Beer's number one enemy is sunlight. While it's common to think this has something to do with the yeast during fermentation, it's actually because the hop flowers are extremely sensitive to ultra-violet sunlight. This is why many commercial beers come in brown bottles and most supermarket display cases are lit by fluorescent light.
When exposed to sunlight for even an hour, beer will undergo a chemical reaction that creates an organic compound called 3-methyl crotyl mercaptan. This compound can give your beer a "skunky" flavor similar to the commercial example Heineken. For this reason, always store the carboy in a dark closet or cover it with something. But what should you cover it with?
When exposed to sunlight for even an hour, beer will undergo a chemical reaction that creates an organic compound called 3-methyl crotyl mercaptan. This compound can give your beer a "skunky" flavor similar to the commercial example Heineken. For this reason, always store the carboy in a dark closet or cover it with something. But what should you cover it with?
Well, you can always use a t-shirt, sweatshirt, or take your carboy out for a night on the town like this person, but we love to see it taken to next level like Alliloop did with her carboy covers!
Here are her directions:
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- Cut out a piece of brown corduroy to be about 36 x 24 in.
- Sew a straight seam up the length, making it about 34.5 inches (the carboy I'm using is 34 in. in diameter)
- Make a pocket along the top and the bottom and push elastic thru each (less elastic in the top and just bunch it more),
- Sew those up and VOILA! Done.
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