Beer going bad in secondary?

I'll sum this up quickly:

A couple nights ago when I was taking my first SG reading of the fermentation, I accidentally dropped my unsanitized test tube into my bucket. I was pretty upset, but quickly pressed on, closed her up, and decided it needed another day or so.

Last night I opened her up, took another reading, and decided I'd rack to secondary. I thought the color seemed a bit darker, but didn't think too much of it. Now, this afternoon, the color near the top is almost jet black, as you can see in the picture. This is supposed to be an amber ale, so I can't imagine this is the target color.

You guys think I killed my beer? Is this a common symptom of bacteria infiltration?

a) Beer always looks much darker in the carboy that it does in a pint glass.

b) The lighter haze at the bottom half of you carboy is from yeast dropping out. It's much darker on top because the vast majority of the yeast has already dropped out of that area.

c) It's (probably) not infected. I'm sure there's plenty of alcohol in there to preserve it, plus racking it will cause it to off-gas CO2, creating a protective blanket.

Reno_eNVy_446 said:

It's much darker on top because the vast majority of the yeast has already dropped out of that area.

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I figured it wouldn't get clearer/lighter in color as the yeast dropped out, not darker...

if you were going to secondary you already have alcohol in there so it should be good to go

Common sense would dictate that, but in actuality it gets darker because there's no yeast for the light to reflect off of. (I know, I used a preposition at the end of a sentence...).

I wouldn't worry too much about any infection at this point.

I'll add that your beer may still be too dark, but it isn't because of any infection. It's because you used too much of some dark malt or Maillard reactions.

However, you won't be able to tell the color until you have it in a glass. So, until then, don't worry about it!

Your beer is more than likely fine. It's really hard to judge our beers in carboys, light refracts all over the place. Your beer is settling out, and it appears to you to be weird. But we've seen it before. SO relax.

If it's an extract batch, there is a good chance that it will be darker than you think sometimes. Just depends on the malt being used. I don't believe darkness is any kind of an indicator of infection.

As the yeast drops to the bottom, it will make the beer appear to change color because the yeast is lighter than the wort.

RDWHAHB! I'd bet money that your beer is going to be fine (unless you spit on your test tube)

Thanks for the reassurance guys, just a bad case of the first brew jitters I guess. Sorry for the silly worry!

homebrewer_99 said:

Common sense would dictate that, but in actuality it gets darker because there's no yeast for the light to reflect off of. (I know, I used a preposition at the end of a sentence...).

I wouldn't worry too much about any infection at this point.

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I have never understood why people take that grammar rule so seriously for.

electronjunkie said:

I have never understood why people take that grammar rule so seriously for.

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To be proper and correct...that's my guess.

When I was growing up "ain't" wasn't a word. And don't get me started with advertisers screwing up the English language worse than rappers.

electronjunkie said:

I have never understood why people take that grammar rule so seriously for.

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Where did you learn that at?

BendBrewer said:

Where did you learn that at?

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I just write what I can to get by.

I don't care about grammar as long as my point gets through.

/badprepositionjoke

BendBrewer said:

Where did you learn that at?

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Ha, nice

electronjunkie said:

I just write what I can to get by.

I don't care about grammar as long as my point gets through.

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Your point will get through to more people if it is typed properly.


Now let's get back on track, hmmmm?

So, sdufford, what's it look like today? I'd be willing to bet the level of haziness dropped down 1-3 cm since you posted.

Reno_eNVy_446 said:

So, sdufford, what's it look like today? I'd be willing to bet the level of haziness dropped down 1-3 cm since you posted.

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Yep, I would say the darker color is now taking up about half of the carboy. That's good right??

I see you've already been reassured, but if you are still wondering if you have any problems with infection, check out this thread and you will feel much better:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/post-your-infection-71400/

That thread gives me the heebeejeebies.

electronjunkie said:

I have never understood why people take that grammar rule so seriously for.

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I think that for that rule the grammataticians have pretty much given up.