BEER FRESHNESS

Refreshing, clean and crisp taste — it's what consumers look for in a beer. But to get such a beer, everything needs to be just right. We must remember that beer is a NATURAL product. And natural products are affected by time.

Over time, beer loses its freshness, flavor and crispness due to OXIDATION. Oxidation naturally occurs, but can be accelerated by three factors: light, temperature and time/age. The good thing is that there are things we can do to SLOW down oxidation.

Problem 1: Light
We think of light as being good: it helps plants grow; it allows us to see; it provides warmth. But light does not go well with beer.

Beer is made with several main ingredients; one being hops. Hops have a natural enzyme that reacts adversely to light. Here’s what happens:

• When exposed to light, this enzyme breaks down and produces a sulfur compound (think rotten eggs). This is what beer professionals call lightstruck.
• The sulfur compound creates an undesirable aroma, often referred to as “skunky.”

Lightstruck

Not all beers react to light in the same way. Darker beers vs. lighter ones; bottled vs. canned beer - each beer is affected by light differently.

• Darker beers, like stouts, actually absorb the light lessening the likelihood that skunkiness will occur.
• Cans provide total light protection to beer, making it virtually impossible to have canned beer become skunky.
• In order to combat this skunkiness in bottles, amber-colored glass is used to protect the beer from light.
• Clear and green bottles allow a larger amount of light through the glass, which is why some beers use a special hop extract in their clear-bottled beers which significantly minimizes its reaction with light.
• When it comes down to it, to keep your beer fresh for the longest period of time: MINIMIZE THE BEER'S EXPOSURE TO LIGHT!

Problem 2: Time/Age

In ancient times, beer was referred to as “liquid bread,” and like bread, beer tastes best when it’s just made - hot out of the oven or in beer’s case, straight from the brewery.

Enemy of beer freshness: Oxidation

This o-word is the culprit for beer’s deterioration. In the case of aging, oxidation takes its time doing its job on beer: Here’s how:

• As beer ages, its flavor suffers: it gets stale
• Air gradually turns the alcohol into undesirable flavor compounds - yucky!
• The color darkens and the foam loses its frothiness
• The higher the temperature, the faster the aging
• If outside air is allowed into the package, the rate of oxidation increases dramatically.

Problem 3: Temperature
Temperature is key to good-tasting beer. Of all the factors affecting fresh beer, improper temperature control causes the most problems.

The temperature is rising

Heat destroys beer freshness. Beer is a fragile product that relies heavily upon temperature control to maintain its viability.

• The warmer the temperature, the more rapidly the beer loses freshness.
• To keep your beer as fresh as possible in the retail setting, store beer at a temperature between 70 and 75 degrees.
• And remember to keep beer away from heat sources, such as a furnace or heating vent.

The keep-it-cold factor

Here's how much temperature influences beer:  Beer stored for one week at 100 degrees tastes as old as beer that has been stored for eight weeks at 70 degrees... or the equivalent of more than 52 weeks if it was stored at 40 degrees.

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