THE ENEMIES OF BEER
It is getting downright hot in Southwest Florida as summer approaches and more people are reaching for a cold beer! How to get the freshest beer and how to keep it safe are two important goals for the best beer experience.
Picking the freshest beer starts by looking for sell by, best by or bottled on dates on the container or the packaging. These tell you how old the beer is, and you want your beer to be less than six months old. After six months, hop flavor starts to fade and oxygen may start to creep into bottles even with tight caps. Also look for dust. That special beer you have been looking for is great, but if the bottle is covered with dust, the flavor may be impacted. Check dates on bottles and cans.
Beer enemies include heat, light and age/oxidation. Heat – the best treatment of beer is to keep it cold all the time – refrigerator temperature or on ice. That is not always practical, and beer can manage a bit of time at a higher temperature – like bringing home groceries or short car rides. A beer heating up to room temperature and then being cooled again will not be ruined in most cases but remember cold is best. Heat makes beer go stale faster!
Light is another enemy of beer. Light (sunlight, fluorescent light, LED light) reacts with the iso-alpha acids from hops in beer to form 3-methyl-2 –butene-1-thiol or 3 MBT. This can happen in seconds! All you need to know is the skunky aroma and possible flavor. Clear and green bottles provide no protection from light and brown bottles only offer some protection. Cans and kegs protect beer from light and some bottled beer is wrapped in cardboard. You can’t stop this reaction after you pour the beer. Check out this reaction when enjoying a beer outside in the sunlight. Pour the beer and smell. Enjoy time with your friends and then take another smell – notice the skunk smell?
The last enemy of beer in this post is age/oxidation. Beer can age and become stale or oxidized. Oxygen and beer do not get along causing the oxidation of lipids in beer creating Trans 2 nonenal. This is a nasty aroma and flavor of old newspaper, cardboard, papery and even shoebox. Keep track of that beer inventory and do not let beers get too old.
Buy the freshest beer by date and protect your purchase by keeping the enemies of beer at bay! And remember, always drink responsibly!
