Change in Colour

[thehesitantchef]

Hi!

I recently developed and brewed my first patch of Irish Red ale. In fermentation it was really blonde in colour. It was this colour for the longest time. I bottled it and conditioned it for 21 days. After this time it was still blonde in colour. I thought nothing of it, just an error in my calculations but then I drank one yesterday. This was about a month after the 21 day period was over, and it's red, like a red ale should be.

I've never heard of this before, what happened?

Did the brewing god's look kindly on me?

 

[Revvy]

Usually it's the case of the beer looking a certain way initially because the yeast and other things in suspension make the beer look different, but once it flocculates out the beer looks like it should be.

 

[thehesitantchef]

Usually it's the case of the beer looking a certain way initially because the yeast and other things in suspension make the beer look different, but once it flocculates out the beer looks like it should be.

Hmmm that might have been it but I cold crashed it and I also put into secondary. Could their have been that much still in suspension? I can't make sense of it.

 

[Revvy]

It'd have helped if you had taken some pics and posted them. It's hard to "diagnose" something without seeing it.

 

[kh54s10]

I think you have one that will not be able to be fully explained. After the yeast finishes fermenting and settles you should have beer the color it will end up being. Maybe there was still a lot of yeast in suspension when transferred to secondary. But, I wouldn't think that it could still be light in color when bottled especially after a secondary and cold crashing.

Usually people get panicked over the beer being very dark, until they pour it in a glass and see the light through a smaller volume.

 

[thehesitantchef]

Yeah, That's what I thought. Here's a picture I took of it when I put it into secondary. It was the same colour in the carboy so I didn't bother taking a picture of it in the carboy. And here's a picture of the finished product. I know the lighting is different but I swear the beer darkened in the bottle. Anyway, thanks for your input I appreciate it. I'll accept the mystery.

 

[m00ps]

Ive had much more drastic changes in color, even just in my starters. Its whatever the yeast feels like doing. Sometimes, you dont have too much control over the final color of the beer unless you load it up with black malts

 

[MagicMatt]

It didn't darken per se, but since the volume (and more importantly, depth) of the beer glass is greater than that of the graduated cylinder, less light gets through and thus it looks darker. The same reason that beer in a carboy looks darker than when in a glass.

 

[CamG]

It didn't darken per se, but since the volume (and more importantly, depth) of the beer glass is greater than that of the graduated cylinder, less light gets through and thus it looks darker. The same reason that beer in a carboy looks darker than when in a glass.

Agreed. My beer looks much lighter in the tube I use to check it in than when it's in a glass.