My beer is 2 different colors??

I just posted a thread saying im ready to bottle, now my question is when looking at it it looks like its 2 diff colors?

i used 2 different extracts because the lhbs was out of what i needed and i figured this is a good way to learn. now the top 1/4 is black and the bottom 3/4 is a amberish brown. if i could remember what the extracts were i would tell you, but i dont, lol. i didnt write down what i did so its all from memory.

ne ideas whats up with it?

primary for 2 weeks, secondary for 2 weeks since i didnt have bottles ready, now im ready to bottle it. i would put up a pick of it but no digital cam. is it ok, normal or what ever?

dont worry i am going to drink it nomatter what!

Wow... please share a pic if you can.

no way to get a pic on my comp, srry. i dont have a digital cam and my cell doesnt take newhere close to a visable picture

I'm going to guess that top is clear and the bottom has yeast or sediment that hasn't settled out yet.

egolla said:

I'm going to guess that top is clear and the bottom has yeast or sediment that hasn't settled out yet.

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+1. Sounds too like you might be looking at a trick of light.

Read the OP, he's saying the top is darker than the bottom.

I don't think what you're seeing is seeing is the different extracts. Sounds like the yeast and whatnot is still flocculating (dropping out of suspension). What you see as "dark" is actually clear. The lightness of the beer toward the bottom is caused by the suspended particulates reflecting light. Give it some more time, and/or cold crash it, and it'll all drop out.

Chris

usually what you are describing is the yeast/protiens settling out. I would think it was done after 1 month though. One thing to check is to mark/measure where the separation line is, then check it after a couple days, if it has moved down then it is settling out.

so i proub should wait alittle b4 bottling?

My experience is that as the yeast settles out it creates a boundary line in the carboy the liquid above the line appears both darker and clearer(less particulate matter) than the liquid bellow the line. this is because the yeast and other particulate mater reflect the light to a higher degree that the clear liquid does, if the light has to travel through more of the beer to be reflected at the top the light loses strength making the beer at the top appear darker.

chumprock said:

Read the OP, he's saying the top is darker than the bottom.

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i have beer in secondary that is striated like that, and the clear top portion looks darker than the cloudy bottom half.

chumprock said:

Read the OP, he's saying the top is darker than the bottom.

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Of course. It clears from the top down. So, the top part is minus the yeast and other sediment that makes it appear lighter colored. Wine does this too- starts clearing at the top. Usually you don't see it happening, but if it happens gradually you can see it. The top gets darker, than it "falls clear" all the way to the bottom.

Is the lighter part only an inch thick by any chance??

not to sure what you mean by an inch think, but its noticably lighter, more like an amber instead of black. should i hold off bottling this for alittle bit then?
thanks for all the help

yeah it will all clear up and go dark. just wait for it I'd say.

Srm277 said:

not to sure what you mean by an inch think, but its noticably lighter, more like an amber instead of black. should i hold off bottling this for alittle bit then?
thanks for all the help

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He's asking if the lighter part is only about 1" of the carboy, or if it is more like half. If it is only the very bottom that is a different color then you shouldn't worry about that, it is just the yeast etc. built up at the bottom.

its 3/4 of the carboy, lol. the other batches didnt have this and they all were more then ready to b bottled by this point

Srm277 said:

its 3/4 of the carboy, lol. the other batches didnt have this and they all were more then ready to b bottled by this point

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Beers will stratify occasionally - I've had this happen a couple of times. It's nothing to worry about. You could try cold crashing or fining it to convince some of the particulates to settle out if the lower layer is opaque, but if it's reasonably clear, you can go ahead and bottle.