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Skunky beer is a well-known flavor defect, and everyone seems to have a theory as to what causes beer to go funky. But its alternate name, "light-struck" beer, hints at the true cause. As the name suggests, the phenomenon occurs when light-sensitive hops — a major beer ingredient that acts as a preservative and adds flavor — is exposed to too much light. Brewers have documented the problem since at least 1875. To combat it, beer is often stored in brown or green glass bottles to help filter out the light (aluminum cans and kegs block out light completely).
Green bottles barely help. time, temperature, and light are all enemies of beer. open a corona and don't add lime, or a majority of Heineken bottled beers in the US, and you will experience skunk.
Seems that EVERY Heineken I've had here in the US has been skunked. The ones I've had in Europe were really good, though. I suspect a shipping/storage issue.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
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Originally Posted by Old Gringo
Seems that EVERY Heineken I've had here in the US has been skunked. The ones I've had in Europe were really good, though. I suspect a shipping/storage issue.
It is intentional. They experimented with changing the bottles to prevent skunking at one time, and in testing it turned out their drinkers hated the taste when it WAS NOT skunked. That is what Heinie drinkers here are looking for.
Doesn't make sense to me, but I don't get the attraction to plenty of things.
It's definitely the light more than cooling/rewarding. Green bottles, thanks to Heineken, have become synonymous with import/quality over the years, which is why so many imports still come in green. Even though it's been proven to affect the flavor more than brown bottles...
Corona. Skunk pee. Heine too. Dark Heineken is another matter. If you can find it, it comes in brown glass and is malty and pleasant.
I've wondered often why Miller High Life doesn't meet the same fate being in clear bottles, but it's always fresh tasting to me.
Has anyone tried Bud Light Platinum in the cobalt blue bottles? I had a couple in Vegas and they weren't bad.
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