russb123

Recipes 

What happens to a beer when it becomes oxidized?

I transfered a ale from primary to secondary after 2+ weeks, my seconday was a plastic bucket, and there was no airlock activity after transfer.

I waited 2 weeks in secondary and now that I am getting ready to bottle, the beer is alot darker than when I did the first transfer.

If it sat with mainly oxygen, is this what happens? It also smells alot different than at transfer.

Thanks

russb123

Recipes 

I should note that this was a light ale:

The recipe was
3.3lbs Gold LME
3lbs Clover Honey
8 oz Carapils (Steeping grains)
1 oz Glacier hops
1 oz Argentinian Cascade

It was a very nice golden brown when I transfered and now it is as dark as a pale ale I made last time.

Yooper

Recipes 

It may be darker because as it cleared, the yeast (which is light colored) dropped out. Also, if you take a sample in a glass, it may be much lighter than it looks in the pail.

Oxidation is more about taste in beer- it'll taste stale, or like wet cardboard.

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trainfever

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Have you ever tasted wet cardboard? LOL

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russb123

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70 to 75% of taste comes from smell and I have smelled wet cardboard so I can imagine.

The beer was very clear, there was absolutely nothing floating in the pail. When I transfered to secondary though I could smell the honey and it was very pleasant. A nice sweet honey smell.

Now though it smells off, very much like molasses instead of honey. I bottled it anyway and will give it a try it halloween night (which is almost 4 weeks).

Revvy

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ANd oxydation takes several months to develop...in the bottle or the keg...most of the time our beer is long been consumed before the oxydation would occur...

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malkore

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no, but if you heavily oxidize a beer, you'll know the 'taste' of oxidation about .5 seconds after the beer clears your tongue.

its a sad thing to taste

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Malkore
Primary: English Mild
On tap: Pale Ale, Lancelot's Wheat, English Brown Ale, Steam Beer, HoovNuts IPA
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schweaty

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How much oxygen are we talking about here? I just transfered from my primary to secondary with no splashing at all but it seemed there were some bubbles in the line. Pretty sure it would have been co2 though but I could not purge my secondary bottle because I am a n00b and can't afford to buy the proper equipment at this moment. So I'm pretty sure that there is a nice layer of oxygen on top of my freshly transfered beer. Is this a bad thing or will it clear soon? Fermentation seemed pretty much over after 10 days as the beer was clearing nicely. Tasted mighty darn fine if I do say so myself

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kenche

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In most of our home brew processes, our beer will be subjected to oxygen a number of times. The risk of off-flavours depends on when the oxygen is encountered, and the quantity of oxygen involved.

When racking, your beer has been subjected to oxygen. It has been oxidized. However, the amount is minimal and you will not perceive any affects for a while.

The real danger of oxidation has to do with de-stabilizing your beer. Once subjected to oxidation, the shelf life of your beer is diminished. The beer will degrade with time. The real concern for homebrewers though is whether the degradation of the beer will occur before it is consumed.

In your case however, rdwhahb

Brewno

Recipes 

When it is first transfered isn't there sediment and yeast floating around that reflect light and make the beer appear lighter? I think it looks darker once all this settles?