Beer Gets Darker

[Sudz]

I've observed that most of my brews continue to get darker as time goes by.
My Ambers look like Stouts in 5-6 weeks.

Anyone know why this occurs?

 

[KingBrianI]

Oxidation is the most likely cause. Do you notice the flavor changing as well?

 

[sirsloop]

I think you are drinking more which leads to excessive squinting... open your eyeeess~!

 

[SeamusMac]

Same thing happens to all the Mexican-style beer my father makes. It starts off like Corona and eventually ends up with a very dark honey colour like a wheat beer after 6-8 weeks.

 

[Sudz]

Oxidation is the most likely cause. Do you notice the flavor changing as well?

Yes, I do notice the favor degrading.

I'm aware of hot side oxidation and have made every attempt not to expose the hot wort to air any more than one must. I also have a good chiller and have been able to crash the temp from boil in about 20-30 minutes to below 70 degrees.

Its my understanding oxidation at temperature is where the problem mostly occurs. Is this true?

 

[TexLaw]

That's definitely oxidation, and I would suspect it is more post-fermentation oxidation. How do you treat your beer once it has fermented?


TL

 

[Sudz]

That's definitely oxidation, and I would suspect it is more post-fermentation oxidation. How do you treat your beer once it has fermented?
TL

Well, lets see... I primary for 1 week in a glass carboy and rack to a glass secondary. I ensure the racking tube stays submerged during transfer and recently have been giving the secondary a shot of CO2 to displace the oxygen before racking.

After two weeks in the secondary I rack to my bottling bucket, again keeping the tube submerged and using a shot of CO2. I "gently and briefly" stir the filled bucket just to ensure my priming sugar is totally dispersed. I'm careful not to whip up the brew when I stir it.

I fill my bottles and set a cap on each bottle. Once all bottles are filled, I go back and cap them. I have been told this permits the brew to breathe and release CO2 which displaces the air in the bottle neck prior to capping.

Oh, I do shoot pure oxygen into the cooled Wort just prior to pitching. I've been using about 2 minutes of the stuff.

I think that's it...

Thanks for the help on this.

 

[Coy-Boy]

Sounds just like what I do when bottling. From that technique I don't see were o2 is being introduced.

 

[smizak]

I've heard of Maillard reactions taking place in the bottle with the right kind of conditions.

Does it taste papery/stale? I would say it likely oxidation.

 

[Evan]

how are you filling your bottles, with a bottling wand? when i first started out, i never used one, but later did start using it when i read that you should. but honestly i think your process looks solid to me.

 

[Sudz]

I've heard of Maillard reactions taking place in the bottle with the right kind of conditions.

Does it taste papery/stale? I would say it likely oxidation.

Maillard reactions... didn't know these continued after bottling. Something to check out anyway.

As far as taste, my wife and I don't like it and there is a specific taste common to the issue but I'll be danged if we know how to describe it.

We even took a sensory taste analysis class to learn how to sort these things out. About all I got out of it was about 15 ways to drink bad beer.

But... Guess I could describe it as a stale taste which gets worse with time.

Thanks

 

[BarleyWater]

Maillard reactions don't really take place in the bottle, but they can affect the creation of staling compounds, of which there are tons, so it could taste different every time. It likely is not that, because it still requires the introduction of oxygen in the process post fermentation or poor storage conditions.

For every 10C above 20C (68F), beer stales 3 times faster. So if you have 3 months at 70F before staling starts to occur, you have 1 month at 85F, and about 1 week at 100F, and about 1-2 days at 120F. Also temperature fluctuations can affect the rate of staling. So could it be the storage conditions are sppedong up the oxidation process, because your transferring and bottling practices seem fine, probably better than most.

 

[Sudz]

how are you filling your bottles, with a bottling wand? when i first started out, i never used one, but later did start using it when i read that you should. but honestly i think your process looks solid to me.

Yes Sir on the wand. Used since day one.