A Method For Evaluating The Light Protection Of Amber Glass

Some years ago a problem was encountered with a newly designed nonreturnable amber beer bottle. Even though it was winter, a serious complaint was received from a brewer who was experiencing an unusual problem with light-struck beer. It is generally recognised that beer is sensitive to light, but what made this incident so unusual was the fact that the new containers were of the same colour, wall thickness and from the same tank as the other non-returnable containers used by the same brewery without trouble. This paper examines the problem, discussing experimental methods used to overcome this difficulty and a brief review of photochemistry is given.