From classy to ashy

Wow......those cups are HUGE!

 

Well... Sorta but not really, but kinda.

What you are witnessing in the cup is very extreme oxidation, like the worst there ever could be. Surface diffusion of oxygen happens quite fast depending on the square cube of the container. With your large opening cups, compared to your sample size, it will be happening probably in the neighborhood of 2ppm per hour, so depending on where you are you could achieve full atmospheric saturation ~8ppm in as little as 4 hours.

Were as even with very loose kegging practices, you will probably see a pickup of at most 2ppm. That amount which is quite substantial in the post fermentation beer game (target less and .15ppm), is 1/4 of the amount in your sample cups. This means the beer in the kegs will stale faster (staling and oxidiation is hop and malt fade, less crisp, muddy, etc flavors). But not necessarily match your sample cup.

This also basically means you could try this experiment by taking a sample leaving it out 2 hours, and pulling a fresh sample to see if they change in flavor. That would/could possibly simulate what you would see.

 

7" scale bass. Must play like buttah.

 

Agreed with this but I would also observe that staling reactions will happen faster at room temperature than at 38°F or whatever temperature your kegged beer is held at, so if you really want to do the experiment, put the cup of beer in your refrigerator.

 

THIS is the buttah ...
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I wasn't really trying an experiment this time ... I was just being lazy not emptying the cup.
But yes leaving it out like that would be the extreme.
Probably never enough time to see the effects of oxidation for me since I gun most of the keg into bottles and give them away.
But I do have more friends now than I used to.