Beer Changing Colors??

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

flippindiscs

Active Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
34
Reaction score
0
Location
Plainfield, IL
Okay I have a problem that I cannot figure out why this is happening. For the past few months, every batch I have brewed has been getting darker and darker as the time passes in my carboys. I have an all grain Octoberfest that I used Pacman Ale yeast instead of lager yeast and it started out a great looking light red/orange and it is now the color of a stout. The same thing is happening to a partial mash late extract addition golden rye that started out as rich golden color and it is now the color of a porter. Everyone I ask at the homebrew store thinks I am crazy and cannot explain why this is happening. I ferment at 68-70 degrees and in a dark basement so light is not the problem. I also am very careful about sanitation and cleaning everything so contamination should not be a problem. This has been happening with previous batches too and they always turn out tasting fine but way to dark. Someone please help me with this problem. Thanks.
 
Whoa that's wierd. I haven't read about anything like that nor experienced it. My guess is someone has an idea. If I had to take a shot in the dark I would wonder if my water chemistry hadn't changed in the past few months.
 
Your beer is more than likely clearing. When your beer is fermenting, it is throwing around yeast and trub. The light will reflect off those particals and make the beer appear lighter in color and opaque. When all those particals settle to the bottom of the carboy, there is nothing for the light to reflect off of and it appears dark and transparent.
 
I agree with seyahmit. Beers always appear to get darker as they clear. I've noticed that it starts at the top and works it's way down as the yeast and trub settle out.
How do your beers look in a glass? It's hard to judge color in a carboy. Even a Bud Lite would look surprisingly dark if you had 5 gallons in a carboy.
 
I am curious though, because from his first post it seems like things had been going along swell and then just recently changed? At least that was how I interpreted it....
 
We probably need some more information to give a better answer. If all of his beers are still in the carboy, then it's probably just clearing. But if he drew off a sample or bottled these and his golden beers are now as dark as a stout in a glass, then I have no idea what the problem could be.
 
I thought I was experiencing that, too, until I realized that I'm a moron.

I keep my carboys under the bathroom sink. My 6.5 gallon primary has to sit more in front of that under the sink. So more light impinges upon it. When I racked into my 5 gallon secondary, I thought it was darker colored but it was just darker because it was pushed completely under the sink.
 
Thanks for the info. I will be bottling soon so I will find out how these taste. The one that really gets me is the octoberfest that went way dark. The settling does make sense but for the octoberfest to go stout color doesn't seem to make sense. I'll keep you posted on the taste.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top