Black Layer on Top?, Secondary Ferment, Pics

[lawlessamps]

I racked to my secondary and within 2 hours I had a black halo on top which was not there during the primary ferment. Please advise as to what it is.

 

[biodarwin]

It is most likely the portion of the beer which the yeast have fallen from. Beer always looks much lighter when before the yeast flocculate and fall to the bottom.

 

[beergolf]

It is just the yeast beginning to drop out of suspension. Perfectly normal. Eventually the beer will all be the same color.

 

[lawlessamps]

why did you rack to secondary?

This is a recipe from beer captured and said to rack to secondary for 6 weeks.
It is a Belgian Golden so I hope it all doesnt turn black

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

This is a recipe from beer captured and said to rack to secondary for 6 weeks.
It is a Belgian Golden so I hope it all doesnt turn black

It's not black. It's clear. The yeast is pale and refracts light, while clear beer lets the light thru. So you are looking at 12" (the carboy's diameter) of clear beer. In other words, the yeast is falling out of suspension.

Looks like you moved a fair amount of yeast when you racked, there's an obvious layer at the bottom of the fermenter.

MC

 

[Yooper]

This is a recipe from beer captured and said to rack to secondary for 6 weeks.
It is a Belgian Golden so I hope it all doesnt turn black

The beer looks fine, but I would be very concerned about that much headspace in the carboy for 6 weeks. Do you have a smaller carboy you can move this to, as to not have that headspace? If not, I'd bottle sooner rather than later.

 

[cluckk]

As for the color, keep in mind that less light can pass through the amount of beer in your carboy than in your glass. It will look lighter in the glass than in the carboy. Also, after clearing for six weeks much more than yeast will have settled out and the beer will be clearer and lighter.

 

[lawlessamps]

It's not black. It's clear. The yeast is pale and refracts light, while clear beer lets the light thru. So you are looking at 12" (the carboy's diameter) of clear beer. In other words, the yeast is falling out of suspension.

Looks like you moved a fair amount of yeast when you racked, there's an obvious layer at the bottom of the fermenter.

MC

You are right. It is very clear. So the yeast light refraction makes it look black. Wow! I would have never thought of that. I figured the bright room and white walls why would the clear part look black or dark. Thanks

As far as the moving yeast to the secondary I have a question. I was going to start a different thread but I will ask here.

This is my 2nd AG batch and I just brewed a Dubbel AG this weekend. I get so much protein coagulation that when it settles out during fermentation I get 3-4 inches of trub. I went too far down when racking this batch hence the sediment at the bottom. My question: is there anything to remedy the great amount of protein I get when mashing. My last 2 beers lost 1/2 gallon to the trub layer. In my pic you can see the sharpie mark at 5 gallon and where my brew ended up, even with a starting mark of around 5.25 gals and bringing some trub to the secondary I end up with about 4.5 gals. Frustrating.

 

[lawlessamps]

The beer looks fine, but I would be very concerned about that much headspace in the carboy for 6 weeks. Do you have a smaller carboy you can move this to, as to not have that headspace? If not, I'd bottle sooner rather than later.

So how about 2-3 weeks in secondary and then sit longer in the bottle? Is there any difference in where it conditions?

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

You are right. It is very clear. So the yeast light refraction makes it look black. Wow! I would have never thought of that. I figured the bright room and white walls why would the clear part look black or dark. Thanks

Well let me try to re-explain it. Yeast is a solid (a small one, but when in sufficient quantity, it blocks light), and when the light hits it, it bounces back with it's white-grayish color.

When the beer has no yeast, it's its usual color (in your case, 'golden'), except that you're looking at 12" thick of beer, instead of a pint glass' usual 3". So it looks much darker in color. Shine a flashlight briefly through the back of the clear beer, and have a look at the same level. Should appear quite clear.

MC

 

[lawlessamps]

Just an update on this brew. The whole carboy finally went dark and that's how I knew it cleared and was ready for bottling. The FG was 1.012 for an attenuation of approx. 85% and hopefully a nice crisp malty flavor. The abv is 9%....whoa!!! Here I am measuring FG. The smell was delightful. Wish scentsy made that scent!

 

[dyqik]

As for the color, keep in mind that less light can pass through the amount of beer in your carboy than in your glass. It will look lighter in the glass than in the carboy.

This is in fact Beer's Law!

(note, beers darker than about 20 SRM do not usually obey Beer's law)