My beer became darker in the keg!

So I've done three batches of beer so far, using the same recipe for all so that I could try to get used to my equipment/system without too many variables. But, something unexpected happened with my second batch in the keg, it darkened considerable over the first two days. IT was a light golden colour and was becoming clearer as I poured it, but then it suddenly darkened and became cloudy. I've been trying to figure out what happened but I can't find anything that would cause this to happen. The recipe is a British ale that had an OG of 1.038 and a FG of 1.014, it was supposed to be OG of 1.042 and a FG of 1.012. I've checked the seals on my keg and CO2 system and there were no leaks, does anybody have an ideas about what could have happened? Thanks!

How much is left in the keg? A friend and I have brewed an ESB that has dark malts in the GB and the further down the keg it get's, the darker it is. Not cloudy, but darker. It's as if the darker grain particles are suspended off the bottom and as the level of beer falls closer to the dip-tube, the beer get's more of these particles.

Cloudy seems like something was roused. Sometimes the first few pints need to be poured off (ie. the first day you pull a pint, pour out the first one if it's cloudy. Yeast/trub settled to the bottom and comes out with first pour). Sometimes the second day I get a cloudy first pour, too. I just watch the glass and line. If I see cloudiness, I let it run until clear and pour off.

Just a guess, Is it frozen?

When a keg freezes, the water will form ice crystals, and leave a much thicker beer behind.

Thanks for the advice. I know the keg is not frozen because of the consistency of the beer (I've had that happen before!). The recipe is close to an ESB, so additional particles being suspended could make a lot of sense. Either way, this beer is delicious and this is the best hobby I've ever had!

I did disconnect the gas briefly to pressurize another keg, could reattaching it cause more sediment to be roused from the bottom of the keg?

Cheers!

dougmc said:

I did disconnect the gas briefly to pressurize another keg, could reattaching it cause more sediment to be roused from the bottom of the keg?

Cheers!

Click to expand...

Yes!!!!!!!! Some yeast make a firm keg sludge, others not so much. Even a little jostle can rouse some up.

I had a pale ale turn dark in 2 days on me once after racking from primary to secondary.... it was an infection..... dunno if that is your issue, but I figure I'd share.....

Again, cloudy=yeast rousal. Clear but darker=suspended dark-grain particles, IMO