Saison Turns Black in Secondary w/Brett

[andrewcoopergt]

I have a saison that was in primary for about a month (5gal better bottle) that I kegged. Before kegging, I siphoned a gallon of it into a gallon glass carboy. I used the same siphoning (auto-siphon) and sanitizing techniques i've always used and never had a single problem.

I then added the dregs from fresh bottles of Orval and GI Sofie. That was just over a week ago. I have been checking on it just about every day (a helicopter parent) and on saturday found the golden colored saison had turned really dark - nearly black.

Anyone seen this? Could it be a result of oxidation or the newly introduced bugs?

My plan is to let it ride for quite a while, as I was planning on waiting about 4 months for the brett to do some work anyway. Any thoughts on what's up?

 

[PintoBean]

Odd indeed.

On a side note, why the Sofie dregs? They put Brett in Matilda, but not Sofie.

 

[QuercusMax]

From your picture, it doesn't look *black* to me so much as the yeast/solids have fallen out. Have you taken a sample to see what the color actually is? When you're looking at whole carboyful it can hard to judge accurately.

Yeast and other solids tend to reflect light back, resulting an a "lighter" appearance in bulk, since yeast is itself generally a khaki type color.

 

[andrewcoopergt]

Odd indeed.

On a side note, why the Sofie dregs? They put Brett in Matilda, but not Sofie.

I took The Mad Fermentationist's word for it: "Goose Island Beer Co. – Matilda, Juliet, Sofie"

Max - I had read that theory, but thought it might not apply to my situation for a few reasons. The Beer had been in primary for a month, so most yeast had fallen out before siphoning. Also, the beer into the 1gal container was taken from the top, so no yeast "sediment" from the bottom to make a significant difference. The better bottle was also so much larger (wider) than the 1gal, so wouldnt the beer look lighter because of more light passing through?

The yeast falling out could be a reason, but ive been brewing for 2 years and never seen anything close to this color change. It was enough of a difference that i walked into the room after not checking for 2 days and immediately said "what in the world?" I really wish i had a before picture. I hate to take a sample this early just to seen color change and risk wasting part of a 1gal experiment, but i might have to do it to satisfy curiosity.

 

[PintoBean]

I took The Mad Fermentationist's word for it: "Goose Island Beer Co. – Matilda, Juliet, Sofie"

Max - I had read that theory, but thought it might not apply to my situation for a few reasons. The Beer had been in primary for a month, so most yeast had fallen out before siphoning. Also, the beer into the 1gal container was taken from the top, so no yeast "sediment" from the bottom to make a significant difference. The better bottle was also so much larger (wider) than the 1gal, so wouldnt the beer look lighter because of more light passing through?

The yeast falling out could be a reason, but ive been brewing for 2 years and never seen anything close to this color change. It was enough of a difference that i walked into the room after not checking for 2 days and immediately said "what in the world?" I really wish i had a before picture. I hate to take a sample this early just to seen color change and risk wasting part of a 1gal experiment, but i might have to do it to satisfy curiosity.

You're right. It's 80% base ale blended with 20% base ale aged in wine barrels with Brett. Never detected a strong brett character in Sofie, but the prior statement would explain why. Had to check with my buddy that works there.

 

[tagz]

There's a thread in the Wild Fermentation section about Brett beers suddenly turning dark purple. Might be more info there if you can track it down.

 

[tagz]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f127/color-change-after-bottling-224631/

 

[andrewcoopergt]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f127/color-change-after-bottling-224631/

Thanks so much! Thought I had read something a while back about it but couldn't find the thread through search.