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Why beer bottles are usually brown glass

(CNN) Have you ever opened a bottle of beer, poured it into a clear glass and left it outside sitting in the sun? Maybe you've come back to it after a while to take a sip -- and something isn't quite right.

If you've experienced this funky taste, it's from a chemical compound similar to the stinky smell skunks produce. That's why the beer brewing community has dubbed this process "skunking."

Chuck Skypeck, the technical brewing projects director at the Brewers Association said the cause of skunking wasn't really understood until around the 1960s.

When beer is exposed to strong light, a photooxidation reaction takes place, creating the compound 3-methyl-2-butene-1-thiol. To prevent the process of skunking from occurring and preserve the beer flavor, brewers opt for darkly tinted glass.

The popular choice among brewers is brown. But that's not the only color seen in beer bottles; some come in green glass, too. What's behind that choice? Given that green is not as protective from light, the reason for its use is mainly marketing, according to Skypeck.

"Most European brewers use green glass. Their green bottles are their image. And again, we're talking decades ago, there was a certain association of quality and uniqueness with green glass," Skypeck said.

When it comes to choosing glass as the packaging material over plastic, Skypeck said glass perceived as more environmentally friendly and looks higher quality to consumers.

Cans are also a popular choice for packaging and don't let in light, but skunking is still possible due to a process known as thermal aging. More studies are needed in this area, according to Skypeck, to determine which packaging is optimal to prevent skunking.

As for any other guidance on storing beer to prevent changes to the taste, Skypeck has a simple rule: cold and dark.

"Beer is basically water, barley, sometimes wheat, and yeast - it's a food product. And just like any other food product, it's subject to losing its freshness," he said. "What really causes any food product to lose its freshness - besides this photochemical reaction we talked about -- is exposure to oxygen and exposure to warmer temperature."

From CNN (adapted)

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Disney workers must return to office

 

Disney’s chief executive Bob Iger told employees who are currently working from home to start going to the office for four days a week starting on March 1.

Disney's boss Bob Iger said hybrid workers will now be asked to treat Monday through Thursday as in-person workdays".

He highlighted his view that face-to-face collaboration is key to "a creative business like ours".

"Nothing can replace the ability to connect, observe, and create with peers that comes from being physically together, nor the opportunity to grow professionally by learning from leaders and mentors. It is my belief that working together more in-person will benefit the company's creativity, culture, and our employees' careers", Mr Iger said in a memo to employees.

Like many other big companies, Disney allowed employees to work from home during the pandemic to help slow the spread of Covid-19.

In recent months companies including Snap, Tesla and Uber have announced similar changes to their working policies.

Since September employees of technology giant Apple have been required to work for three days a week in the firm's offices.

In November, multi-billionaire Elon Musk ordered Twitter staff back to the office for 40 hours a week, ending the company's permanent "work from anywhere" policy.

The decision by Mr Musk, who bought the social media platform in a $44bn deal,  caused large numbers of staff to quit after he called on them to sign up for "long hours at high intensity" or leave.

Edited from BBC 

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