may deteriorate in a few days. It turns out that
light in the blue-green to ultraviolet parts of
the light spectrum reacts with one of the hop
acids to form an unstable free radical, which
in turn reacts with sulfur compounds to form a
close relative of chemicals in the skunk’s
defensive arsenal. Brown glass can absorb
blue-green wavelengths before they get to the
beer inside, but green bottles don’t. As a
result, green-bottled German and Dutch beers
are often sulfurous, and many consumers now
expect this! One American brewer with
trademark clear bottles developed a modified
hop extract that’s free of the vulnerable hop
acid, and this prevents its beer from going
skunky.
Serving Beer In the United States, beer is
often drunk ice-cold and straight from the can
or bottle. This is fine for a light, thirst-
quenching beer, but doesn’t do justice to beers
designed to have some character. The colder