Lightstruck Saisons

You can't be that crazy. I see people buying Corona, Heineken and Yuengling in green and clear bottles all the time when there are cans sitting right next to them on the shelf. I personally can't stand a lightstruck beer, but if you like it then drink up and enjoy.

 

I'm always amused at the term "Skunk" as a smell descriptor. Since they live only on the American continent it seems people often forget it's a very colloquial term.

 

Europeans sometimes use the term "polecat" to describe the lightstruck smell since they have familiarity of the smell of polecats as opposed to skunks.

Cheers!

 

I wonder if anyones done a blind side by side smelling?

 

LOL!

I think you would have a tough time getting volunteers here.

Cheers!

 

I'm not going to go so far as to say I agree with you, but I guess I can see how some skunk might go well with the flavor profile of some saisons, particularly if you're a fan of the really musky, funky, dare I say horseblankety ones

 

Mystic Brewing out of MA recently put out thier saison renaud in green bottles. Nice to be able to try the same beer side by side like that. I preffered the green bottle.

 

I feel the same way about euro lagers. The green bottles have a more interesting and intense you can say sourness that i prefer.

 

They have a right to make/package it that way and I have a right to leave it on the shelf.

 

You people do realize that "skunking" only affects the smell and not the taste, right? Any off-taste you think you are picking up is only your brain combining your sense of smell and taste. Get yourself a light-struck beer and pour two samples. Taste the first while taking precaution not to smell the liquid. You will not be able to tell that it is "skunked," and if you can, then you are picking up something else entirely.

 

They don't have skunks in Australia, a friend says a skunked beer's aroma smells like coffee. I have gotten that connection drinking some strong coffee.

 

I don't think you're crazy at all. I too find it enjoyable (for instance in Dupont), but only sometimes. Sometimes it's too strong/distracting. I'd be curious to see how many people who take a hard line and "never tolerate any skunk" are okay with aging beer and the oxidation that happens in that process. I think people can get a little dogmatic about their beer but that's another topic entirely.

 

Charlie Bamforth said in a talk that ~30% of the population does not find light struck aroma offensive.

 

I'm one of those folks who doesn't care for skunked beer but ages certain beers. I don't see any inconsistency at all since the chemical processes that result in skunking and in oxidation are two different sets of reactions that proceed in two different ways and don't even come close to producing the same results/effects on certain beers (e.g., one makes the beer stink like a skunk and the other changes the flavors in ways that sometimes improve the enjoyment of the beer).

 

This is why we can't have nice things.

Why should importers bother improving the quality of their packaging when so many Americans think light-struck is a "feature"?

 

Clear or green bottled imports continue to sell well around here so apparently there are customers who don't mind light struck flavor.

 

I agree. But in a sensory lab setting, smelling spiked samples blind, some would say it is not offensive. Look to my post where some from other countries associate it with coffee. People even enjoy "barnyard" and "horseblanket" aromas.

 

Have you ever seen/heard anything that would give an estimate of the number of people who confuse the sulfur compounds that can be found in certain beers (through brewing or spoilage) with skunking?

 

Just because a beer is in a clear/green bottle does not mean that it is "skunked." Doesn't mean it isn't either.

 

Right you are. Similarly, just because someone thinks a beer is skunked doesn't mean it is. I've had more than one person try to convince me that Heineken from the keg is skunked.