What the hell is this color?

After racking my Belgian blond I noticed the next day that there was a red hue at the top (about 2inches deep from the top) of the fermenter. I have never seen such a difference in color like this. What the hell is this about???

I've had that happen before. If I had to guess it's just the wort stratifying. Nothing to worry about.

Did you use Whirfloc?

Yes I did use a whirfloc tablet.

Beer is just clearing. I get it all the time and notice it more on the pale ales than anything.

If this a beer that's just been brewed, it's cold break settling to the bottom of the fermenter. It reflects light so it makes the portion of beer that has cold break in it look lighter. The top looks darker than the beer you're used to seeing in the glass because there's more of it- it'll look lighter in the glass just like it does in the hydrometer sample tube.

If you just racked this to secondary, it's yeast flocculating out in the same way- the light scattering effect is the same- the clearer beer at the top will look darker.

Uh...that's some good insight. Thanks for your thoughts. Just never seen it like that before.

It is kind of cool looking. My pale ale I brew goes kind of dirty with a little green tint to it with a band of amber that drops down over a few days.

Yeah just the whirfloc causing the stratification.