The Skunky Beer Myth

One of the pervading myths in the beer-drinking world is that if you buy cold beer, let it warm up by keeping it out of refrigeration, and the cool it down again, you will "skunk" it, that is it will acquire a skunk-like aroma, thereby ruining it. Many people insist on buying their beer warm just so they don't run into this temperature changing danger. What most of them don't know is that every distributor in town (at least in this town) warehouses their beer cold, then sends it to the store in non-refrigerated trucks - so if the skunky beer theory is true, then all beer bought from a retailer is going to be "skunked". The truth is that temperature changes, unless they are extreme temperature changes, are going to have no effect on beer quality. And by extreme, I'm talked about boiling the beer and then immersing it in liquid nitrogen! I've included a few links to explain and debunk the skunky beer myth.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080217071159AAdgS63

http://www.chow.com/food-news/53966/how-does-a-beer-get-skunky/