If you’ve ever taken a sip of beer from a bottle and thought it tasted funny, light strike could be to blame.
When beer is exposed to light it can become light-struck, or ‘skunked’, which leads to a deterioration in flavour and aroma. Light strike occurs because light-sensitive compounds in the beer break down, resulting in unpleasant off-flavours and odours that significantly diminish its quality and taste.
Exposure to UV and blue light, particularly at wavelengths between 350nm and 520nm, triggers reactions in the sulphur-containing amino acids within the beer.
The high-intensity light from modern LED lighting in display fridges can accelerate this skunking process, but there is a solution: we know that darker amber glass bottles provide better protection against these effects than clear white flint bottles.
Beatson Clark’s Dark Amber Glass
Beatson Clark’s amber glass is type III pharmaceutical glass manufactured in line with the US and EU pharmacopeia standards, which means our glass must not allow more than 10% light transmission between 290nm and 450nm.
We recently made our amber glass even darker to provide more protection against the effects of light strike, while also giving the bottles a richer, premium appearance that stands out on the shelf.
Putting our Amber Glass to the Test
We wanted to put our amber glass to the test, so we decided to carry out a full spectrum analysis of light transmission. We took a competitor's standard 500ml imported amber glass bottle and tested it against a comparable 500ml beer bottle produced by Beatson Clark.
Our findings revealed that the imported glass allows more light to pass through in the critical range, offering less protection against light strike than Beatson Clark’s bottle. On the graph below, the blue line represents the imported bottle, while the orange line represents the Beatson Clark bottle.
While transmission values can vary slightly between different container shapes and sizes, our darker amber typically achieves levels well below this limit and will never exceed the 10% threshold.
So, if you want to protect your beer and keep it in tip top condition, Beatson Clark’s amber glass bottles are the recommended choice!
Amber Glass for the Pharmaceutical Industry
Amber glass isn’t just important for preserving the flavour of beer - it also plays a key role in the pharmaceutical industry. Many medicines are sensitive to light, and exposure to UV rays or certain wavelengths of visible light can gradually reduce their strength and effectiveness.
By filtering out these harmful wavelengths, amber glass helps to maintain the stability and reliability of light-sensitive products throughout their shelf life.
With Beatson Clark’s darker amber glass, pharmaceutical manufacturers can be confident that their products are packaged in containers that meet strict pharmacopeia standards while also helping to safeguard patient safety.
