42 replies to this topic

[MyaCullen]

Yes, 150° for crisper & drier... closer to 152° for maltier & better body. 151° would probably be a good compromise.

I would maybe even drop down slightly lower to the 147-148 range for that matter on the dry crisp front.

[CaptRon]

I think imma have to give up on this as the temps are getting too warm for a 50ish ferment. Maybe I'll just do a big hefe for them, I'm sure they will like that - and I will enjoy it more too. So I now need to figure out a good hefe recipe, maybe a 10 gallon batch this time to fill up two kegs.

[ChefLamont]

While I would love to make a smart comment about setting the carboy in the sun for a couple of hours, I think it is a somewhat honest consideration. Or at least an academic discussion point.If you are trying to get close to what a Corona drinker would expect, wouldn't you almost have to "skunk" it a little bit to obtain this? I realize this is intentionally harming your beer, but it is to get to a specific end. I think I remember hearing somewhere that Heineken intentionally does this to beer that is headed for the American market, because that is what is expected (that might be total nonsense, but I thought I remember hearing that somewhere).

[Big Nake]

I understand the skunking comment because of the clear bottle. But haven't any of you had a Corona that wasn't skunked? I'm not saying it's WAY better or anything, but I have seen 12 packs of Corona in completely enclosed boxes so no light gets it. Clearly, if you sit out in the backyard with it, it could get skunked. If you've ever walked on a beach and seen the bikini-wearing girl selling it out of big metal tubs (located directly in the sun)... you need to keep walking and find something else to drink.

[BrianBrewerKS]

Ya know, every once in awhile a skunked beer doesn't bother me.What can I say. I'm a man of all tastes.

[Iceman]

George, CL,You guys are correct. The sun thing would make it authentic - and what many Corona drinkers may be looking for. I didn't understand the about doing this, other than it's an obvious flaw, but probably as much of the recipe as anything else. Per Professor Beer:The hop compounds that are responsible for making beer bitter are called isomerized alpha-acids. These chemicals, along with sulfur compounds found in beer, are also culpable in beer skunking. When light hits beer, it provides the energy necessary to drive a reaction that transforms the iso-alpha-acids into 3-methyl-2-butene-1-thiol. The “thiol” part of that somewhat cumbersome name indicates that there is sulfur present. Sulfur compounds often have strong, offensive aromas. Some musteline animals, like skunks, have evolved the ability to produce this chemical, and use it for self-defense.In a sense, the aroma of light-struck beer doesn’t just resemble skunk spray, it is skunk spray! It’s the same stuff!This photochemical reaction is the only cause of skunked beer. Warm storage, while damaging to the flavor of beer, does not skunk it. Cycling the temperature of beer from warm to cold and back again is also not implicated. Storing beer in the dark is the simple way to prevent skunking.Blue light, and to a lesser extent green and a bit of near ultraviolet are the most damaging to beer. Most wavelenghts of ultraviolet light are not a concern because glass blocks them quite effectively (that’s why you don’t get sunburned in your car). The color of glass is the color of the light that it transmits, so green bottles allow the green light though. Similarly, blue light passes unhindered through pretty, cobalt-blue bottles. Clear bottles transmit all of the visible light. That is the reason beer in green, blue, and clear bottles is almost always skunked. Yes, even some very expensive imports.The photochemical reaction that skunks beer occurs very quickly; a well-hopped beer in clear glass can become noticeably offensive with just 30 seconds of exposure to sunshine. Brown glass transmits less visible light than the previously mentioned colors, and therefore offers some protection from skunking. It does allow some light through, so beer in brown bottles will skunk after a few hours of light exposure.Since light is an essential ingredient in the skunking process, beers packaged in kegs, cans, and opaque bottles cannot be skunked. Beers with very little hops, like all of the insipid mass-market American lagers, cannot become as skunky as overtly hoppy styles like pale ales, simply because there is less iso-alpha-acid available.There is a way to skunk-proof beer, and it is used by the Miller Brewing Company. Instead of using hop flowers to bitter their beers, they use a special hop extract called tetra-hop. The isomerized alpha-acids in this product have a slightly different molecular structure than naturally isomerized alpha-acids, and are immune to the effects of light. This extract has the added benefit of greatly increasing the foam retention of a beer.Tetra-hop extract is only used for bittering; it has no aroma. If one brews with any hop constituent other than tetra-hop, the beer will no longer be light-proof, so any beer with hop aroma is subject to skunking. Hop aroma is not desired by Miller’s marketing department, but clear glass bottles are, so tetra-hop works nicely for them.The marketers that sell Corona figured out a different way to skunk-proof their product: they advise shoving a lime wedge or three into the bottle, and consuming the beverage directly from the package. The strong aroma of the citrus fruit serves to mask the inevitable skunkiness, while the narrow mouth of the bottle prevents the drinker from actually smelling the liquid.Ice

[Iceman]

I think I remember reading somewhere that the molecules introduced by hops in the beer absorb the light and it alters the molecules somehow. They are ripped apart somehow & possibly combine with or to form sulphur, etc, etc.Obviously I'm no chemist, perhaps someone here is, or at least slept at a holiday in last night?

[zymot]

I have read that Corona skunks it's beer on purpose. Part of the bottling process is to pass it through a UV light source. Corona in the cans, it gets pre-skunked before it goes into the can.I am serious. This is what I have read. I cannot site a reliable reference, but I believe the people who reported this were sincere.The weird thing about Corona, for me, the first sip tastes OK. Then the second sip, no flavor, good or bad, it is just very neutral.zymot

[Big Nake]

You guys have been drinking too much beer. Come on... it's simply a matter of the beer being in clear bottles. I have had a can or 2 of Corona (seriously, 1 or 2 cans) and it's not skunky. I have also bought Corona and Coronita for parties (on my wife's request) that were completely enclosed in cardboard boxes and they weren't skunked. Now if you took one of out a closed cooler and put it on the patio table in the sun, it will get skunky... but so will one of my homebrewed gold lagers (or any style for that matter). I have gone down to the basement and tapped a homey (any style, really) and then set it on the patio table while I do some yardwork. I come back 5 minutes later and it's slightly skunky. Anyone experience that? I don't think Modelo intentionally skunks their beer... I think it just ends up that way because of the bottle.Ps. I agree that the beer is so unbelievably flavorless. This is probably why people insist on a lime... otherwise, it has almost no flavor at all. It's as if they added like 3 AAUs of hops at 60 minutes (for a 5 gallon batch of Corona) and there is no real malt flavor or anything. How on Earth did they make such a tasteless beer???

[MAZ]

Ps. I agree that the beer is so unbelievably flavorless. This is probably why people insist on a lime... otherwise, it has almost no flavor at all. It's as if they added like 3 AAUs of hops at 60 minutes (for a 5 gallon batch of Corona) and there is no real malt flavor or anything. How on Earth did they make such a tasteless beer???

It's brilliant really. Raw ingredient cost is next to nothing for them. A little barley malt, a little corn (OG is probably between 1.040 and 1.045), walk a few hops by the kettle and your done. And the stuff benefits from an "import" price... I regularly see people buying 6 packs of this for $7!!! The profit margin on Corona must be impressive.

[MyaCullen]

I have read that Corona skunks it's beer on purpose. Part of the bottling process is to pass it through a UV light source. Corona in the cans, it gets pre-skunked before it goes into the can.I am serious. This is what I have read. I cannot site a reliable reference, but I believe the people who reported this were sincere.The weird thing about Corona, for me, the first sip tastes OK. Then the second sip, no flavor, good or bad, it is just very neutral.zymot

I wouldn't doubt it myself, I have had Corona ought of a 12 pack that was stored cold and no lightstrike, skunky.

[TimE]

I think imma have to give up on this as the temps are getting too warm for a 50ish ferment. Maybe I'll just do a big hefe for them, I'm sure they will like that - and I will enjoy it more too. So I now need to figure out a good hefe recipe, maybe a 10 gallon batch this time to fill up two kegs.

40% Wheat malt50% Pilsner malt10% Munich maltStep mash at 116F for 15 minutes, 125F for 10 minutes, 152F for 1 hour.Hop with 15 IBUs something GermanAdd 1/2 oz same hop at 15 minutesFerment with White Labs HefeIV yeast at 63-65F for 10 days. Carb and begin drinking within 7 days.

[earthtone]

Agreed. Corona is a high-adjunct beer that has more marketing than anything else. It's a shame too considering it's now the #1 selling imported beer in the US. What does that say about our uninitiated beer drinkers?

that they are largely either nationalist Mexícanos or party-down-south-spring break-victims??

[earthtone]

Ps. I agree that the beer is so unbelievably flavorless. This is probably why people insist on a lime... otherwise, it has almost no flavor at all. It's as if they added like 3 AAUs of hops at 60 minutes (for a 5 gallon batch of Corona) and there is no real malt flavor or anything. How on Earth did they make such a tasteless beer???

yeah I dunno, but a dash of hot sauce and a squeeze of lime in an ice cold corona on playa mazunte goes a hell of a long way towards absolutely delicious.....somehow it loses some of that when I drink it in cold, wet, cloudy nova scotia hahaha

[Big Nake]

yeah I dunno, but a dash of hot sauce and a squeeze of lime in an ice cold corona on playa mazunte goes a hell of a long way towards absolutely delicious.....somehow it loses some of that when I drink it in cold, wet, cloudy nova scotia hahaha

ET: I hear you. A beach or a straw-canopied restaurant overlooking the ocean can make just about anything perfect. If I were walking along the beach or down the street in Acapulco, Ixtapa, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Zihuatenejo, etc.... a Corona would fit right in. Although I'd probably still be looking for a Pacifico, a Negra Modelo or a Victoria! Cheers.

[Dave in Indiana]

Mexican Lagers

[Gumbo Leviathan]

uninitiated beer drinkers?

Ya know...I read this as "urinated beer drinkers"

[Big Nake]

For a little perspective, tomorrow I am making my interpretation of a pale Mexican Lager. Last week I used White Labs 940 Mexican Lager yeast in a sort of Mexican Vienna... tomorrow I'll grab that yeast, do the yeast-washing experiment we talked about in another thread and make this beer:

6 lbs American Pale Malt
2 lbs Vienna
1 lb Flaked Corn
½ lb White Wheat (mash temp 150°)
1 oz Tettnanger pellets 4.8% for 60 minutes
White Labs 940 Lager yeast

OG: 1.050, FG: 1.012, IBU: 20, SRM: 3, ABV: 4.8%

I will also be using distilled water for half the mash water and adding a smidge of 5.2 in the mash. Half of the sparge water will be distilled also. The rest of the water will be my filtered tap. Cheers.

[Big Nake]

Pics from the brewday. Very pale & clear wort being racked from brewpot to primary...