Dry Hopping Question

[db75]

First time to this site but unable to find any info that applies to my situation anywhere else. I brewed a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone about 3 weeks ago, pitched yeast w/ starter and primary fermentation went as smooth as any other batch. I racked to secondary after about 8 days and dry hopped w/ 1/4 oz. Cascades pellets by just pouring into carboy. After about three days the color changed from a light amber to almost black!?! Is this normal? I would expect cloudiness but it's an extreme color change. No other sight or smell of contamination as far as I can tell. Any info is greatly appreciated. Cheers!

Dan B.

[BM1]

Probably just the wort/beer is clearing and all the light reflective matter is at the bottom.Unless you're talking about a pulled sample,and it is black in the test tube,it's probably a good thing.I generally see dark brown or black wort/beer in my carboys unless I'm using a yeast that doesn't floc well or ther is a lot of protein,such as a wheat beer,etc.

[db75]

Thanks for the reply. I wasn't sure what was going on. All the things I've ever read about dry hopping and nothing about this much color change. I'll update after its bottled. Thanks again.

db

[john mills]

Steve could be right about the yeast floccing to settle out resulting in a clearer beer that appears darker. But I don't know about turning black. 1/4 oz dry hops for a 5 gallon batch is tiny. That would have had no effect on beer color change. Possibly if you increased that to 8 oz, you would get a green cast to the hop soup.
I'm not aware of any infection that results in a drastic color change that you described.
Best bet is to use your other senses of smell and taste. If those are good, then it's fine. If in doubt, bring a sample to a meeting and someone will be able to diagnose for you.

[sirgiovanni]

You people are racists!

[db75]

Thanks again for the help. I believe Steve was right with his diagnosis. I took a sample for a gravity reading and the color in the tube was really perfect and so was the FG! I went ahead and tasted the sample and is right on what I was going for. I just never noticed that before but most of the beers I've brewed start very dark and end the same way. Anyway, thanks again!

db

[BM1]