beer appears to have changed color while fermenting help

so i brewed a chinook IPA extract kit from northern brewer and into the third week of fermenting in the course of two days, the beer seems to have gotten a lot darker. could this be caused by it reaching a temp of about 74 degrees F on one day do to it being a warm day. Also when i added the dry hops i may have not streralized everything perfectly. can this have caused it, help. What can cause a beer to get darker while fermenting. Most of the time the temp was at around 68 F

I haven't ever heard of a beer being infected with a consequent darkening in shade... I say let it ride. Beer can go through all sorts of changes; worrying about an organic process going it's own way isn't worth the headache.

However, take the lesson and ALWAYS sterilize everything you use. It may seem trivial at the time (it's hard not to get lazy after a beer or two), but it is singlehandedly the most important rule in brewing.

I can't know for sure what the issue with your beer is, but I've noticed that when fermenting a beer that's normally dark it will sometimes actually be lighter in the fermenter. The yeast and CO2 will kick up all kinds of stuff to make it look lighter and after it starts to settle it darkens up a bit. It could also be from sunlight if you didn't cover your carboy. There are probably a host of other things that could cause it...hope you figure it out

thanx for the input but it is really worrying because for the first 2 and a half weeks it was the same color as your typical IPA but it seemed that suddenly changed in a 1 to 2 day period it turned darker

luigi13191 said:

thanx for the input but it is really worrying because for the first 2 and a half weeks it was the same color as your typical IPA but it seemed that suddenly changed in a 1 to 2 day period it turned darker

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That's a great sign! The means the beer is clearing, and the (white) yeast and suspended proteins and such are falling out, leaving clear beer behind. The beer always looks darker in the carboy than in a glass! To see what I mean, you can take out a sample with a sanitized baster or wine thief and put it in a small glass and hold it up to the light. The beer will look MUCH lighter in the glass than in that fermenter because of the way light refracts.

I've noticed with mine that as everything settles out of the beer in the fermenter it appears to darken and because it's a large volume it will appear darker than what it will be in your glass.

It was probably lighter since there was more in suspension. Now that it's clearing, you're seeing more of the actual brew in the fermenter.

When did you add the dry hops to the brew? Chances are, there was enough alcohol in the brew, already, to take care of anything that could have hitched a ride.

I wouldn't worry about it at all. When you're about to bottle it, pull a sample (to check for FG and taste) and see how it's color is in the hydrometer tube. Chances are, it will be more in line with what you were thinking. Of course, in that small a volume, it won't be as dark as you wanted...

Yeast and sediment suspended in the wort reflect light, so when they drop out it appears to darken.

That's my theory. Also, color is better measured in a pint glass than in the carboy, especially when you're about to drink that pint

thanx for all the input

I just added gelatin to my beer and I noticed it got extremely darker the next day. Yeast does add a creamy lightness to your beer. Think of adding cream to coffee. Cold crashing or other means of clarifying can make it dark.