hate thing, like cilantro (which I hate!)

[valerief]

6. Ah, I hate cilantro, too. nt

[Mutatis Mutandis]

16. Alba Scots Pine Ale

Good drink

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/12142/243

[NRaleighLiberal]

17. wow - that's a new one for me....will have to seek it out.

[Mutatis Mutandis]

18. from here in Sweden, Närke Kaggen Stormaktsporter from Örebro. Öl är Konst! – Beer is Art!

Närke Kaggen Stormaktsp​orter from Örebro, Sweden rated best beer in the world ( its been in top 3 in 5 out of last 7 years, and this is first time Westvleter​en 12 has been dethroned from top spot)

http://www.ratebeer.com/Ratings/Beer/Beer-Ratings.asp?BeerID=58057

http://www.kulturbryggeri.se/kulturbryggeri/index.php

http://www.beersweden.se/archives/6069

&feature=player_embedded


http://www.tv4play.se/nyheter_och_debatt/nyhetsmorgon?title=vecka_5_veckans_dryckestips_med_bengt_frithiofsson&videoid=1214818


http://www.tv4play.se/nyheter_och_debatt/nyheterna_orebro?title=varldens_basta_ol_bryggs_i_orebro&videoid=1214707


skål!

[NRaleighLiberal]

20. yes, that's on my list...we tend to go exclusively stout/porter these days!

[HarveyDarkey]

19. I've wanted to try that, but could never find it

Have you tried the Fraoch Heather Ale?

[Mutatis Mutandis]

21. Fraoch is excellent

Alba Pine might be available for you (I assume your are in the USA) from here

http://bierkraft.com/browseproducts/Alba-Scots-Pine-Ale-12oz.HTML

[BlancheSplanchnik]

25. I love the Kelpie ale, made from seaweed.

good stuff! It's subtle, but you can taste the ocean. (well, I can. Or i imagine I can.)

[HarveyDarkey]

26. I've never had that, or even heard of it

Sounds interesting though, I'll see if I can find it. I know I've never seen it reviewed on You Tube. I'd love to be the first.

[HarveyDarkey]

8. Some hop varietals add a piney note to beers

One of the most widely used is Chinook. I like that aspect of some brews.

Here's a good chart for hop flavors:

http://byo.com/resources/hops

[valerief]

12. Thanks, but pine taste is blechy. nt

[SeattleVet]

15. The I'd guess that you would hate

spruce beers from Colonial times. Initially spruce tips were used instead of hops; some modern versions use the spruce AND the hops.

[valerief]

23. Yep. Gimme a bourbon any day. nt

[OnyxCollie]

13. You're doing it wrong.

The piney taste is a feature, not a flaw.

I love the piney taste of a Sixpoint Resin, or a Lagunitas Lil' Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale.

Of course, stouts are good, too.

And Belgian ales.

And pilsners.

And dopplebocks.

And...

[Purplehazed]

5. Heineken in a can ???

It's just as foul. no uv light needed.

[SwissTony]

9. Heineken in Holland comes in brown bottles

Heineken in Australia (brewed in Sydney) comes in green bottles.

The Australian version is better than the Dutch.

[jmowreader]

10. Heineken is also skunky because it's mishandled

Beer is a fragile thing. It has to be kept cold from the moment the wort is charged with yeast to the moment you put it in your mouth.

The Heineken people in Europe know this, and they do a good job in Europe of delivering cold beer.

When it's shipped to the US is a different story: they put it in non-refrigerated containers, deliver it to a non-refrigerated warehouse, haul it to distributors in non-refrigerated trucks...no wonder it goes bad!

What amazes me is that Heineken has contract breweries in several countries to ensure its drinkers are getting only the best beer...but the US isn't one of those countries.

[pinboy3niner]

11. They should re-name their U.S. product 'Hiney-kin'

[King_Klonopin]

27. I'm an expert on this subject

based on experience (lots) I know certain truths about beer:

1) Once you refrigerate it, you can't let it get warm and
then RE-refrigerate it. That will result in skunky beer
(because of the yeast, as you pointed out.) Beer is supposed to
be kept at 55 degrees, not ice cold. Most mass produced beers
are pasteurized (i.e. heated to high temp) before shipping.

2) Beer that comes in clear bottles (or semi-clear, such as pale green)
will taste a tad funky (like Heineken), slimy (like Miller) or downright
disgusting (like Heffenreffer, the king of skunky malt beverages ...
I know, it's malt liquor, but the same principle applies.) I hated Miller;
it tasted like 50% beer and 50% saliva --yukkk.

3) If your intended goal is to get shitfaced, then the taste doesn't
really matter that much. If you took the alcohol out of scotch,
you couldn't sell a 55 gallon drum full of the stuff for more than 50 cents.

I once drank a 12-pack of warm, Old Milwaukee beers back in my
college days. "Skunky" would have been an improvement over "an Old
Sweaty Sneaker" flavor.

Drink up, Shriners !!!!!!

[Paladin]

14. I've Been Drinking Heineken For So Many Years, I Like The Skunkiness.

I also like Dos Equis lager, which comes in green bottles, as well. Guess I'm beyond help---and I'm suddenly very thirsty.....

[tosh]

24. Me too - Heineken for years.

I'm also fond of Dos Equis Dark, Bass, Whitbread, Courage and an occasional stout.

I don't care the color of the bottle.

[talkingmime]

22. Sorry. I couldn't read that. Skunk beer sucks. Let me repeat that. Skunk beer sucks.

[DemoTex]

28. Hundreds of pallets of Schlitz sat in the sun for months at Cam Ranh Bay

Now THAT was some skunky-ass beer (when it was finally distributed to US military facilities in II-Corps).

[sulphurdunn]

35. Yea,

but one went down pretty smooth even all skunky and hot, especially with a LRP and a Pall Mall. while sitting in the shade, letting the sweat dry.

[pinboy3niner]

37. Good times, bro!

The Army Infantry had a beer ration assigned, but the supply sgt. and his cronies drank it up in the rear so little of it ever reached the field.

Still, when we did get a little, even though it was not only skunky, but WARM, we were in heaven.

I suspect that you also developed a tolerance for warm beer in your SE Asia adventures.

[sulphurdunn]

38. One of our tricks

was to find some water (often in a bomb crater) soak an empty sandbag in it, insert a beer and swing it around our hands like a rock in a sling for awhile. It cooled the can a bit but didn't do much for the beer inside. So it goes. I remember all the beer that never made it to the field. Once in Saigon I saw pallets of it lining the walls of a bar. It's never good to be at the end of any supply chain for food and booze in the military.

[Taverner]

29. I am surprised you all don't know this!

Even high end beers (Tripel Karmeleit I'm looking at YOU!!!) make this mistake

[HarveyDarkey]

30. The only Tripel Karmeliet I've ever had was a brown bottle

It was the smaller capped bottle, not the corked & caged bigger bottle though.

[Taverner]

31. Lucky dog - how was it?

I wish I coulda had mine in a brown bottle...

[HarveyDarkey]

32. My review of it

[sulphurdunn]

33. I'm drinking a Heineken

as I write this. My only criticism is that it's overpriced for what it is. I like Becks much more. Heineken ranks with the best mass produced American beers, although I think Yuengling is better than most of the imports, including Heineken. Truth be told the best beers you can buy in America are from the new regional micro breweries, especially those brewing lagers. The advances in American brewing over the past generation are awesome. From what I hear, Carta Blanca is pretty good, but I can't find it where I live.

[nomorenomore08]

39. Carta Blanca is quite good for the price. Much better than the grossly overrated Corona.

nt

[bluesbassman]

40. Modelo is my favorite in that bracket, but I'll take a CB over Corona any day.

Heck, I'll even take a Tecate over a Corona.

[nomorenomore08]

43. Modelo and Negra Modelo are both tasty, especially the latter.

But my favorite Mexican beer, for sure, is Bohemia. Technically a dark lager, but with lime it's perfect on a warm day.

*Edit: NOT a dark lager, wasn't thinking straight. It just comes in a dark bottle.

[Yavapai]

44. I prefer Bohemia or Pacifico for Mexican beers.

Whenever I have tried Tecate beer, I found that I can go from straight from two swallows of it to feeling hung over even without the buzz. Saves time.

But my favorite mass produced American beer is Samuel Adams "Oktoberfest" served at about 50°.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

34. Gotta show this thread to my Mom. She considers herself to be a beer connoisseur -

Face it, she is a beer snob

Thanks for this thread, she will enjoy it.

[HarveyDarkey]

36. I'm a beer snob, I'll admit it

over 500 reviews on You tube also

[Spitfire of ATJ]

41. What about this project?

[HarveyDarkey]

42. I like this one too

but I wouldn't want to drink that much shit beer:

[Yavapai]

45. Maybe Santa would leave a new liver under that tree.

But I think I would like to build one of those. Will have to start now, so it can be ready for Xmas 2014!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

47. I like the midwestern houses outside...

Lets me know this was inspired by weed.

[Zorra]

46. Brown bottles maintain the true flavor of the brew, and that is what I always prefer.

Many of today's microbrews are absolutely delicious. Our local brewery makes a totally scrumptious red ale that is only available on tap.

Nectar of the gods.