Has anyone else ever brewed an IPA that started out pale and within a few weeks had it turn brown in color? This has happened the last couple of times I have made IPAs. The grain bill on the last one was simple; 2 row pale. Upon bottling it was extremely pale then after about 2 weeks it turned a shade of brown. What could the cause be? Thanks for the input, Mike
Maybe this thread's discussion about oxidation causing color changes will give you a hint. http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...sue-ive-ever-encountered-with-picture.211708/
I agree. oxidation is the most likely culprit. Do you bottle or keg? If you keg, try purging everything with CO2 anytime you open your fermenter or transfer the beer. If you bottle, just try your best to minimize splashing as best you can when you rack to your bottling bucket. Try to open your fermenter as little as possible to minimize any contact with oxygen.
The answer to your question is in the OP: "Upon bottling it was extremely pale then after about 2 weeks it turned a shade of brown." Cheers!
As the suspended solids in a beer settle out, the beer will appear to turn darker. This is perhaps one factor.
One more thing to note in addition to the oxidation, is that beer always looks lighter in siphon tubing (and darker in a carboy). I imagine you've seen this before, but I just wanted to point it out in case. Does the beer's flavor go downhill as well? I've never seen oxidation affect color that quickly or dramatically, but my IPAs do drop off quite quickly when I bottle them.
Along the same lines as others have stated, fermenting beer with yeast in suspension is always lighter in color than a fully cleared beer where all the yeast has dropped out of suspension.
To help figure out if it's likely a perception/post-yeast-flocculation thing or likely an oxidation thing... OP: what was your recipe? I wonder if your "shade of brown" could be an amber-ish color just based on your ingredients. Conversely, if your recipe should lead to a very pale IPA, then oxidation is the more likely cuplrit.
@mikel5489 in his original post stated: “The grain bill on the last one was simple; 2 row pale.” Given that solely 2-row Pale Malt was used to make this beer, I personally would expect the resulting beer to have a very pale color (Pale Malt = pale color). Cheers!
Yea even though the beer will get a bit darker as the yeast drops out, It shouldn't turn anywhere near brown if he just used two row. I had this happen to me once also, it sucked. I brewed a small batch of a Double IPA that turned out this beautiful orange color, but I accidentally oxygenated the beer while transferring. It went from orange to brown in a couple weeks. The flavor and aroma went from bright hops that really popped, to a kind of muddled hop flavor. I drank the batch before it had a chance to turn worse, but I feel like the OP probably experienced something similar. It would be helpful to know his process to be sure, as there are several chances to introduce oxygen if you aren't somewhat careful. OP, how many times did you open your fermentor to check gravity? How did transferring to the bottling bucket go? Did you transfer to a secondary? Did you dry hop?
