You may have heard that letting a chilled beer hit room temperature and then chill again "skunks" it or ruins the flavor. I can tell you, categorically, that this is nonsense.
Anyone who really believes that beer has to stay cold from brewing to bottling to the bar has no idea how the supply chain works. This implies that the beverage is not only kept cool in the brewery storehouse, but also in transit, in warehouses, and then in the stores and bars it is sold in.
The idea alone is obscene. Beer can be left in the can or keg at room temperature as long as its use-by date allows. That's why retailers sell it on unchilled shelves. If you go to a bottle shop, a lot of those $20 Belgian trappist imports will have been sitting on the shelves in varying temperatures for weeks. There is no way that would be allowed to happen to such a fine tipple if it were damaging.
People fear that the cooling-to-warming transition is the damaging element for beer. But, there's no science to this at all. The container the brew is in will sustain the carbonation and flavour through many temperature cycles.
But Your Beer Still Tastes Terrible
Perhaps you should just go pick yourself up a seltzer then. Maybe the old pennies and hiking socks flavour of this microwbrewed, limited keg IPA is a little too wild for you. Maybe you're just not powerful enough to enjoy your can of 'Emperor's New Clothes.' Or maybe something other than warming has skunked your beer.
There are a few things that could actually foul the flavour of your beer, but cooling to warming isn't them. There could be a problem with the UV exposure of the beer. Thankfully, kegs and cans are UV protected. Brown bottles are almost entirely, and green bottles are mostly. But, leave glass in the sun long enough and it will eventually succumb to UV. Keep your beer in the dark.
One other element is age. Beer isn't like a fine wine, it'll actually get worse with age. All that hoppy goodness has a shelf life. Be sure to check the dates. It's always best when it's fresh, so don't leave it sitting around on a shelf for too long. Beer will age quicker when warm, so pop it in a fridge too.
The post The Myth About Warming Beer That's Simply Not True appeared first on Wide Open Country.