Does re-refrigerating affect the taste of beer? Some of my college friends like to tell me that refrigerating beer, then taking it out (allowing it to warm up), and re-refrigerating it causes the beer to lose its taste. I've even known some to throw out beer that has gone through this scenario.

I've looked around on the internet a bit, and there doesn't seem to be any real evidence to the claim. I found an article on Beer Advocate, where people seem to agree that:


UV light exposure causes negative effects (only a real problem for bottled beer).
Extreme fluctuations in temperature are generally not good for the beer.
Bottled beers can sometimes re-ferment at higher temperatures, causing over-carbonation.


Nothing conclusive.

My question is: does refrigerating, unrefrigerating, and re-refrigerating beer negatively affect the taste of beer?
Beer is meant to be stored in a cool, dark place. Light is indeed bad for it and causes "skunking" which produces literally the same chemical skunks produce.

Lots of times re-refrigerating beer implies the beer was left out. Was it left out in a place exposed to light? Particularly sunlight? It may not be the fact that it was exposed to higher temperatures that was the culprit, but the light. Warmer temperatures certainly seem like the most obvious offenders for a sub-par beer, but light is far more dangerous.

Temperature for the most part should not be an issue. Anything from like 32-75 F should not be an issue, although somewhere between 45-55 F is the ideal cellaring temperature. To break the upper limit of safe temperatures pretty much requires you to leave the beer outdoors during a hot summer where it will likely be joined by the bigger threat of light.

Long story short: cellaring temperatures are for long-term (12 months+) storage and anything between freezing and high-end room temperature shouldn't have any adverse effects if stored someplace dark. The idea that beer needs to remain ice-cold from the moment the yeast is added is a bunch of BMC marketing BS.