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Beer, a globally loved alcoholic beverage, can be found in virtually every flavor imaginable, made from grains such as wheat, barley, or rice. One element, however, is much-feared if unexpectedly encountered – oxygen. Oxygen can either be beneficial or detrimental to your favorite foods and drinks, including beer.

While certain beers like lambics and slow-aged barley wines can benefit from controlled oxidation, it is generally viewed negatively by brewers. Oxygen exposure often results in a stale taste in beer – even in newly purchased ones. The flavor may be described as “wet cardboard,” “leather,” or any other vivid descriptor; stale-tasting beer is usually due to oxygen. The challenge for brewers is that it can occur at any point, from brewing to packaging.

While it’s crucial to activate yeast during beer-making, it’s nearly impossible to avoid excessive oxygen exposure throughout the process. This is because beer isn’t brewed in a cold, lifeless vacuum like space. The trick lies in controlling it, as the more a beer oxidizes, the more likely it tastes stale. Oxidation can occur at any time, be it excessive mash stirring, inadequate splashing of the wort when recirculating it, or exposure when beer is packaged. Breweries can usually control it earlier in the making process, so most stale beer bought directly from stores likely suffered oxidation during bottling.

How you store beer also has a significant effect on this process, though. Oxidation increases as temperature goes up, meaning your beer will go bad faster if stored at room temperature or, worse, in the heat. Refrigerated beer isn’t just refreshing, it’s actually fresher.

There are, however, a couple of instances where too much oxygen does actually help in brewing. Chief among these is that oxygen is key to providing the flavor of lambic beers. There’s a particular strain of yeast known as Brettanomyces, responsible for beers like lambics and Flanders red ales, that converts ethanol and sugars into acetic acid when exposed to oxygen. Instead of creating a stale taste, this results in the strong taste lambic beer is known for. This takes time to reach its full effect, though, which is why, unlike most beers, lambics can be aged for up to three years.

Still, this is the exception rather than the rule, and oxygen typically harms rather than helps during brewing. If you’re stuck with a six-pack of skunky or stale beer, though, take heart that it could’ve been a lot worse. If it had instead continued to ferment after bottling, it could’ve fully detonated, like Trader Joe’s ginger beer once did.

Read the original article on Daily Meal