Is it possible to skunk a beer in a white fermentation vessel?

[Simonh82]

Would it be possible to skunk a beer in a white plastic fermentation vessel? I ask because my last brew had what I would call a kind of soapy taste which I wasn't able to track down the cause of.

The FV is a standard 25L affair from Wilkos and whilst clearly not transparent, the fact you can see the level of the beer through it means it must allow some light through. The FV was sat in my kitchen, near the window but not in direct sunlight. There would also have been room lights on at other times.

I know lots of people have their FV in a cupboard under the stairs, or even more ideally in a fermentation chamber. That isn't an option for me as I live in a first floor flat and a fermentation chamber is a pipe dream at the moment.

Do you think normal room light might cause skunking in a beer?

 

[clibit]

I think it's possible, but would probably take a while. You could cover the FV.

 

[Racinsnake]

I could only guess.... but I'd say no, not this time of the year anyway! And interior lights don't put out UV rays which I assume is what does the skunking.

 

[Hops_and_Dreams]

Would it be possible to skunk a beer in a white plastic fermentation vessel? I ask because my last brew had what I would call a kind of soapy taste which I wasn't able to track down the cause of.

The FV is a standard 25L affair from Wilkos and whilst clearly not transparent, the fact you can see the level of the beer through it means it must allow some light through. The FV was sat in my kitchen, near the window but not in direct sunlight. There would also have been room lights on at other times.

I know lots of people have their FV in a cupboard under the stairs, or even more ideally in a fermentation chamber. That isn't an option for me as I live in a first floor flat and a fermentation chamber is a pipe dream at the moment.

Do you think normal room light might cause skunking in a beer?

I thought skunking was exactly that and so wouldn't cause a soapy taste? I'm no expert, but isn't it like when you have a beer in the sun too long and it begins to taste a bit funky? I leave my FV uncovered in the spare room and not had any issues.

 

[brumbrew]

I do the same.

Before I joined the forum however I couldn't figure why my beer wasn't just so.

Because of the sun in the spare room the temp was fluctuating a lot.

I also use the same kind of buckets and have never had problems I would put down to skunking or light strike.

Maybe the answer is elsewhere?

 

[Covrich]

my Fv is normally in a dark room, but if I have ever have it in view of sunlight I throw a blanket or towel over it

 

[trooper]

The reviews on the wilko fv are not too good

 

[Slid]

my Fv is normally in a dark room, but if I have ever have it in view of sunlight I throw a blanket or towel over it

Totally agree with Covrich on this one - unless the container is in near darkness, put a towel around it. Protects from light and temperature fluctuations.

Must be better to eliminate a potential source of problems than argue about it later. :whistle:

 

[Simonh82]

I thought skunking was exactly that and so wouldn't cause a soapy taste? I'm no expert, but isn't it like when you have a beer in the sun too long and it begins to taste a bit funky? I leave my FV uncovered in the spare room and not had any issues.

It may not be skunking it's just not a flavour I'm familiar with and I'm slightly stabbing in the dark as to what it might be. On a previous thread where I asked about it people mentioned soapy tastes from leaving in primary for too long, although no one had actually experienced this. Just something John Palmer said in How To Brew. I don't think is this as it was only in primary for a little under 3 weeks.

The other thing I'm thinking about is DMS flavour, which people describe as creamed corn. The flavour is cloying, slight sweet and feels like it coats your mouth after the main flavour of the beer subsides. I don't really know what creamed corn tastes like but perhaps it could be a better match.

My wonky 1980s ceramic hob struggles to get past a gentle simmer so I did leave the lid partly on to get anything approaching a boil. Perhaps this meant DMS wasn't driven off? Is DMS a big problem with dry malt extract?

 

[dad_of_jon]

soapy taste could be due to using loads of hops. skunking is different and i always cover my white plastic fv with a clean old turtle neck jumper and keep it out of direct sunlight. Sunlight generally doesn't do food/drink any favours unless it's ripening fruit :-)