Darkening in bottle

Brewed a single hop IPA as part of a club project. Grain bill was simple. 14# 2-row and 1# C20. Color expected was about 6.5 and at bottling time it didn't look far off. 1 month later, I pour it yesterday and the color is way darker, closer to 12 or darker. Any ideas what could have caused this?

Guidry said:

Brewed a single hop IPA as part of a club project. Grain bill was simple. 14# 2-row and 1# C20. Color expected was about 6.5 and at bottling time it didn't look far off. 1 month later, I pour it yesterday and the color is way darker, closer to 12 or darker. Any ideas what could have caused this?

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To go from a 6.5 SRM to a 12 SRM is huge. The only thing I can think of, beyond a little darkening from the yeast dropping out, is oxidation.

I don't taste any flavored associated with oxidation, but my tasting skills are not real great. I'll get a couple of the club members to critique it and see if they taste any.

Yeah, I'd guess oxidation, too. When you taste it, remember that oxidation doesn't always present cardboard flavors. Look for a kind of weird caramel flavor also.

The hop flavored may be hiding it. The "project" called for 60IBUs plus 7 days of dry hopping. My choice of hop was the HBC 342 at 12+% AA.

Denny said:

Yeah, I'd guess oxidation, too. When you taste it, remember that oxidation doesn't always present cardboard flavors. Look for a kind of weird caramel flavor also.

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That's a good description!

I'm a wine maker, so this may not mean much to non-winos but another great description of oxidized flavor is "Madeirized", like madeira wine. Or like sherry, if you've ever had that. A sherry like flavor is a classic sign of oxidation. Darkening in color is another classic sign.

We had a friend give us 25 year old plum wine and it has a very strong "brandy" flavor to it. It's because it's oxidized, but in this case it's a nice flavor. Sort of like brandy, with a nutty flavor behind it, and a dark burnished color. Classic signs of oxidation, but good in a 18% ABV 25 year old wine!