Beer’s Nonbiological Instability

Beer (unlike many alcoholic beverages) is unstable. ¹ Its properties modify over time. This can occur within a very short time (e.g., foam collapse, the appearance of lightstruck character, and beer gushing) or over longer periods (e.g., biological instability, which can be allied to haze development and flavor deterioration). Beer microbiological control is covered in depth in Chapter 17 and will not be considered further here.